What’s everyone’s bedtime routine w/ your pup?

[alyg]

Hey everyone! My bf and I just brought home our 7-week golden doodle one week ago today. We have been establishing a bedtime routine with her:

• Playtime
• Outside to go to the bathroom
• Puzzle toy inside of pen
• Snuggles inside of pen
• Bedtime in crate with a small treat

She also has a white noise machine and we cover her crate on three sides with the back open so she can see her nightlight… (this may seem excessive but if you -tried to- sleep here the first four nights before we started doing all of this I promise you would understand!!) she now sleeps fully through the night with virtually no whining until around 7:30 when we are up and let her out.

Just curious what everyone else is doing before bed with their pups!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@alyg If im coming from home from work (i work 12 hour shifts) i’ll must play fetch with her for like 15 minutes if she initiates. i usually brush her out as well I take her out to potty but sometimes she’s a butt and won’t go. and then I tell her to “go to bed” and she goes in and i’ll give her a bedtime treat (usually it’s a dental treat)

 

[grindingla]

@alyg When Da Puppies where still using their crates the bedtime routine on work nights was …

-Puppyboy and sometimes Puppygirl would be keeping me company while I worked.
- Around 11p the would go out for one last frolic.
- Puppy Papa would say “let’s go to bed” and they would head into their crates and be given a snack.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@alyg Around 7pm I let him out of his playpen from his last nap. Once he is outside, we go potty, depending on his mood/energy level we make a walk out of it. Usually at this point he is pretty pumped up, so we play some fetch/tug of war. Maybe a bit of training if we are both in the mood. I put food out (he has more of an appetite after playing) and leave him on his own with a Kong or Puzzle Toy, because he rarely really eats everything at once and usually likes to take bite in between playing. And since he just went potty I can usually be a little more lax and only watch him with one eye.

In the meantime I start getting his bed ready (favorite plush toys, hot water bottle etc.). He immediately knows whats up and gets extra loopy cause he knows I'm gonna put him to bed soon. So I just let him tire himself out. He will just zoom around like a madman for 10 minutes or so and then at some point comes over for snuggles. Then he hangs out in my lap while I watch youtube videos for a bit until I put him in his bed.

Depending on how late it is or if I have stuff to do/need some alone time, this can take between 30 minutes to over an hour. But I would say, the more time I let him have to do his thing, the more chill he is when it's bed time.

Also one more thing, if it was up to him he would definitely be up later, cause he really gets the most hyper at around 7pm/8pm and when I first got him wanted to go to sleep around 11pm. But I go to bed pretty early and really want an hour or two for myself at night so I slowly got him down to around 8pm. He'd probably prefer later but he's taken to it well and I think it's good for everyone that I can keep my normal sleep-schedule. A well-rested pup-dad is a good pup-dad.

 

[alive22]

@alyg Most of the time he is already sleepy at bed time, because we played with him before and is in his bed. If he isnt, we lure him there, dim the lights and give him a chewing stick so he calms down. Then I snuggle him until he falls asleep. Oh and of course we take him out to potty before that

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@alyg Took us a couple of weeks to find a routine that works for us but this is it at the moment.

Wake up from last nap around 6
Outside for potty and play if he's energetic, sniffari if he's not
Dinner is usually half of it for training (if he's napped properly in the day and hasn't devolved into a landshark)
And half in a puzzle/snuffle mat. We only give him calm puzzles in the eve, nothing to rile him up.
We then let him do his thing in his pen for a while.
If he calms down we get in for snuggles, light play for 20 mins or so or let him entertain himself if hes bitey, usually involved ragging toys and humping his bed.
Then outside for potty and into bed with a likimat or Kong around 7:30-8pm
We take him out for last potty about 11 then back to bed with a bedtime sprat. (He sprints to his bed for that sprat its adorable)

If we have a good day he goes right to sleep at this point if not I put on soothing puppy music and sit with him untill he chills himself out then bed for us humans.

 

[catracy]

@alyg Our 12 week old takes her last nap usually around 5:30 to 7:30/8pm. Then we take her out for a potty break, play some tug/indoor fetch and brush her fur. 8:30ish we will brush her teeth and then some more gentle play or give her some chew toys. She's usually in bed around 9 and has been sleeping until 6 for the past few days.