[PeggyTheParti]

I'm always wondering how far to go to accommodate my poodle's quirks.

Currently:

1. No morning potty, prefers late morning
2. No breakfast, prefers lunch

Both of these can be accommodated on a normal day, but will get awfully annoying if we're travelling or if we have to depart first thing in the morning and leave Peggy at home.

Does your poodle have any scheduling-related quirks? How accommodating are you?

 

[bluegirl1997]

My 12 year old standard poodle does not like to go outside when I first get up at 6 a.m. so I usually shower and then make coffee and do my hair for work, as she sleepily watches me from her nice cozy bed. Only then can she be coaxed to go outside. Another thing she does is, she hates it when the Boston terrier and the Frenchie wrestle. She will keep looking at me and giving little indignant barks and even if I reassure her that they're fine she keeps doing it until I finally let them outside to wrestle or stop them. I guess it just gets on her nerves

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[Raindrops]

Misha went through a phase of not eating in the morning. I also fed in afternoon. But after a while he stopped and now eats great whenever. He also hates to pee in our yard especially if it is the slightest bit damp. He never poops in it. I don't really accommodate. If he wants to wait until I walk him in the afternoon then that's fine. It's up to him and I don't care as long as he doesn't pee inside.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

My 12 year old standard poodle does not like to go outside when I first get up at 6 a.m. so I usually shower and then make coffee and do my hair for work, as she sleepily watches me from her nice cozy bed. Only then can she be coaxed to go outside. Another thing she does is, she hates it when the Boston terrier and the Frenchie wrestle. She will keep looking at me and giving little indignant barks and even if I reassure her that they're fine she keeps doing it until I finally let them outside to wrestle or stop them. I guess it just gets on her nerves

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I used to call Gracie the fun police for this very reason! She got very concerned when other dogs would play or get too excited.

She also was a slow mover in the morning as she got older. But Peggy's up and ready to go. She just doesn't want to "go." 😂

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Misha went through a phase of not eating in the morning. I also fed in afternoon. But after a while he stopped and now eats great whenever. He also hates to pee in our yard especially if it is the slightest bit damp. He never poops in it. I don't really accommodate. If he wants to wait until I walk him in the afternoon then that's fine. It's up to him and I don't care as long as he doesn't pee inside.

I like your tough love/tough luck approach. It's just been so long since I've had a dog with a youthful bladder. I'm used to it being so urgent!

 

[Raindrops]

I like your tough love/tough luck approach. It's just been so long since I've had a dog with a youthful bladder. I'm used to it being so urgent!

Yeah it's certainly perplexing at times! I would not have imagined it until I saw him. Weird dog. It's not fun when we get multi-day torrential downpours here in south Florida though!

 

[VanessaC]

Groot also doesn’t really like to eat in the mornings so I’ve switched to feeding him once a day and it’s working great for us. When we have to go on a long trip or we’re gonna be out all day, I used to fill his bowl or bring dry food for him but more often than not he wouldn’t really be interested until dinner, so I stopped worrying about it. With Snoop, he was enticed to eat in the morning alongside her for a little while but that’s since worn off. When she gets breakfast now he can’t be bothered to get out of bed.. he knows there’ll be a goat’s milk snack in the afternoon and more than enough food for dinner.

 

[Dechi]

I let go whatever won’t have any consequences. Like eating in the morning. But for pottying, I wouldn’t allow it because it can be a big problem down the line.

 

[Skylar]

I didn’t toilet train Babykins because whe was almost a year old when I got her. I often wonder if her weird potty habits were innate or trained.

She can easily wait all morning to pee. When we brought her home, it was winter and I remember scrambling to get dressed , winter coat and boots to get her out as soon as I woke up. Now I know there’s no rush. Shower, eat, read news, relax dress etc. and she’s not in any rush to pee or poop. In fact she wants to walk a while before pottying and she never wants to do it close to home. In the winter I tried to make her quick go out to potty on an area we shoveled for her on grass near the house. She still has to walk on the road and she gets frustrated when snow blocks good smells. Only after a good walk will she come back to potty on her shoveled spot. OTOH shes happy to potty reasonably quickly outside dog clubs. She needs to read lots of pee mail before she potties.

i Also tried to get her to potty on our lawn, took her out like a new puppy often to a spot on the lawn and back inside. She didn’t potty all day. I even seeded it with some of her poop. I finally gave up and walked her that evening and she took her time before relieving herself.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Today she went until 12:30 without peeing! She even played with her friends for a while, running full speed. Bladder of steel.

 

[Mufar42]

My dogs have always gone out first thing int he morning to potty. Renn has always had to wait while I let the little dogs out first and fed them. Then it was his turn. He only potties on leash and in his area of the yard, pretty much on command. Then he comes in and eats. (He is a slow chewing type of guy and take his sweet time) Sometimes he isn't interested. If not I leave it down for awhile and then pick it up till its time for his 2nd meal. After he eats he runs around the house some tries to chase a cat or two, plays with his toys then settles down next to me and naps. He will get a little crazy if he has to potty again or will c one and bark at me. If I ask do you want to potty? He will bark and run to the door turn around to get his leash on and out we go. So its usually two trips out in the AM, first one because I say its time, 2nd he says its time. Then he is usually fine till about 3 in the afternoon. He has a strong bladder and doesn't seem to need to go very often. He is finished and goes to bed by 8 and pretty much has always done this after initial potty training.

 

[Dogs4Life]

I have 2 dogs that have very different personalities and their own quirks. If I am home all day with them, it is much easier to schedule around their quirks; but, when it's a work day, there is less time to do this. One is an early riser and wants to go out immediately, so they both go. I have to make one them go in the grass, and usually she will then at least try to go. One also drinks more water than the other, so this could also have something to do with this. It's much easier to feed them when they enjoy their food because they are now on scheduled feedings. Before, getting them to eat breakfast was a chore, so I would leave food out, but I can't do that with these 2 because they steal the other's food. Left them alone for a few minutes this morning during breakfast and came back to some guilty faces...no doubt some food swapping happened!

 

[bluegirl1997]

I woke up to the sound of my Boston terrier throwing up on the foot of the bed at 4 a.m. I was so tired I decided I would just deal with it in the morning, but then realized said Boston terrier was staring into my face from half an inch away anxiously, which can only mean one thing – she desperately needed to go outside. So I roused myself and let her out at 4:30 a m and NOW Blue the standard poodle who doesn't like to get up early decided she'd like nothing better than a pre-dawn leisurely sniff and stroll all around the property while I impatiently waited at the door trying to scrunch my eyes closed so that I wouldn't wake all the way up

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[vandog]

My Spoo is fine to potty whenever in the morning - if I’m up at 6 she’ll go then or if I’m in bed until 10:30 or 11, she’ll sleep until then! She usually pees first and then comes in and drinks and then goes out 5 minutes later to go poo. She will not pee or poop on a walk (she never has!) - we come home and she goes out back right away to relieve herself. She will go if she’s off leash at a park or we’re in a field but not on an actual walk.
She will not eat breakfast (never has) and prefers to eat around 12:30/1 lately but sometimes later. I’ll give her a snack (usually a little bit of fruit/veggies) in the morning when I’m eating but she won’t physically eat until later. It’s fairly easy to accommodate because her kibble is in her bowl/treat balls and if she eats when we’re not home it’s fine. When we went away, we had someone stay in the house so it wasn’t that big of a deal but left some pee pads out because she was only 4 months and then 7 months the second time. She did use the pads a few times but there was no accidents. They didn’t believe that she wouldn’t eat in the morning initially because all the dogs they’ve ever watched gulp food back even if they were just fed....not her. She will eat one kibble at a time and eats so slowly (but she does the the appropriate amount of food throughout the day and gets treats and what not).

 

[bluegirl1997]

Oh mine are all extremely eager eaters. But another quirk that I enjoy about Blue is that she is very decisive about what she likes and doesn't like. For instance if I feel like giving her head a pat as she's passing me but she's not into it she'll just dodge me and keep going. Or even if she is in the mood for a pet, but wants it in a specific spot like behind her ears, she'll definitely dodge any petting that isn't exactly where she wants it. You know you hit the right spot when her eyes go half closed and she looks like she's falling asleep. I think it's cute that she's so specific.

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[PeggyTheParti]

I woke up to the sound of my Boston terrier throwing up on the foot of the bed at 4 a.m. I was so tired I decided I would just deal with it in the morning, but then realized said Boston terrier was staring into my face from half an inch away anxiously, which can only mean one thing – she desperately needed to go outside. So I roused myself and let her out at 4:30 a m and NOW Blue the standard poodle who doesn't like to get up early decided she'd like nothing better than a pre-dawn leisurely sniff and stroll all around the property while I impatiently waited at the door trying to scrunch my eyes closed so that I wouldn't wake all the way up

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I feel like this perfectly describes the joys of doggy ownership. I could FEEL the familiar weariness as I read your words. Ha! We've all been there.

Hope the Boston is feeling better!

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I let go whatever won’t have any consequences. Like eating in the morning. But for pottying, I wouldn’t allow it because it can be a big problem down the line.

I'm struggling with this one, because she's always pottied on command. Even now, she'll reluctantly do a half squat and then looks to me like, "All good?"

I'm not sure how I can organize my days around a noon pee-er. And it's not like forcing her to hold it teaches her a lesson. I don't think dogs think, "Shoot. I really should have gone when I had the chance earlier, even though I didn't actually have to go."

Maybe I should stop with the potty immediately before bedtime. Let her out around 8 and then that's it for the night.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Whats with all these evening eating poodles?! Annie is the same by preference. When we are alone, she snacks maybe a bit in the morning, maybe not, eats a bit of kibble at lunch, snacks a bit at dinner time, then chows down at 8 or 9 pm.

I wouldn't worry it too much, dogs are adaptable to most schedules.

Annie used to be a 10:30 am or 11 am pee-er, lazing in my bed without stirring as I had a bath until I got dressed, but when my schedule changed when I moved back with my mom she adapted within a few days, and now expects to go out at 6:30-7:30 am(and needs to go). She also coincidentally discovered my mother feeds the other dog at that time, including extra chicken on top, and is willing to feed early-rising poodles chicken too. This is with the same evening last pee time of 10:30 or 11 pm.

Humans are the same. I used to work 12 hour work days on remote construction sites, no bathroom for kilometers other than a gross portapotty shared with all men (maybe) or a bush (in full view of the men I worked with- no thanks!), or a snowbank. The first two days were hard and I might find a bush, then after that I would adapt to holding it all day without issues unless I guzzled coffee. I suspect there are hormones involved with regulating and preparing thirst/desire to urinate signals, and, like sleep/hunger hormones, they adapt to your schedule fairly readily (assuming no other underlying health issues).