This post is sponsored by Hill’s. My GBGV Life is being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s® Science Diet® Perfect Weight 10 Week Turnaround, but My GBGV Life only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.
Do you have a healthy routine for your dog to follow? We dogs love routine in our lives!
Did you know more than 50% of pets are overweight pets! A healthy routine can help get your dog back on the path to a perfect weight. Hill’s® Science Diet® Perfect Weight food offers a 10 Week Turnaround plan whereby 70% of pets lost weight in the first 10 weeks! A healthy food with a blend of natural ingredients, prebiotic fibers, and 100% balanced nutrition from Hill’s can play a large role in dog weight loss.
Our daily routine is really made up of three parts:
- Lots of Lovin’
- Fun & Exercise
- Healthy Foods
Our routine is pretty much the same, day in and day out. Times for our activities can vary up to a few hours on some days, but we know the order of events which keeps us calm.
Download the 10 Week Turnaround Calendar to track your dogs routine! The basis of our daily routine is working for food. We very rarely get a meal or snack without first doing an activity such as walking or practicing commands. We’ve learned to earn our food. As an example, we walk or run first in the morning, and then get breakfast. If you need tips on activities, Tips & Tools from Hills can help you out.
The love part is easy and happens on and off all day long. If you look at our day journal, you can see we are also quite active. Walking is a wonderful activity and it can be done anywhere, anytime. We tend to walk fast for a better workout.
Going for a run with your dog is an awesome workout for both of you! Great for cardio and burning calories!
Play is an easy way to maintain a perfect weight. Play can be fetch, keep away, or just playing chase with other dogs.
Don’t forget your dog also needs mental stimulation. Bailie and I both work on our nose work and tracking to keep our minds in tip top shape.
Even senior dogs need to keep working on their health and wellness. Katie gets out for walks twice a day, but her walks are a bit shorter and slower.
In my routine list, did you notice all the snacks we have during a day? We don’t eat a big cookie each snack time. We choose healthy low calorie treats and sometimes just a piece of apple or banana is our snack. Snacks pack on calories, so you need to watch what you eat! Check out the Treat Translator!
When it comes to the main meals, ALWAYS measure your food! We eat together as a pack. We wait for all the food to be ready and don’t eat until we are told it is ready. The photo above was taken merely to demonstrate measuring out food.
Don’t wait for tomorrow! Start your dog on a healthy routine today!
It’s so important to have a routine. In fact, I think dogs like to have a routine schedule. I’m convinced my dog’s can tell when it’s feeding time.
We know when it is walk time, play time, feeding time. We know.
those are some excellent tips
Thanks you guys. Hope your moving is coming along well.
My mom measures my food too… probably with a thimble… :o) but it seems that I can enter the scale of the vet-guy on thursday without fear… at least I hope so :o)
You need a sibling to run around with to burn calories so you can eat more 😉
Excellent tips and reminders that healthy = happy. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
Absolutely, healthy=happy!
Great tips! Mom follows the same order of events with us too so we always know what to expect. Its helpful for sure! You are so active and healthy. Katie is so sweet too,we can’t forget about our senior pups! Emma-as an 8 year old dog do you still run with Mom? Harley used to until he was about 6 and it got to be too much for his hips. Now, I (Charlie) sometimes goes for runs with Mom but mostly we just do really long walks!
Thanks. Katie ran until she was nine, I ran regularly until I was about six, but then I got tired of it. I still do run occasionally. On vacation, I ran every day. Mom comes down and asks me if I want to run. Sometimes I do, but usually, especially in the dark of winter I prefer to keep on sleeping and let Bailie take her by herself and then I walk with her and Katie when she is done running. It keeps Mom busy.
Oh man, you guys have already gone miles before we’ve dragged out butts out of bed.
We are an early bird family, but we never catch worms, just wabbits!
I love the naps in the sun puddles. How old is Katie now?
Katie will be 13 in June. Bailie, Bert, and I are the sun worshipers in the house. Katie and Sophie prefer shade.
We love routine!! We keep mom on schedule. And if she gets off schedule? We get her right back on! Great post Emma. Your doodle friend Dash
Thank you. We stick to our routine pretty well and since we have all been doing it for so long, it is easy to keep on track.
Great post, Emma! I have a daily routine so I KNOW when I’m walking, eating, playing, napping, etc. If Ma even starts to get off the routine, I am there to remind her. I love my routine…it makes me happy and keeps me healthy.
Oz
We love our routine too, it keeps us happy and healthy!
You guys really ARE early birds!! We think schedules are extremely important! The girls get all mixed up when their routine is changed in any way. You all love sun puddles too! Great post Emma!
We vary out schedule during the day by a few hours sometimes, but it stays pretty much the same and we love it.
I am all about an ounce of prevention. Always good to be healthy, all the time.
They say healthy, wealthy, and wise. We are working hard on the wealthy, but it isn’t happening. Health is more important anyway.
Wow, the treat translator really says a lot, thanks for that!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
The treat translator is downright frightening!
Oh, my. I must talk to the mom about a routine. I do get my food measured. I know the mom would like to get me involved in therapy dog or obedience training. I hope she will do that after she has her back surgery in August. She has to wait so long for insurance reasons. I do get to use my doggie door freely and have a big back yard to run and chase birds and squirrels. I force Lyla and the mom to play with me inside. I love playing tug-of-war with toys and playing fetch with them. XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
In my opinion, skip obedience. Humans have it way overrated! I’m sure your life is fairly structured and hopefully your mom can get you into some kind of activity later in the year.
Great post guys, thanks. You all have a great day.
Lots of Woofs from Earl, Ethel and I at Earl’s World!
Thanks, Earl!
Great tips! I wonder if Rolo would like to learn how to track, Ive never done that with him before..
You could see if there is a tracking class or tracking intro class to take. They aren’t too expensive and it would give you the basics to teach Rolo and see if there is interest. Tracking for a title, is quite time and space intensive as tracks are as long as 500 yards and have to be in field where you haven’t been for at least two days, but it is fun.
Great post, Emma! Especially love the Treat Translator–would have never guessed how many calories are in just one little bite!!
Thank you. Downright scary numbers there!
We keep a pretty steady routine. The boys know what is going on during the day and react accordingly. I am beyond proud to say that our vet said Bentley is within 3 lbs of his ideal weight. We have dropped from 67 to a handsome 59 pounds since November.
That is awesome and a lot of poundage for a pup! Good work Bentley!
Routine and exercise are what keep us in shape here – and the lovin’ part? Well, that’s what makes life great!
Lovin’ is the bonus for everything, the best part!
I’m going to say first off that I always love your photos! So well done! My dogs get a ton of exercise. Daily walks, fetch all day (since I work from home!) and weekly agility class, as well as practice at home. It’s all about routine for my kids!
Thank you. We love photos, but that is obvious 🙂 My mom works from home mostly too and we all love it. A good variety of activity keeps everyone interested too.
Y’all have the healthiest routines going on all the time!
Our cats lie around with their paws up watching us go here and there, do this and that, but they have no desire to join in.
Emma, our days are pretty similar. Your mom gets you up a bit earlier that ours does and we don’t walk/run as far with Jax (but we’re building on distance everyday) Harley’s starting to nap in the afternoon with Jax so I get to do other things during that time. Great post, it gives everyone a chance to think about their schedule and look for room to improve!
Puppies shouldn’t be walking so far until they are older anyway. We did separate walks, sometimes Bailie alone, sometimes all three and sometimes Katie or me with Bailie. It is good for the little one to walk without siblings too. Your routine will be back before you know it. I know at first Mom thought life had ended, but it all settled down again.
Nice routine guys! I love the little journal you have there to show us what your daily schedule looks like.
Thanks. I got tired writing it all down. I guess it seems easier when actually doing it than listing it all.
What a wonderful post Emma, we also love our routines too!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
Good routines rock!
You guys sure know how to stay busy! You have a great routine going on. I love that you spend so much time together and have so many opportunities to love each other.
Mom works from home most of the time, so we get lots of together time which we all love! We are lucky.
What a great routine you have!! Ours vary just a bit during the week since I work every other day outside the home, so MWF has one routine and TuesThurs has a different one. We sometimes change things a bit depending on the season too. There’s always lots of naps and (small, healthy) treats in there too though, and we have a bit more ball playing than walking. And of course the loves and hugs and snuggles are definitely the most important here too!
Since none of us are real into ball or Frisbee, we do more walking or running. Bailie enjoys finding a ball and running around with it if you chase her, but that is the extent of it.
That a great routine you have Emma. I think I need to step ours up a bit!
Ours is full of steps. We all fall into bed at night for sure. Lots of activity, but lots of napping too.
Thanks for the great tips and the tools are very handy.
Thank you.
Awesome post, Emma! We don’t have a set routine but I’m working on it!
A routine really makes life easier for everyone and it helps keep you on track for fitness too.
great post! I am bad about treats, I give way to many treats during the day.
We got lots of treats too, but they are small and/or low cal mostly.
Cool post! I loved reading about your routine and found it inspiring. (Up at 5 with an immediate 3 to 5 mile walk/run! Awesome!) I have to admit, I’ve been feeding Ace right when I get up at about 5:30 and then taking him for his walk at about 8:30. He gets a potty break right before breakfast but not a walk. I used to make him work for his food when he was younger, but not now. I may need to re-think that though because I do know he does love to work. I think it makes him feel more fulfilled and like you said, probably calmer. Not that he’s hyper or anything, but I want him to feel like he has a purpose.
Does your mom walk with you and then take Katie second? Or how does she manage the three of you with different needs?
Beamer has lost weight on the Hill’s weight management food. That was without changing anything but his diet.
Mom either runs with Bailie and then walks Katie and I or she walks Bailie and I, and then Katie. Bailie and Katie is impossible as they have such different energy levels. All of us eat after walking. Today for the first time in months she took all three of us for a walk because it was so nice out and she wanted some family pics. It was extremely hard and Katie had a lot of trouble walking. It was a favorite place for us to walk, but Katie couldn’t get up the hill, her back end kept collapsing. We did make it, but we didn’t walk more than maybe a half mile total. She does much better on the flat walks or gradual hills around our house. We kind of doubt we will be able to do it again unless we have a second person along. It was stressful for everyone and Mom was in tears about Katie most of the walk. Oddly, Katie was the happiest of all. She enjoyed being out like we used to in a place she hadn’t been in a long time. Even when she couldn’t get up, she was happy which made Mom cry even more. It is very hard right now, but it is life and we deal with it as best as we can.
Oh thank you for sharing that story even though it must’ve been hard to share. I’m sure its so hard to see katie struggling but I’m also glad she enjoyed herself. I hope she has a good day today.
She is doing much better since it is flat around here.
Brown dawgs keep pretty active but mostly training in the after/noon evenings. 🙂
Your training is pretty intense with all the running and different areas.
It’s great to have a range of activities during the day, followed by some napping time!
In the “misery loves company” category, it’s good to know there are others up at 5. Good for you guys! Moving around is the way to a happy, healthy dog (and biped) 🙂
The early birds get the worms…well actually we get wabbits, not worms but it works for us! We are a true morning bunch!