Advice On Looking After A Friends Dog

[skuzy]

Hi folks

looking for some advice whilst looking after a friends 3 small dogs (mixed breeds)..

Plans on daily routine are:

- Evening: let them sleep in the crate, no water.

- Morning: outside play/toilet break/water . Then 30 mins walk (trying to determine how long is enough). On return home, some more water & kibble/dry food.

- Day - return to crates with water

- Arvo - outside play/toilet break/more kibble -

repeat...

Can someone help with these questions?

1) During the day, im assuming its ok to leave water with them. Concern i'll come home to pee everywhere

2) Any dramas with feeding some food after the walk? or should this be done before the walk in the morning? Plans are feeding a 2 small portions of food per day

3) I was really suprised they were ok with 30 mins walk this morning!! they're little dogs i would of thought 15-20mins was heaps. Should i keep to once a day or twice a day @ 30mins?

4) General feed back on above?

Thanks in advance!

[JulesP]

Did the friend not leave instructions?

[twodoggies2001]

Did the friend not leave instructions?

Yes, I think that's the most logical way to go about it.

[megan_]

Are they spending all day locked in their crates? Is that normal for them? 30 mins a day and the rest in crates (if I have read that correctly) isn't something I would be comfortable with.

[Loving my Oldies]

OMG!! Dogs should never be without water unless instructed by vet. It is Summer in Sydney

Why do people think that little dogs are happy with 15 minutes. I have a tiny dog of indeterminate age (perhaps 12 or 13) and she will happily walk for nearly an hour - twice a day.

How long are you looking after the dogs?

Your friend should have left you with detailed instructions for you to consult on a daily basis.

[juice]

I hope you are not leaving them shut in crates nearly all the time, they are not mice!

[oakway]

OMG!! Dogs should never be without water unless instructed by vet. It is Summer in Sydney

Why do people think that little dogs are happy with 15 minutes. I have a tiny dog of indeterminate age (perhaps 12 or 13) and she will happily walk for nearly an hour - twice a day.

How long are you looking after the dogs?

Your friend should have left you with detailed instructions for you to consult on a daily basis.

Some dogs in Queensland where Cane Toads are bad do not have water overnight. Its tipped out so you will have live dogs in the morning.

Many dogs do not have water overnight for various reasons. :)

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Why are they in crates during the day?

Personally, I don't like the idea of leaving dogs in crates.

[megan_]

OMG!! Dogs should never be without water unless instructed by vet. It is Summer in Sydney

Why do people think that little dogs are happy with 15 minutes. I have a tiny dog of indeterminate age (perhaps 12 or 13) and she will happily walk for nearly an hour - twice a day.

How long are you looking after the dogs?

Your friend should have left you with detailed instructions for you to consult on a daily basis.

Some dogs in Queensland where Cane Toads are bad do not have water overnight. Its tipped out so you will have live dogs in the morning.

Many dogs do not have water overnight for various reasons. :)

The OP asked if they could be denied water in the day too to stop them peeing everywhere (in their crates, I presume)

[skuzy]

Obviously there's alot of concern but it appears the first post was not read properly.

So ill try again and hopefully there will be more useful feed back.

1) No specific instructions given - plus i dont agree with the ways these dogs were raised on some levels.

They are tiny pampered house dogs with food/water available whenever and how ever much they want with plenty of play time but no walks.

Right or wrong, i cant continue this whilst looking after them simply because i am not home 24/7.

2) Water is left them.

Clearly im not sure about usual practice with crate training + dog pee, so have decided to leave water with them until i get some guidance from here.

Obviously its summer. Thanks for the reminders. The SINGLE reason why they are being left inside the crate during the day is because its much cooler inside than outside.

They are tiny dogs and im worried they cannot handle the heat. PLUS the actual owners keep them in the house most of the time.

More than open to suggestions by the experienced owners on a better way to approach this.

3) just to clarify about time spent in the crate...

Mornings = outside toilet break whilst i get ready, then walk, then feeding time etc roughly 2.5 hours.

Evening they are outside of the crate from 6pm until we sleep (may also include another walk see next point).

All up i would say roughly anything up to 8 hours outside the crate.

really not enough? It seems like people only read the "30 mins walk" part from my first post

4) If you read the post properly the actual walk went for 30 mins (ran out of time) and there was a question if a further walk in the arvo for 30 minutes would be good.

They are not huskies nor working dogs. So the concern is on over exercising or exhausting them.

Right now plans are to let them tell me when enough is enough until someone more experienced here can guide.

FWIW they are not in a crate per-se but a portable dog fence set up in the house since we have room.

Any comments on food ?

Thanks again

Edited December 10, 2013 by skuzy

[Starkehre]

So, is what you are saying is that the dogs are not actually being crated at all. That there is a section of the house you are partitioning off and allowing them free roaming with one another in this area, which may/may not be an entire room or several rooms?

8 hrs per day only outside of a dog crate would only be acceptable under certain circumstances ie convalescing, short term emergencies etc. But if it is not a crate but a much larger area where the dogs can move around freely, then that is totally different.

If these are tiny dogs ensure the partition is not something they can get their heads through as they may get stuck.

For what it is worth, IMO if these dogs are not normally walked/exercised by their owners I would advised against doing so unless you have permission to. You are minding the dogs, not saving them.

Regarding food, contact the owner and find out exactly what they have been doing and do the same.

Edited December 10, 2013 by dyzney

[tdierikx]

If the playpen/crate setup is large enough for them to wee/poop away from food/water, and they can move around freely, then I don't see a huge problem.

I'd leave water for them at night also though.

If they wee/poo in the playpen, then you may just have to cope with that when you get home from work - and/or get up and make sure they are toiletted during the night too if you don't want to clean up messes in the morning.

T.

[raineth]

Yeah it might be good to leave them some newspaper in the pen. I'd definitely be leaving them with water, morning and night :) You may have to clean up after them unfortunately, just one of those things I guess.

One other thing, is that maybe don't give them their breakky just before you leave, as many dogs feel the urge to 'go' within about five minutes of having eaten. So give them their breakky and with enough time for a pit stop before they are put in their pen for the day.

I can understand where Dyzney's coming from. Do you know why they aren't normally walked? if it's just because the owner is a bit lax in that area, then I think giving them a walk in the morning is probably a good idea, and might help settle them for the day while you're at work. Maybe skip the afternoon one though. But if you know the owner has strong opinions on why they are not walked... well I'd be discussing it with the owners before doing it.

[W Sibs]

Little dogs can walk for more than 30 minutes :p

I feed my dogs after their walk all the time... i usually wait 45 minutes after their walk to feed them though.

For water, in Sydney with the weather, you should always give them access to water. For crating.. can you set up a big pen area for them instead of crating them and lay newspaper out for them instead?

I won't be comfortable crating a dog for more than 3 hours max at a time.

[Rosetta]

I would not walk them for more than 15 minutes at a time if they are not used to walking at all.

I would let them have access to water all the time.

I would provide a toileting area inside the pen as many small dogs cannot "hold on" for more than a few hours - especially if they are a bit older.

Toilet and play breaks morning and evening after feeding.

[Dogsfevr]

You are looking after the dogs but you need to still realize they have a routine they are use to whether you like it or not ,the dogs may accept it they may not .Many small dogs (depending on the breed) do allow more food than many think is norm due to hypo attacks,if these are breeds that can be prone to it than you need to be very careful that what you think is right isn't going against the dogs.

Our always have water ,we never withhold water even on pups .

Exercise i do agree with others if these dogs aren't use to it be very careful ,Looking after dogs means doing it per instructions & it would seem you now alot about what they are use to ,i have never known someone to not leave instruction or people going to look after not ask ??

Alot of dogs aren't walked & life wonderful lives but suddenly going for long walks on dogs that aren't exposed to it can cause soreness or stress especially out with a stranger & given the owners don't walk then i would be respecting that

If these dogs aren't use to toileting inside then you may face issues there & they hang on to long or get upset if they do mess inside.

If they do pee inside it wont be there fault

[Guest donatella]

You don't have to agree with their upbringing as house pampered dogs but you are kindly doing your friend a favour by sitting them. I would have thought that if they were adults and inside dogs they would be used go toilet routines and don't need treating like 6 week old pups. I have tiny dogs who would go mental in a small area as they are very active members of the family, for little dogs they rarely sit still. A sectioned off area sounds okay, try a tiled area in the house (kichen, dining etc) if you're worried about mess but I think a single room such as laundry or bathroom is too small for 3 adult dogs. Can you not talk to the owner to get a better idea of their routine?

[Gallomph]

Little dogs can be very vulnerable to other dogs when out walking. Especially if you have 3, how would you cope if an aggressive dog approaches? It may not be worth the risk.

[Guest donatella]

Little dogs can be very vulnerable to other dogs when out walking. Especially if you have 3, how would you cope if an aggressive dog approaches? It may not be worth the risk.

Yes this is why I don't walk mine on the streets.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Do you have a dog or dogs yourself? Are you having to keep them separate? Do you have a doggie door?

I've got multiple dogs here, they just take themselves outside using the dog door. I have a very elderly dog who is fragile and he's inside a dog run when I'm out, he can pee if he likes but he usually chooses to hold on because he's housetrained.

Did you friend leave suddenly due to some sort of emergency? I provide a lot more information to friends when they are going to take care of any of mine and I also try and find a situation that I know my own dogs will cope with rather than a different environment where they would be a problem or feel stressed - ie they are inside dogs so I wouldn't pass them on to someone who was going to keep them outside because I know they'd bark - bark to come in and bark at things during the night.