Fast answer Friday: Answers to your questions!

Laurie Asks: Is it true that dogs like consistency, such as feeding and walking at the same time each day? Or is it good to mix it up so they don't have expectations?

You often hear that dogs like a 'schedule' and that it important to feed meals at the same time. But really, this depends on your dog! We actually encourage dog owners to 'mix it up'! If you always do the same things at the same time with your dog, they might not be able to adjust if the schedule changes!

A dog that always eats at 8pm will most likely get sick, or even throw up bile, if his meal isn't ready to eat at 8pm.

Dogs that eat meals at the same time everyday start producing bile, acid and digestive enzymes several minutes before a meal in anticipation. If food isn't presented in a timely manner it can cause stomach upset & if it's to acidic the dog will usually throw it up. Dogs that eat meals at slightly different times each day produce these enzymes as they need them.

A dog that always eliminates on a morning walk might not eliminate elsewhere if he misses his morning walk.

Sometimes dogs will hold their urine or bowel movements out of confusion when a routine is changed and sometimes they will hold it until they get back into their routine. A dog that hasn't eliminated properly or is holding it can develop urinary track infections or risk other infections since the body is not properly eliminating waste.

A dog that has a schedule often doesn't want to defer from that schedule.

There is a convenience factor as well to having a dog that doesn't live by a schedule. Having a dog that insists you get up at 6am everyday sounds like a good idea until you stay out late the night before or you want to sleep in on the weekend (we're speaking from experience here. For almost 11yrs our Neapolitan pictured here, Eros, got us up at 6am. Everyday. For 11 years.)

Now some dogs do need a specific schedule, most of the time for medical reasons. But for the most part we like to keep our dog's on their toes - food, walks, play time, training time, down time, chew time and more are all going to come, my dogs just don't know when!

Happy Training!