How much time and how well mannered?

We just moved across the country and are now in Edmonton living with my boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law. They have a little beagle who has sort of piqued my curiosity. I'm interested to know: in comparison to what you consider the "average", how much time do you spend with your dog and how well mannered are they (not necessarily connected).

I keep whispering to my dogs a out how lucky they are. I spend as much time as possible with my dogs. I walk them at least once a day, we go to agility a few times a week, I take them on trips to pet stores even when we don't need anything, I take them hiking or to dog parks. If I'm going to a non-dog thing I do my best to take the dogs with me. Whenever I go to frisbee games or practices I bring the dogs and tether them with my stuff. I stop in to pet them whenever I come off the field, I take them on our warm up run, and I let them run and play disc before and after the game/practice.

In contrast this little beagle almost never leaves the house except to go out in the backyard. I think I've seen him get taken on a grand total of 2 walks in the last month. When I take my dogs out he often stands at the door and tries to squeeze out with us. The only place he gets to go is to my sister-in-law's parents' house which is down the street. And even when they are home they don't really spend any specific dedicated time with him. I mean, they cuddle on the couch while watching t.v. and he might wander around in the yard while they do yard work.

And then manners... I won't say he's horrible but so far he has stolen my salad off the kitchen table when I turned my back to let my dogs back inside. He stole Jarrett's sandwich off the counter when he popped his head out the back door to answer his brother. Oh, and he chewed out the pocket of my scrubs because he smelled crumbs. He was also throwing our bathroom trash all over the floor and eating used feminine hygiene products (sorry if that's TMi). We had to set up a baby gate to keep him out of our space in the basement. And he HOWLS at everything and nothing. I know he's a beagle and a lot of these are beagle behaviours ad really he's not that bad compared to what some dogs must be like. And he's a sweet, laid back dog otherwise. But man, I could not tolerate that in my own house. I do not expect to be able to leave a plate of food out all day and not have it be eaten, but I do expect to be able to turn my back while in the same room as the food and not have it eaten. And Kili still spends a lot of time in a crate precisely because she's not totally trustworthy yet.

We move into our own house August 1. I cannot wait.

I'm the same as you, I try to involve my dog in as much as I can. She goes for at least one good (40 min) walk a day, we play games. We do a lot of hanging out at home but when I do go out with friends I try to bring her along (beers on a patio, hanging out at a friend's house etc) whenever possible.

She has super house manners. I don't think they're related. She just came out of the box great.

Hope the next two weeks go by fast!

Well, both of the dogs are left at home for around 11 hours a day (on days we both work). They don't get walked. Cynder doesn't have any formal training. I don't train and play with Abrams like I should. We go to the beach on occasion. That's about it.

Cynder is wonderful. A more even tempered, better behaved dog you could not ask for. Her only "misbehavior" is mild separation anxiety, so if she's left 100% alone (people and Abrams both gone) she gets into the trash. That's it.

Abrams would probably drive a lot of people nuts, but he's alright. The past two weeks due to some schedule changes he hasn't gotten near as much stimulation as he should, and it's starting to show. He's getting more physical, whiney, and is in your face all of the time. Totally our fault, though, and once this month is over he should be back to his mostly sane self.

Cynder, I think, would have done well in almost any environment. Abrams would be too much dog for a lot of people, and he'd be even better if I actually exercised him like I should. As it is, he's good enough.

Astro gets a lot of dedicated dog-time, partly out of necessity - without a yard or any rural space immediately around, it's 3 walks a day or I get pee in the apartment. He go to classes pretty frequently. Mostly nosework, sometimes private agility lessons, and one fairly hilarious round of rally/obedience classes. He comes with me to pet stores pretty regularly and is dragged around in the car or in a taxi all the time.

...And with all that time and involvement and everything, he's still not well-mannered I'd rather have a dog who's too lovey and obnoxious about it, than a dog who's too polite (by my standards), so really it's my fault. I allow zoomies in the apartment. I pretty routinely get flattened by him because he sees me taking a nap or typing or whatever and just takes a flying leap directly onto me. He whines and makes weird whale-call noises for attention, and I laugh and play with him to reinforce it. In general he's just not a nice easy housedog who stays out of people's way and out of trouble, he gets in everybody's business and is demanding.

Because of that, it's important that he's rock-solid about being crated, including when people are around. The sort of dog I like to own is one that a lot of people find exhausting or stressful to interact with, so if I know someone is coming over who finds big, drooling, pushy dogs overwhelming, into the crate he goes. And his manners in the crate are impeccable, no screaming or crying whatsoever.

I spend a ton of time with my dog, or I did when I wasn't working 2 hours away from home and living in a hotel during the week.

We were constantly enrolled in classes from the time he was a puppy, and we were always trying new things or going to seminars. I showed him about once a month in conformation. I took him for a long evening walk and my husband took him for a short morning walk. I don't have kids or many other hobbies, so he's my baby *and* my hobby. :rofl1:

I'll be the first to admit that he's not very well behaved. He's not awful, and I've gotten compliments on how well behaved he is in public (usually on day 3 of a vacation when he's too tired to be bad). But he can be a little dog reactive, he can get overstimulated by other dogs or wildlife and start shrieking (he has the most annoying bark ever), he counter surfs, he barks when we leave the house (or just go outside without him), he has so-so leash manners, he sometimes jumps on people, and he's mouthy as heck (though not with strangers thankfully). He's also worse with new people than us - for example, my husband and I can leave food on the table and he won't touch it, but he'll try to take food out of new people's hands. He is always pushing limits.

I've always said that he's the type of dog who has to be taught everything. He doesn't have any good manners naturally at all - his default setting is "bad". :lol-sign: It takes a lot of energy sometimes to manage him and to remind him of what is expected. I guess he's a typical teenage male sporting dog. He would be a lot to handle for people who didn't exercise him and didn't keep up with his training, but I have a feeling that he'll settle into a nice old man dog some day who would fit into most households.

I spend an absurd amount of time with my dogs, seeing as much work is often from home or they come with me, and I totally prioritize doing things that they can be involved with. I will frequently decline activities that mean they would need to be left home, simply for that reason.

Mostly Onyx gets structured training time and classes, etc, but everyone gets tons of walks, beach time, and general activity.

Yarrow and Jasper are both pretty great in the house, mostly sleep, no real bad manners. Onyx can be a bit of a hellion, some of it cause I've let her get away with stuff, and some because she is the way that she is She also does honestly just chill out a lot too, she's not that bad, but she can be busy, she alert barks quite a bit (sometimes at nothing), she can be very mouthy especially with visitors (she loves to pester them and try to get them to play with her), she will occasionally counter surf, ETC! She would probably drive lots of people crazy, and this is her with a LOT of mental and physical stimulation, if she was cooped up she'd be a total monster for sure. She's gotten to the point where she's pretty good in her crate, but it took a long time, she used to be a big screamer.

That being said, when I take care of other people's dogs, their little quirks and bad habits annoy the heck out of me, so I think I just have a bias with my own dogs where even if they do annoying things, it doesn't bother me.

I spend as much time as possible with my dogs. Every spare moment I have is with them.

In order to spend that much time with them they need to be well mannered so they can come all over with us. Abe is just a naturally well mannered dog but a lit of work went into him also. Zoey and fig get work daily and they are pretty great already.

It's important to me that even when I'm tired and just want to veg I give my dogs everything they need. I took them in and so their needs are my responsibly!


It drives me nuts when people complain about their dogs being annoying when they haven't gotten off their butts and done anything with them. It's a big beautiful world get out their and explore.

Leo is living the life right now, because I am a teacher and currently have the summer off. That means we are constantly hanging out and he never gets crated.

During the school year, I do at least something with him every day, but he does get crated for 9 hours during which I work. That will be a lot nicer next year, since I will have a back yard to throw him in.

Since we live in an apartment, he gets at least two 5-10 minute walks a day in order to go potty/poop. I then also spent 30-50 minutes with him at some location where he can run (park, dog park, the track where I then do a workout). Other than that, we mostly just hang out at home. I have a few short play sessions with him, but a lot of time is spent either sleeping or cuddling.

As far as behavior, I would say he is very well behaved, especially for a 1 year old dog. He is an angel at home. Out and about with heavy distractions, he is a little more spastic but overall good. He will pull on leash when he gets super excited, or try to jump up if a person is already interacting with him and riling him up, but he mostly doesn't jump up, doesn't bark, and listens very well.

My "go go go" border collie mix only gets 30min- 1 hour of exercise a day and still is a well-mannered citizen and settles in the house. Imagine that :lol-sign:

I spend a ton of time with mine. They go to work with me, they go on almost daily bikeride/dog park/swimming excursions. I love to train and play disc with them. They all cuddle on the couch with me or hang out in the yard with me or go on car rides with me. Very few things get done with out them.

Fergus even gets extra specialy attention because his name is always getting called out:
"FERGUS!"
"FERGUS LET GO OF DIDGIE'S FACE!"
"FERGUS! NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO GO IN YOUR MOUTH!"
"FERGUS!!! LET GO OF MY EAR!!"

As far as manners? Mine really don't have great manners. They jump on tables, walk across anything in their path including people or tables. They tend to all jump when excited (Or just jump into my arms or rebound off me....or really, I just encourage all kinds of jumping). They bark and Traveler is a world class counter surfer that is going to result in him being killed by me one of these days. Fergus thinks all things that can fit in his mouth should fit in his mouth. Trash if enticing is raided, though a good garbage can has fixed that.

But, other things they can do that I value more than that are default sits when I want them, being able to be off leash in the yard (no fence) and hang around, great recalls in the house and outside, best cuddlers around, off switches (DO YOU HEAR THAT FERGUS! OFF SWITCH), they understand human language so when I talk to them and tell them things they just kinda do it, they can focus around distractions and pay attention to me, they sleep until I want to get up (Or until Fergus body slams us....we're working on it) and most importantly they pose for all my stupid dog pictures :rofl1:

I wouldn't call them well mannered. But I wouldn't exactly call them ill-mannered, either. I guess they sort of... test moods and tolerance and adjust accordingly.

I spend a lot of time with them. My work schedule is very dog-friendly right now and although our dog park and most of my scootering trails are flooded right now (pesky!) but I still try to get them out several times a week. Squash is pretty much always in one class or another. Pip always comes to my community garden plot with me.

And even if we're just hanging out at home doing nothing actively engaging, I like to sit in the backyard with them while they buzz around doing dog things. That's actually become my favorite post-work decompression (+/- beer) now that it's light late in the evenings.

It would be fair to say that I spend all my free time with them. If I'm not working, I don't spend my day just hanging out at home... we're going for walks, going to the park, the pet store, playing in the yard, etc. It's actually kind of pathetic, I'm completely thrown off when the weather is bad because it means I can't be out with the dogs! I don't know what to do with myself otherwise lol.

My dogs have annoying quirks and push my buttons a lot but yes, I consider them well behaved. Especially when compared to the majority of the dogs I see out in public. They're polite at home, Cajun is a little obnoxious at times but not really anything out of the ordinary for an adolescent, high energy dog. She and Lucy are barkers which is probably THE most annoying thing, but they are able to be quieted so at least we have that in our favor I guess.

I just don't tolerate stupid crap from them, which would be the case even if they never left the house. Doesn't mean they don't try things and it doesn't mean I'm always successful in squashing annoying behaviors, but I definitely lay down rules and boundaries. Like, there is a significant difference between how the dogs behave when I'm home, and how they behave for everyone else when I'm not home.

Most my spare time is spent with the dogs. Lately that is a lot more hanging out indoors at the house because of the heat and Mia's health. I hate that. When it's cooler and she was healthier we'd spend most of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday running around. And we'd run around every night after work too. As it is I have to be more careful so we're only really doing 30 mins-1 hour here and there.

I'd say 1 weekend a month is a trial with Summer. Summer and I typically have 2-3 classes a week plus 1-2 ring rentals a month. But now we're on just one class a week because it's hot.

They're.... sort of mannerly? Haha. At home they're kind of annoying because I don't care. They walk perfectly on and off leash. They're really responsive and smart dogs and very keyed in to me.

I love doing stuff with them. And I miss doing stuff with Mia.

I spend nearly 24 hours a day with my dogs. They come to work with me, we do everything together. I even brought my dogs on my honeymoon and had them participate in my wedding 7 years ago. With that said, I have a beagle. I love him, I really do, most of the time.... I train with him daily, etc etc etc. But he will most certainly steal a plate of food off of the counter if my back is turned. Nearly all of my scrubs have holes in the pockets from treat crumbs being chewed out (my fault for not securing the laundry hamper). He isn't very barky for a hound but that bloody nose of his is full on when it comes to food. He is super well mannered if no food is around. In fact his incredible food drive made him easy to train and we can even have him off lead with a so far perfect recall! I even had him examined medically to make sure that his incredible food obsession was not a medical problem...it wasn't. So we have had to modify our lives. Garbage cans have locks. Dirty clothes do not lay on the floor. Food can not be left unattended if he is not crated. When he is crated he relaxes because he knows that he cannot get the food, if he is left out his stress level increases because he is desperate to get the food.

It's not fun and it's not easy. Some people have to deal with DA or DR and they live perfectly managed lives. I have to deal with food obsession. Does this make him a bad dog? I don't think so. He is wonderful when it comes to all of the other things in life, just not unsupervised food. I feel bad for you having to live with this behavior especially when you didn't choose to deal with a dog like that. I also feel for the little hound, what a small world he must live in.

My time with my crew has dropped considerably since deciding to return to school. However, DH works 3rd shift so they get a lot of time with humans.

School this semester has conflicted with work, so I'm unable to take them to work most days. Tulsa normally gets at least 30 minutes of structured training a day plus playtime, ect. A good 3 or so socialization trips a week.

Harlow and Rider are just super good dogs. They are both well mannered in the house. Harlow struggles with recall, so spends most of her time on a long line, but other than that she's great. I try to bike with her at least once a week and she's normally my go-to running partner. Rider goes to agility once/week and we do a few training sessions a week at home. He's my work buddy at the dog park when I don't have class following.

I'm a homebody outside of school and work, so we mainly chill at the house other than that. If I go to a friends, one or two of the dogs come along. Harlow goes many places with Josh. I trade them off for hiking. I probably should take them more places and do more training, but I don't plan on actively trialing either Nub or Rider so I don't worry too much as long as they stay well socialized. Tulsa goes all the places because drive building/new experiences/performance puppy/my heart girl.

I spend much of my free time with my pets. The dog(s) and I are regularly outside doing fun things in the summer. I usually have a dog at work with me.

Right now we're doing even more in an attempt to make Diego tired, haha.

Gabby loves to do stuff! I love to do stuff with her!

I notice this a lot with other peoples dogs, if honest and if not a bit rude, I find a lot of them pretty ignorant. When I get looks of shock when my dog just looks in my eyes on command [focus] and comments of amazement, it blows me away because I don't consider myself a dog guru by any means. When my dogs don't grab stuff out of my hands and then take it politely when told good, or just sitting out in the yard brushing my dog and people walking by will comment how amazing it is they are just chilling there calmly as I run a brush through.

I just kind of chuckle, because spending a lot of time and working with my dogs just seems part of the requirements of owning a dog. I'm not even close to the dog master some of you are here and yet people act like I am, just kind of shows you how little [research and time] they put into their own.

I try to include Jackson in pretty much everything I do that he is allowed to do. If we're going to an outdoor restaurant, I'll bring him. He comes on most family vacations. If I'm running errands such as going to the bank, going to the hardware store, stopping at the pet store, going to the car wash, he comes with me.

He's really well behaved in public. He will walk by dogs barking at him, and not care, he doesn't care about people much - even though he doesn't 'like' being pet, he's not aggressive at all, and will allow it. He doesn't leash pull or bark etc.

Honestly that's one of the biggest reasons I still only have one dog... I LOVE bringing him places and doing things with him. If I had two, I have a feeling that would lessen a lot (not the trips to the parks and the like, but restaurants, and errands and stores, etc).

At home, he is a begger. That's probably his worst habit and it's one I haven't ever discouraged so I don't really care about it. He's also a big alert barker. But in public? He's nearly perfect.