[Rosealima]

Hello, I am Roselima, and I have a new puppy who is doing great in crate at night. Sleeps quietly from 11-6:30. Began a new routine that I want today, but only a part of it. I didn't give a KONG because I have a few concerns which are found at the end of my desired routine which is:

In the AM (6:30):
1. Take her out to do her business (wait 2 mins for any/all)
2. Into house on leash while I make my coffee
3. back outside to see if there's more business to be done
4. immediately upon returning in, into crate with stuffed KONG so I can shower/dress/morning chores.

Questions:
* Does she need water accessible in her crate with the KONG
* Can I really give this pup a frozen KONG? That seems too cold/hard (it is what I saw recommended on youtube and elsewhere) or do I just give her a KONG with simple kibble inside falling out easily?
* Won't eating cause the urge to defecate/urinate?
* I am hoping to gain an hour and a half with this method. Is that too long. If so, how long can I give her until taking our again?

Please, if possible, provide your opinion on now, as a 10 week old puppy and for later, as an older puppy.
Thank you so much...this is my first post=)

 

[3GSD4IPO]

Frozen is fine. It just slows them down a little. You can put a little low fat plain yogurt in there and add kibble so she has to work a bit for the kibble. If she is a puppy and teething, the frozen Kong usually is welcome on those sore gums.

 

[Rosealima]

Thank you, 3GSD4IPO. Still working out the kinks on timing, because she sometimes needs to go outside earlier, but I am hopeful that my 'dream' schedule will someday be a reality if we keep working toward it.

We want her to work for her food, to keep her mentally stimulated and channel a tiny part of that puppy energy. Initially though, to get her acclimated to our home and housebreaking and all being so new, we simply waited for a sit before putting her bowl down. It went like this: hold bowl and look at puppy, puppy whined/jumped/sat by accident, we clicked as soon as she sat & put bowl down. She learns so fast! Each subsequent time, she sat as soon as we walked to her feeding spot.

Then...enter the KONG! Instead of the bowl, which required constant supervision from us, because of housebreaking/crate training being so new, we used the KONG in her closed crate. Right now, we are placing her kibble dry into a puppy KONG ball or large size puppy KONG toy. She rolls her KONG to release the kibble and seems to be enjoying herself immensely. After her 15 minute feeding, she is a little more tired out since she has moved the entire time rolling the ball, she is fed (never leaves kibble now like she did in bowl), and, most importantly to this owner, I have had 15 minutes 'free' where I did not have to closely supervise the puppy! I love emptying the dishwasher and watching her play/eat at the same time -- more relaxed meals for all of us.
I will try the suggestion of 3GSD4IPO next and mix her kibble with yogurt...I am so curious how she will react to a wet mixture instead of kibble tumbling easily out. This mental stimulation is just awesome, wish we had done this with our former dog...we will never feed from a bowl on a regular basis again!