A good puppy schedule is all about repeating the same simple cycle over and over again throughout the day: potty, then either eating or playing, then potty again, followed by sleep. This puppy schedule planner builds that cycle around your puppy’s current age and your own hours. Simply enter your puppy’s age, your wake-up time and your bedtime, and the tool will lay out a full day by the clock: potty breaks, meals, training, play, naps and night-time trips.
Routine is what makes a puppy easy to live with. A puppy that eats, sleeps and goes out according to a regular puppy schedule will have fewer accidents and settle into the crate quicker. They will also bite less, because much of the wild behavior puppies show in the evening is simply a sign they need sleep. Print the schedule, post it on the fridge for all to see, and get each member of your household to follow the same one.
Puppy Schedule Planner
Enter your puppy’s age and the hours your household keeps to get a full day laid out by the clock.
Treat the times as a framework. If your puppy wakes early from a nap, start the next block early, and always go outside straight after sleep, food and play.
What a Daily Puppy Schedule Should Include
- Potty breaks first thing, after every meal, after every nap, after play, and last thing at night.
- Meals at fixed times: four a day up to 12 weeks, three until six months, then two.
- Naps in a crate or pen after every awake period. Young puppies need 18 to 20 hours of sleep in every 24.
- Training in sessions of a few minutes, several times a day.
- Play and exploring, including new sights, sounds, surfaces and people during the socialization window.
- Alone time every day, so your puppy learns that being by themselves is normal.
- A wind-down before bed, with no rough games in the last half hour.
The order matters more than the exact minute. Sleep is always followed immediately by a trip outside. Eating has the same effect: ten to twenty minutes after a meal there will be another trip outside. Play ends with a toilet trip and then a nap. Once you see how each activity loops into the next, the timetable no longer looks like forty separate tasks.
Puppy Schedule by Age
| Age | Awake at a time | Sleep in 24 hours | Meals | Potty when awake | Training session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 to 10 weeks | 45 to 60 minutes | 18 to 20 hours | 4 | Every 30 to 60 minutes | 3 to 5 minutes |
| 10 to 12 weeks | About 1 hour | 18 to 20 hours | 4 | Every 1 to 1.5 hours | 5 minutes |
| 3 to 4 months | 1 to 1.5 hours | 16 to 18 hours | 3 | Every 2 hours | 5 minutes |
| 4 to 6 months | About 2 hours | 14 to 16 hours | 3 | Every 3 hours | 5 to 10 minutes |
| 6 to 12 months | About 3 hours | 12 to 14 hours | 2 | Every 4 hours | 10 to 15 minutes |
Sample 8-Week-Old Puppy Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | Wake up, straight outside |
| 7:05 AM | Breakfast, then potty at 7:25 |
| 7:35 AM | Short training game |
| 7:45 AM | Potty, then nap in the crate |
| 9:25 AM | Wake, potty, play |
| 10:10 AM | Potty, then nap |
| 11:50 AM | Wake, potty, lunch, potty, explore the garden |
| 12:35 PM | Potty, then nap |
| 2:10 PM | Wake, potty, afternoon meal, potty, alone time with a chew |
| 2:55 PM | Potty, then nap |
| 4:35 PM | Wake, potty, handling practice |
| 5:20 PM | Potty, then nap |
| 7:00 PM | Wake, potty, dinner, potty, family time |
| 7:45 PM | Potty, then an evening nap |
| 8:00 PM | Water bowl up |
| 9:15 PM | Wake, potty, wind down |
| 9:55 PM | Last potty, then bed |
| 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM | Night potty breaks |
It looks like one big sleep, and it is, because an eight-week-old pup will only be awake for less than an hour at a time. Many new puppy owners keep their pups up too long, which causes the frantic biting and zooming that starts in the late afternoon or early evening. So if your puppy becomes a mini-shark at the same time each day, just give them a nap before that time.
Sample Schedule for a 3 to 4-Month-Old Puppy
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | Wake up, potty, breakfast, potty |
| 7:35 AM | Training, 5 minutes, then play |
| 8:10 AM | Potty, then nap |
| 10:00 AM | Wake, potty, play or a short outing |
| 11:10 AM | Potty, then nap |
| 1:00 PM | Wake, potty, lunch, potty, explore |
| 2:10 PM | Potty, then nap |
| 4:00 PM | Wake, potty, training, alone time with a chew |
| 5:10 PM | Potty, then nap |
| 7:00 PM | Wake, potty, dinner, potty, family time |
| 8:00 PM | Water bowl up |
| 8:10 PM | Potty, then an evening nap |
| 9:15 PM | Wake, potty, wind down |
| 9:55 PM | Last potty, then bed |
| About 2:30 AM | One night break, until around 16 weeks |
Puppy Schedule If You Work Full Time
A young pup can’t be left for an eight-hour workday. The limit is set by how long the pup’s bladder can hold on: generally one hour per month of age, plus one. For example, a 10-week-old pup needs to be let out every 2 to 3 hours and a 4-month-old every 4 to 5 hours. Until the pup is around six months old, you need a plan for the middle of the day.
- Come home at lunch, or share the middle of the day with a partner, neighbor or relative.
- Hire a dog walker or puppy sitter for one or two visits. Give them the printed schedule.
- Use puppy daycare a few days a week once the vaccinations allow it.
- Set up a playpen with a bed, water and a toilet area for the gaps, instead of closing a puppy in a crate for longer than they can hold on.
- Do a proper session before you leave: toilet, breakfast, toilet, play and training, so your puppy is ready to sleep.
How to Adjust the Schedule as Your Puppy Grows
Every two to three weeks, stretch the awake periods by ten to fifteen minutes, and drop a nap when your pup starts refusing it. Move from four meals a day to three at about 12 weeks old, and to two meals a day at about 6 months. Only extend the time between potty trips after a full week without an accident. Use the planner again every time your puppy’s age moves into a new band.
Keep your puppy’s wake-up time, meal times and bedtime consistent throughout the week, including weekends. Dogs are creatures of habit. A puppy fed at 7:00 AM each weekday will be awake at 7:00 AM on Sunday for breakfast, no matter what you had planned. Each part of the day has its own tool: the potty training chart, the feeding schedule calculator, the puppy sleep schedule and the puppy training schedule.
Related Reading
- Best Daily Routine for Dogs
- Crate Training a Puppy: Complete Beginner Guide
- How to Potty Train a Puppy Fast
- Why Consistency Matters in Dog Training Routines
- How to Stop Puppy Biting and Mouthing
FAQs
What is a good daily schedule for a puppy?
A good puppy schedule repeats a simple loop: potty break, food or playtime, potty break, nap. For an eight to twelve-week-old puppy this loop takes approximately two and a half hours, with around an hour awake and up to two hours asleep. Fix your puppy’s wake-up time, meal times and bedtime, and fill in the rest of the day with these loops.
What time should a puppy go to bed?
Whatever time you go to bed yourself, as long as it is consistent; most households settle on a time between 9 and 11 PM. The final meal should be given about three hours before bedtime. For young puppies, take the water up two hours before bed. And make the last trip outside the very last thing you do before you turn out the lights.
How long should a puppy be awake between naps?
About 45 to 60 minutes at eight to ten weeks; an hour to an hour and a half at three to four months; approximately two hours at four to six months; and a good three hours for pups over six months. When a puppy gets overly nippy, hyperactive or clumsy, he has probably been awake too long and needs a nap.
Should I wake a sleeping puppy to keep the schedule?
During the daytime, generally no. Sleep is when a puppy grows and processes everything he has learned. The exceptions are a nap that runs more than half an hour past the next meal, and late-evening naps that push bedtime back. At night, wake a very young puppy for the planned toilet breaks.
How much exercise does a puppy need each day?
A standard rule is five minutes of lead walking per month of age, once or twice a day. So a three-month-old pup gets around fifteen minutes of walking at a time. Free play in the backyard and training games come on top of this. Avoid long runs and repeated jumping until growth is finished.
Can I leave my puppy alone while I am at work?
Not for an entire day while it is young. Generally a puppy can wait roughly one hour per month of age, plus one, between toilet breaks. When a puppy is under 6 months old, arrange for a dog walker, neighbor or family member to stop by in the middle of the day, or use a playpen that includes a toilet area rather than closing the puppy in a crate.