A Day in the Life of Dash

Did you ever wonder what a day in the life of a service puppy is like? It’s a busy day. It’s really hard to get all those naps in!

When I wake up, it’s 6 am, and I REALLY have to pee. When I come in, I can relax again and get back to sleep until Dad is finished with his shower, around 6:30. Then Dad feeds me ½ c of kibble and I watch him read the news on the computer. Sometimes he has cool pictures to show me, but I’m still pretty tired. Before he goes to work, he puts me back to bed and I sleep until 8:30 or so.

I let Charis have her breakfast and get ready for school, but then it’s time for her to play with me. I get kibble for ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘down’ (lie down), ‘raise’, ‘off’, ‘stay’, ‘get the keys’, ‘get the coins’, ‘get the ball’, ‘get the toy’, ‘leave it’, ‘shake,’ and ‘push’. By then, I’m so worn out, I need a nap. After a couple hours of sleep, I’m ready for lunch. After lunch I’ll play with my toys, a bone, my stuffies, and that wears me out too, so I have another nap. Most days, I have to go do something, like go to the mall, or the park, or the library, but don’t worry, if I miss my late afternoon nap, I’ll just make up for it later!  And I like to sleep in the car anyway. If we are at home in the afternoon, I normally get another training session and play lots of games like Hide-and-go-call, fetch, off leash walking in the house/backyard, and other games. Fetch is my favorite

In the evening, I like to watch TV and snooze in front of the fire. I like being nice and cozy warm and am a wimp outside and play the three-legged dog when it’s cold. They like to keep me awake during the evening so I will sleep at night by either taking me for a walk. Usually I don’t have trouble sleeping at night, as long as I have a play session around 8:30 or 9:30. I usually go to bed at 10pm. Occasionally I get up and down during the night, but it’s really unusual for me to need to go out to the bathroom.



For food, I get 3 cups of kibble during the day, and sometimes, another ½ c at bedtime. At meals, I get ½ cup and the other ½ is saved for training, games, and going out. I get cheese at the off leash park, to make sure I come! Any kind works best - I’m a pretty hungry pup!

To be fed, my food is laid out while I ‘sit’ and ‘wait’. Then Charis gets me fresh water, while I keep waiting. Then when it’s ready, I’m told to ‘eat up’. It takes a lot longer to wait than to eat up!