mrs tornsocks Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 This might be a little bit of paranoia, or over reaction but our pup (16 wko lab) has seemed very tired today. He recently was given his final vacc and as we enjoy going away for weekends, we took him to a doggy friendly rental property. Yesterday he had a full-on day - played with some grown up DOL labs (two at the same time) on the beach for about 1.5 hours, and earlier in the day had a 'wrestle' with a 9 month old female kelpie/lab cross dog next door to where we were staying. Anyway, he was very tired all yesterday after getting home about 4pm and has been similar today. We went for a short walk to the beach after we woke up this morning, and he was not interested in chasing the ball etc., although he walked happily alongside me. I realise we probably overdid it yesterday with so much activity --- and this may be a really stupid question but do pups take longer to 're-energise', the more activity they've had ? I thought that maybe the overnight sleep might have had to back to normal energy levels. Appetite, toileting, general demeanour is all normal. One other question ---- this may be elsewhere but what's a good duration of walk/exercise for him each day at 16 wks ? We go for about 20 minutes currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaGirl Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Puppies get super sleepy when they're having a growth spurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Puppies get super sleepy when they're having a growth spurt. I did not know this ! **runs off to consult some other websites** Should we change the level of activity ? (this weekend obviously was too much, but our day to day walks etc ?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagga Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Hi Mrs Tornsocks I would have thought it was way too much exercise for a 16 week old lab, care should be taken for the future of your pups joints. Did your breeder give you any indication on exercising the pup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 (edited) Hi Mrs TornsocksI would have thought it was way too much exercise for a 16 week old lab, care should be taken for the future of your pups joints. Did your breeder give you any indication on exercising the pup? thanks wagga, do you mean 20 mins a day is way too much ? ( I'm aware we overdid it a bit this weekend, we let the play with the lab/kelpie cross go too long, knowing he was playing that arvo with bigger labs). Although we're novice owners, we have plenty of info on lab joints etc and have owned a lab puppy before. Breeder gave us early exercise indicators (ie that they don't need very much at all early on except natural 'play') - I can certainly call and ask her for thoughts now that he's bigger and more active. eta: we are NOT novice breeders, we are novice OWNERS Edited July 26, 2009 by mrs tornsocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redarachnid Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 One other question ---- this may be elsewhere but what's a good duration of walk/exercise for him each day at 16 wks ? We go for about 20 minutes currently. I have no Lab rearing experience, but for a 16wk Afghan, 20mins walk is way, way too much in one go. I would do maximum 10 mins light walk, twice a day at this age. Only 10mins at a time. And the playing your pup had over the weekend is also way, way too much for an Afghan baby. You can do serious damage with so much exercise and playing. My pups would only play with their own age too...no adult play. I've seen too many injuries. You need to consult your breeder or some lab rearing info but i would expect they would also think this is too much for a 16wk old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagga Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 do you mean 20 mins a day is way too much ? It would depend on the type of exercise, I would have thought. When walking, a pup will not stop to rest as they would get let behind, (as he see's it), play with a human is often the best exercise, play with another dog can be really tireing. Short walks, while teaching him to walk on a loose lead doesnt need to be very far at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Just to reiterate - I do realise this weekend was too much and we will not make that mistake again. Thanks also for the day to day advice - we do short walks, I am also trying to teach him walk / heel, so we have a few little stops along the way, with sits etc. I also do a little bit of training while we're out, just some sits/drops etc. The original post was about his 'recovery' - and I assume that yes, he is trying to recover from overdoing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I am in agreeance with the other posters while pup is growing light on the full on excersise, to many things can come of over excersising young dogs. Especailly if your pup is a pup that is like an energiser battry and wants to go and go, we have to make the decision for them when enough is enough!! Even my guys (who are like energisers) after a full on day sometimes don't wanna do anything the next day, so I would say your pup is just recovering from a busy day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 He maybe a little stiff and sore from over doing it, just like we feel after a suddenbout of exercise. Give him a day or so and he should be back to normal. 20 mins sounds fine to me, if it is at a slow pace with the pup being allowed to explore. 20 mins of fast pavement pounding would be another issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wire Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 When my boy was about the same age I put him in day care for one day whilst we had our floors done. It took him 48 hours to recover! I felt very sorry for him. He still got up to eat and toilet then back to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Oh no wire !! Poor pup, but I know what you mean. This is great everyone, thanks for the advice. We are about to mind my brothers dogs for 5 days so my boy will need alot of special 'alone' time, away from the crazy cousins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie1 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Oh no wire !! Poor pup, but I know what you mean.This is great everyone, thanks for the advice. We are about to mind my brothers dogs for 5 days so my boy will need alot of special 'alone' time, away from the crazy cousins. I thought that it was 5 mins of exercise for each month of life so 20 mins sounds fine to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan of Arc Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Oh no wire !! Poor pup, but I know what you mean.This is great everyone, thanks for the advice. We are about to mind my brothers dogs for 5 days so my boy will need alot of special 'alone' time, away from the crazy cousins. I thought that it was 5 mins of exercise for each month of life so 20 mins sounds fine to me. No I believe 20 mins is too much for 16 weeks. At that age I would recommend a 10 min walk (not big hills) or maybe 15 mins of light play but not with lots of full grown dogs. When our pups at 12 weeks spend time with the big dogs, we limit it to about 5 minutes of following the big dogs around the yard and then we separate them. This gives the pups time to rest and recover at thier own pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I would be restricting too much exercise/walks until he's 12 m/o. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Kivi's been very quiet and sleepy today as well. Presumably because he went to daycare yesterday and then I took him for a run this morning. He's 16 months old. I've seen him at daycare and he doesn't run all day, but it's amazing how much just a little extra exercise can wear them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Kivi's been very quiet and sleepy today as well. Presumably because he went to daycare yesterday and then I took him for a run this morning. He's 16 months old. I've seen him at daycare and he doesn't run all day, but it's amazing how much just a little extra exercise can wear them out. Probably it's also due partly to the fact that they are awake for most of the day when they would normally be dozing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Kivi's been very quiet and sleepy today as well. Presumably because he went to daycare yesterday and then I took him for a run this morning. He's 16 months old. I've seen him at daycare and he doesn't run all day, but it's amazing how much just a little extra exercise can wear them out. Probably it's also due partly to the fact that they are awake for most of the day when they would normally be dozing. Very true. Archie usually dozes by my feet most of the day when I'm home and I'm pretty sure he's doing the same right now in the sun in the backyard while I'm out. And even when he goes to canine kindy for an hour and half, he is absolutely knackered for the rest of the day after all that physical and mental exertion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Okay, ammend that. Kivi appears to have a slightly upset tummy, so that could well account for him being particularly quiet yesterday. He doesn't normally sleep all day. He'll spend several hours in the morning pouncing on things in the garden if the weather is nice. But when he was small it was play for 30 minutes then sleep for an hour kind of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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