Clover is 8 months old, and about the mellowest lab puppy you could imagine. She is seemingly content to lie around all day, getting moderately excited when I get her leash and tell her we're going for a walk. When I sit down on the floor with her she will either flop into my lap, belly-up and wait to be rubbed, or she'll go fetch a toy and bring it over to me to play tug-of-war. I work from home, and we're usually in the same room so I see her lying on the floor sleeping, and when awake, looking either bored or expectant, dependent on how close it is to feeding time. I'm not sure if it's my own guilt that I can't play with or walk her all the time that makes me believe she is just waiting patiently for someone to entertain her, or if she's simply being a normal lab puppy. I have children, so I'm used to needing to entertain them, and maybe I am assuming she's no different than another child! She is really intelligent, and I don't want to do her a disservice by not giving her enough stimulation or challenge. Does anyone have advice? Thank you!
Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum. If I were you, I would be careful what you say, lest the owners of regular lunatic Lab puppies lynch you! Hehe, in all seriousness, my puppies were pretty much like that, too. I also work from home, and I think they just realised that while I was working, it was time to relax. Don't get me wrong, they weren't angels by any stretch of the imagination, but for the main, they were fabulous - and still are
She just sounds like a chilled out dog. But she might enjoy having a couple of little training sessions added to her day - maybe just two sessions of 3-5 minutes each. You could teach her some tricks (plenty of ideas on the Internet). She might really enjoy that
Quinn is 9 months now and is so calm and chill in the house...from 2 month-4ish months she had her crazy spell in the evening with some biting and zooming, but otherwise very calm. No jumping on people ever, no reaction to getting her leash, barely excited when we get home (now that she is home alone a few mornings a week, her excitement is ever slightly increased when we get home), and yes, she just sleeps or looks bored at home or is crying for someone to play ball with her (mostly early in the morning). We consider ourselves lucky that she is so chill at home...if we sleep in on the weekends, so will she. When she's looking bored at home, or starts bringing over toys (a sure sign she is bored and will move to bringing us shoes) I play some hide and seek games with her or do some training - sit/down stays etc for about 10-15 mins.
There not, I've only had one croc with fur on out of all of mine, and I think his illness contributed to this. It's nice to have a chilled one my first was like clover and Quinn he was a great pup and a fantastic dog all his life. He liked to please and watch the world unfold around him.
Bramble is a chilled pup at 8 months old, she is like a sleepy, affectionate lap cat at home. Benson our chocolate who is 3 next month...is far, far nuttier! He takes his bed out of his crate, steals her bed and tries to stuff it in his crate...steals things...eats the post still...
Pongo absolutely DEMANDS his morning walkies, which is usually just half an hour, a mile around his "loop" along the track and back through the woods. That is "his" time, and we don't rush it....he can do as much sniffing and rummaging about as he likes. After that he sleeps all day, and doesn't seem to mind at all. (We work from home too.) Perhaps twice a day he'll wake up and ask us for a quick game or a bit of attention (five / ten minutes playing wrestle or tuggy or a walk round the garden). That's it. Occasionally if he is REALLY bored he goes to his toy cupboard and brings out each toy, one by one, to see which one is most likely to get us to play.... I think we are very lucky to have such a chilled boy. I used to worry that he was bored, and I still can't help feeling a little guilty at times, but if I think about it rationally I know he is perfectly happy and I'm just torturing myself!
I think dogs get used to routine. And also know the routine of each person in the house. We have a cleaner who comes three times a week. Snowie knows that at 1.30pm she takes him to the park. On the days she is not here and my husband is working from home, Snowie doesn't ask my husband for that midday outing cos he knows that is not my husband's routine. However, I used to take Snowie out four times a day when I worked from home. Snowie got so used to this routine that you could set your watch by when he came a'beggin' for his outing. Unfortunately, though, he expected the same from my husband (but interestingly, not from our cleaner). My husband got frustrated cos he said he couldn't stop working every time Snowie asked for his outing. So he asked me to limit Snowie's outings to just the morning and late afternoon walk (both substantial walks). It took some nerves of steel to resist those mournful eyes (why aren't you taking me out?), but after a short time, Snowie got used to the new routine and settled into it. I'd guess if you started playing with your pup more or taking her out, she'll get used to it and start asking for it more. So you need to decide: are you willing to be more busy with her, or not? If you start, I am sure she won't say no! I, too, worry that poor Snowie's brain is atrophying with all this sleeping around. I'm sure he'd be happier in a job! I once read about a hotel in San Francisco that has a Lab in the hotel foyer to greet guests and who is also available as a walking companion!
My Tatze is used to her free runs being at all different times of day.. She never 'asks' for one, but loves them anyway. ...
