This is my first post and I have been searching all over the internet for some help. First a little background and introduction. We have been on a list from a breeder for over 5 months and hoping to take ownership of a new puppy back in May. My wife is a teacher and we wanted to make sure that we had the summer to train and be around for the puppy. Our breeder had some unsuccessful mating with her pairs but had lent out a stud of hers to another local breeder and had first pick of the litter. After some unexpected vet bills with her frenchies, she needed some money and offered us her 16 week old female chocolate. We accepted since all of the same guarantees came with her and she knew that we were looking for a dog that would be good with our young boys (8 &4) and had the potential to waterfowl hunt. The timing worked well for us so the boys named her Bailey. She is doing well with her crate, Sit, Here and is close to housebroken. We are happy about those things but this is the only lab that I have heard of that is so calm and has very little interest in playing. She will fetch a few times in the house but shows no interest in playing outside. We have only had her for less than two weeks and she has been having diarrhea for the past 7 days so maybe that is impacting her. Outside.......zero interest in chasing anything, going for walks, etc. We did take her to a friends house last night who had a 9 year old Chocolate Female that was bursting with energy. They played well together and chased each other. Bailey was still pretty timid and was on the retreat a lot but I felt that it was good for her. Vet checked her out and she is healthy, on some meds and has a special diet for now. What tricks should I try to get her stimulated. It is hard to start training a dog that appears to have no interest in much of anything.
I agree with you that there is very little information on puppies that are too quiet but I had one like that a few years ago. I was lucky that I had a friend who was a qualified behaviourist and she came over and helped me with my pup. She suggested that I hand feed every meal to create a positive association with people. She also warned me that it would take much longer to train and that I should try to go at the puppy's pace. We did a lot of going and looking at things rather than walking. I would drive to the park and then we would sit still and just look at everything! He now does play lots of games, tug, chase, retrieving etc but we built these up slowly with lots of very short sessions. I'm not sure why he was so shut down and such an untypical pup. One suggestion is that it is a combination of personality and a lack of socialisation when very young which makes all these new experiences so frightening. You wouldn't know now that he started off so quiet and he is like any other playful lab. One thing is that he is very attached to me and doesn't like to play with anyone else until he has got to know them very well. At least I don't have to worry about him jumping all over strangers!
I would give her a bit more time to settle in and also to fully recover from her tummy upset before doing anything like fetch games etc. She is probably a little overwhelmed by the huge change that has occurred in her life.
Diarrhoea has a big impact on puppies - at least it did with mine. She was very quiet and lethargic. She was also on a special diet.
Wow what a lot has happened to your puppy already! I really wouldn't worry, it sounds like she has had a lot going on, notwithstanding a tummy upset which is very draining on a pup. Some pups are a bit quieter than others. Our latest now 18 months was a very quiet pup. She did like to carry things around, but still quite a contemplative wee thing. We did extra work on her confidence both with us, using toys, and other dogs, but oh so, so very slowly. It is so easy to make mistakes by going too quickly, and hard work undoing our own mistakes especially with confidence as a young pup. Now at 18 months Bramble is a bit of a handful if I am honest, her drive for wildlife is very high, making things a bit challenging in a field of pheasants! Bramble is doing very well at gundog training, but this has taken careful management, a contrast to my full on, high energy EXHAUSTING boy Benson, when he was a pup life was just one blur when he was 16 weeks old!
I appreciate the replies, this forum certainly has the traffic and active users I was looking for. As my user name states, this is going to be a project and I am excited. I grew up with a Brittany that was purchased by my dad as a family pet but she had grand champion parents and she was such a natural upland bird hunter. I had her for 18 years and since we let her go I have always dreamed of having a hunting partner that just loved it as much as I do. My wife got a miniature Dachshund puppy when we were dating and she has been a great little dog for the past 14 years (in August) but she is strictly a tennis ball hunter and a goose would fly away with her if I had her in the field. So I have had high hopes of having a dog that would be whistle trained, run hand signals and be a great all around trained dog. Dreaming too big......maybe, but my boys love her to death so that's a win already. I feel that it is the transition to her final family and the stomach issues that is slowing her down. I am sure that if 5 months when I am posting on here, I will be looking for advice on how to calm Bailey down! I will keep you posted and appreciate the discussion, it helps to hear what others think and get another perspective.
Bailey will never be another Brittany Not many can manage a Brittany, Labs are quite a different kettle of fish. Give her time and wait until she is feeling better and settled in your home. I think that in a few weeks time you will be asking the forum for help in calming Bailey down
