So Arnie is 15 weeks old now. He's a little champion, we love him. I have noticed that in the last couple of days he has been sleeping a lot and not being as interested in involving himself with our day to day things. We went for a walk this morning and he was fine, energy wise, but he wasn't listening to me like he usually does. He wouldn't come when called, which he is usually pretty good with, and he seemed very distracted, sniffing the ground and not paying any attention to me at all. Is he becoming a little more independent and not needing me so much? And does he wear himself out even after only 30 minutes of activity? We did about 15 minutes on leash and then we got to the off leash place and I just let him do his own thing there and usually practise recall. He doesn't seem sick, his poo's are good and solid and normal, he just sleeps a lot and when he's not sleeping and we are doing stuff he doesn't always listen to me. I dont know, does any of this make sense?
Hi there,good to hear about Anrnie . Dogs do sleep a lot,I can remember being a bit worried about my dog at first ,he was 5 months when he came to us . If he otherwise seems healthy ,has his appetite and is drinking then I wouldn't worry so much.My dog will sleep the day away if there is no requirement of him to do otherwise he's up and interested though if there is any action going on and he knows his day and comes to find me if its walk/play/training time .As to Arnie not listening/ignoring ...I reckon you will fix that with training.Practice and practice your recalls and make yourself amazing to him......if there's no fun coming from you he will go off to find some himself and having a good sniff when you are a dog is the perfect way to have a great time!
Angela is right , you have to make yourself more interesting than anything else in the world , and food is often the best way to do this I actually took my lad to the Vet , convinced that there must be something wrong with him because he slept a lot , there wasn't anything wrong , its normal in many pups, he is recharging the batteries for his next play
Arnie sounds normal to me. Dogs do love to sleep On the walks as already said you need to make yourself more interesting. The 'deafness' is very common, according to Turid Rugass in one of her books dogs go deaf when they are focussed on smelling so there's no point keep calling them but wait until they have had a good inhale then call. Smells are so important to dogs. Recall is just training with the distractions
Just to add to the other comments. Arnie at 15wks old is teething so his mouth is probably quite sore and like human babies it can make them feel a little off colour. It's probably contributing to his sleeping more and why he isn't quite as tuned to you as usual.
I was thinking teething is gonna start soon. His gums aren't red though so I wasn't sure. He had two sloppy poo's yesterday though. I thought everyone would say it's just normal behaviour and I am grateful for that. Thanks for the heads up. He got to play with his friend Freya the sausage dog tonight. She doesn't like him, but he thinks its hilarious. They had fun. Yeah I think I just worried over nothing, like I tend to do. He's not biting at all. If he's teething, it must only be starting.
That's not so good. Could he have snaffled something while out for his walk? An upset tummy could also explain why he is a bit quieter. It's hard to know sometimes when they are teething, Juno's gums were never particularly red. The first I knew was when I started finding teeth around the kitchen and lounge or heard her chewing on one in her mouth. Teething could also affect Arnie's tummy though. Keep any eye on the poo
