Very lazy puppy

Question

Three days ago I got a pup from a shelter home. He is 3 months old. The mum is a mixed breed with some Border Collie in her. He looks like a German Shepherd and also like he's going to be quite a big dog (massive paws).

He seems fast to learn things but he seems extremely lazy. His favourite activities are barking when other dogs bark in the neighborhood and chewing, anything else he won't do for more than a couple of minutes. He likes to tug but it very quickly gets tired and gets back to lying on the ground and he's got almost no interest in chasing. With a lot of effort you can tease him into a bit of a fight play (he's super gentle with play bites). He also seems super tired after a 30 min walk.

Question: Its it normal for a pup this age to be that exhausted?

Answer 1

Your puppies energy levels your described are what I would be expected from a 3-month-old. I would recommend exercising your puppy less at this stage.

1. Sleep

Most dogs sleep ~14 hours a day, most puppies will sleep up to 20 hours a day. Don't forget your puppy is still an infant and like you said he has a lot of growing to do! Sleep is important for the growth of your pup.

2. Exercise

I'm sure if you look around you may find different rules for exercise. I have always followed the rule of 5 minutes per month for a growing puppy at a time (can be multiple times per day). i.e if your puppy is 3 months old - they should be doing at most 15 minutes of exercise at a time. Longer than this can be overly demanding on your puppy and some vets believe could stunt the growth and create joint problems for larger breeds. Being part collie he will need plenty of exercises later - but for now, a lot of his energy should be growing big and healthy.

Personally, I have a 9-month old collie x GSP. He was very similar to your dog at 3 months when he would urgently need a rest after doing any exercise or training. From about 4-5 months he had more energy than he knew what to do with! He now gets 2x 45 min walks a day, is 30 kilos(and still growing!) and still won't stop chasing birds around the yard once we get home!


Of course, if you are worried about any change in the behaviour of your pet - you know them the best, and it is always safest to use your own discretion when seeking professional help.

(Some of these sources could be improved - I will try and update when I have the chance)

Answer 2

Following up on mhwombat's answer...

My parents once picked up a "labrodoodle" puppy from a puppy mill, because they thought it sounded cool. I was sooo mad at them.

This was the most lethargic puppy I'd ever seen in my life. Quite clearly sick. I spent an entire 4th of July with it on my tummy trying to pet and cool it, and generally comfort it. When they took it to the vet's the next day, of course it turned out it was not only sick, but chock full of parasites.

(little bit of space here to simmer down...)

He's been a perfectly normal energetic pup since then.

The point here is that this is indeed unusual enough that you really ought to get the dog checked out. It probably won't be as bad as that labradoodle (that was super obvious), but its possible the shelter had a disease going around, or a parasite problem, and the puppy has picked that up. Either of those problems the vet should be able to get something to make the poor boy all better after a couple of days.

Another possibility that occurred to me is spaying/neutering. Many shelters these days insist on doing that themselves before handing over a pet, so that they know for sure it was done. Its perfectly natural for an otherwise energetic puppy to be lethargic for a few days after the operation. Particularly for spaying, which is I understand far more intrusive.

Answer 3

That doesn't sound normal to me. Border collies can be calm and dignified, but I would expect even an adult one to have more energy than that. I would take him to a vet.