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Thread: Puppy Naps

  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Puppy Naps

    Charli is 13 weeks and it seems that she does not nap as much or as long as Ripley did at that same age. We have an open concept kitchen, dining room, family room. Charli spends time in a gated area on the tile in the dining room. She is in the thick of family life in this spot. Plus, we have lots of backyard play and time sitting together on couch. I have four kids (9, 14, 16, 19), two other dogs (Ripley age 12 months and Abbie a 9 year old beagle) plus three cats who rarely venture out of the kids' bedrooms. Even when kids are all at school and I'm the only human home, Charli does not sleep a lot during the day. She is a very busy pup.
    Today we were up at 6am. This is usual wake up time. Kids are home on first day of spring break. Charli did not nap at all until just now (1pm) when I put her down for a nap in her crate (which is in my bedroom) and covered it. This is the first time I've crated her for a nap. I used the same happy voice and treat I always use when putting her in her crate so it was not a punishment. I just needed a puppy break. (She is crated when we leave the house and at night).
    My question is this, if you have a young puppy who does not nap on their own, is it ok to put them down for a nap like you would a human baby? Ripley, our year old lab, was very routine with her naps and play times when she was this age. Charli is definitely a different little pup.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Oh yeah, puppy nap time was definitely used around here. Neither of my labs seemed to purposely just lie down and take a nap so for my own sanity they would be given a chance to go in their crates and nap. Even though at first they might have looked like, "What the heck am I in here for?", after a few minutes they would be asleep and much better behaved when they awoke. Just like babies who get overtired but just keep going and getting crankier or ornerier, I think some puppies are the same way. Sometimes I did a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Hey, I needed to be able to take a shower or wash the kitchen floor of paw prints or do other stuff without a puppy's "help".

  3. #3
    Senior Dog
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    Heck - at 9 months I still sometimes have to put Sassy down for a nap. Unlike her sister or her mother who will nap off and on throughout the day, Sass sometimes has trouble settling down, LOL, so if I think she’s tired and especially if the other ones are trying to sleep I’ll occasionally lock her up for a bit.
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    I still forced nap Comet.

    It's totally okay to force them to nap. In my opinion, so much better for them to nap in their crate for an hour than to destroy something because you weren't "on" enough to supervise!
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  5. #5
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    Kimber almost never napped, and we didn't know "encouraging" nap time was okay. And oh, how we suffered. We desperately needed a puppy break and, we didn't know it, but Kimber desperately needed a nap. But she didn't do it herself, and she'd get overtired and become very bitey and wound up. And we'd think, "Oh, she needs more exercise" and we'd run her around. Yeah, we were pretty miserable through her puppyhood...
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  6. #6
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Another vote for "forced" naps! Some pups just will not settle if there is any kind of activity going on, nosey little stinkers! They can definitely get wound up and crazier when they are over-tired. That was when Maxx would start the little bit of biting/misbehaving he did as a puppy. Napping for a while always adjusted his attitude. (And mine!)
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  7. #7
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    Yes its absolutely fine to force puppy naps. My little yellow female is now almost 6 months old and she is just starting to nap on and off on occasion but I still force naps if I have had enough. She is nothing like my 7 year old lab who has always insisted on sleeping her life away. 2 very different labs

  8. #8
    House Broken
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    My pup is now 15wks and every few hours we put her in her crate for a nap. Late in the evening when it's just DH and I relaxing and watching tv she'll finally fall asleep on the floor or her bed next to the sofa, but during the day she rarely settles unless we tuck her in her crate. And, a few times, if we don't walk through that room, she'll sleep for 90min-2hrs. I figure she's the equivalent of a human toddler - she needs her sleep!

  9. #9
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    Funny...all the dogs I've had and I've never even considered the need for enforced puppy naps. I can't recollect ever thinking that any of the pups needed more sleep...or to be calmer for periods of time...than what came naturally to them. I guess I've mostly had dogs who've self-regulated naturally...some even seemed to crash, that I do remember [not even making it to a regular sleeping spot on occasion...what's that in the middle of the floor? Oh, it's (whomever).].

  10. #10
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    When we brought my 1st boy home, the breeder had told us about crate training etc. and that was going fine. But he was up at 06:30 at the latest, and we didn't go to bed until 11pm, AND we lived at the family business, so ALWAYs something going on during the day (office girl in and out to use the washroom/kitchen), work guys in and out of the yard with the trucks etc, and in and out the back door to go down to the basement washroom, customers coming into the office at the front....in other words, LOTS going on for a social young lab puppy to be involved in! He would go and go and literally hit the floor in the middle of something, sound asleep... Breeder checked in about a week after he;d been home to see how we were all doing, and i mentioned this, and she kinda laughed, and apologized for not saying that he'd really benefit from a mid-day nap! She said after you (that was usually at least one of my parents at work, the office girl, myself and sometimes DH) all (including Mags who was getting 3 meals a day) had finished lunch, take him out for a short walk and potty break, then put him in his crate for an hour or so. WOW, the difference! EXACTLY like a human toddler that gets cranky and wound up without their nap, same with pup!
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