Puppy Naps

I have a 4 month old pembroke. is it common at this age to have to force naps on them? he follows me anywhere in the house and has pretty intense seperation anxiety, although at times he seems tired i feel like he just doesnt nap volitarily if im moving from room to room and he can follow me? has anyone else had this issue? i just bought a crate, and put him in it for the first time tonight and hes out like a light.. i think i should have designated crate/nap times through the day for him, any advice on this?

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 16, 2012 at 12:10pm

Jack absolutely would not ever voluntarily put himself down to nap when he was a puppy. He'd get crankier and crankier til I said "YOU need a nap!" and plopped him in his expen. He'd protest loudly for about 30 seconds til he was out like a light. I truly don't think he would have ever napped of his own free will. I've been around a ton of puppies and he was the first I've ever seen that way, but I've heard of other Corgi owners say the same thing so it might be a breed quirk.

I would definitely designate nap times. I would base it on his behavior. If he starts to get wild (not energetic playing, but out of control), more mouthy than usual, whiny or is wandering around looking lost I'd put him away. If he's alert, bright and cheerful I'd let him play. If you need to do something and can't watch, by all means lock him up.

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Permalink Reply by Robin & Gordon on April 1, 2012 at 7:52am

When Gordon was a puppy, I gave him scheduled nap times every day. Without them, he would keep playing and following me around until he would almost fall over in exhaustion.. but then get right back up and do it again when I left the room!

I remember looking up information on how many hours a day a puppy needed to sleep and adjusting his schedule according to that. For example, this website (http://www.adoptafriend.org/articles/Doesyourdogorpuppyneedanap.pdf) says a 12 week old puppy needs 15-20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. His nap times let him get the rest he needed (and the break I needed from constantly trailing after the puppy, haha) and got him used to his crate as a safe and quiet place to sleep. I also used this as a time to work on avoiding separation anxiety.. He was away from me, but he was still safe and started to learn that I was going to come back for him. I always make sure to play music or the radio for him when I'm not around (then as a puppy and now as an adult).. I've read conflicting things on the usefulness of music/radio, but it works for us. Maybe it drowns out other noise or maybe it makes him feel like he's not alone, I'm not sure and I guess Gordon can't tell me. ;) Now that he's an adult, Gordon will take himself to his kennel for a nap when he needs/wants one.