I just got a 10 week old lab puppy from a good kennel. He's 12 weeks old now, had him two weeks. I need help! He won't DO anything. He doesn't play, he just lays around. He chases after the kids a little bit, but I'm really starting to get bummed. We got the dog to be active with the family and all he does is sit there or lay down and sleep. He acts like he's 12 years, not 12 weeks. He went to the vet and they say he's healthy. please help, I don't know what to do and am starting to think about taking him back to the breeder.
Kara

You have an infant there, albeit a canine one.  What do babies do?  Eat Sleep and very little else.

In a few weeks you will be worrying about puppy biting, over excitement, so enjoy the brief respites,a s puppies develop faster than children.

Oh and discourage the kids from playing chase with him.  In a few weeks the sharp teeth and the ever growing size will be no fun at all.

You really think so? :) I'm so worried b/c he's 12 weeks and I thought puppies were supposed to be hyper and run around. He is very, very mellow and just lays there most of the day. I want to exercise him, but he just really won't join in the fun. It's starting to get very depressing and I'm sad that we got the "wrong" dog. When do they start acting more like normal dogs?
Kara

Have you ever owned a dog before ?. I'm not sure what you are expecting from this very young puppy but dogs are part of the family, not something to be thought of as entertainment.
Why not take him to puppy classes ?. Maybe he's a bit shy or overwhelmed by his new lifestyle.

He's a baby !

They sleep...a lot.

It really sounds as though you have done no research into owning a puppy and i agree about taking him to classes.

When we had our puppy (the only one in the litter) she was painfully shy at the classes but 2 weeks later she turned into "Devil dog"....you will be soon wishing your puppy was asleep at times when it starts biting,chewing etc.

Saying that though the mother of our puppy has never played and has always been very laid back, prefering to sleep..i thought all dogs liked to play but apparently this isn't the case.

And please don't let the children play chase with him..he has little weak bones that need time to grow in strength...i also hope you are not walking this puppy any longer than about 10-15 minutes a day.

Good luck

Did you buy this pup as a Childminder for your kids? or a new toy for them?.He is a puppy they sleep a lot and tire easily this is normal for a pup a couple of weeks time you will be pulling your hair out with him.Please register him for classes as soon as possible they are invaluble for you and him good luck.

I would just add that if you feel he is not the puppy for you I am sure his breeder would rather have him back whilst young. Maybe then you can take time deciding if a dog is right for right now and if so what breed etc. I do not mean this as criticism but if after two weeks you are not head over heels with your puppy it may be best for all concerned if you admit this to your breeder and give both puppy and you a chance to get things right

> We got the dog to be active with the family

You got a PUPPY, not an adult dog. If you want a DOG to be active with the family you either get an adult dog from a rescue centre/breed rescue, (that way you can see how playfull it is), or you get a PUPPY and put in 2-3 years of hard work of trainng & socialisation and see what you get at the end of that.

The playfullness of an adult dog will vary between breeds, but will also vary between individual dogs, just because you choose a breed that is generally playfull, does not mean a puppy will definately be playfull.

As others have said, puppies spend a lot of time sleeping, on top of this they need time to adjust to thier new life and may be too insecure to 'do' much else other than watch things going on.

As pup becomes more adventerous and more energetic (which will still be only in short bursts for a while yet), he will have much to learn about how he should be playng with the kids, so it's not wise to allow free play between pup & kids anyway. Children bring out the 'worse' in pups, as they are so much more exciting than adults, they really encourage pups to do all the things we all strive to illiminate through training!

Puppies know only thier instincts, it's thier instinct to play by biting,mouthing, chasing and jumping on thier play-mates (which includes the kids!!), it's up to the owner to teach how you want pup to play and that play-biting is not appropriate (this in itself should be addressed correctly, read 'the bite stops here' for advise you will be needing very soon).

After all said, I agree with the last poster, if you are allready considering taking back this little pup, it may well be a good choice. Training is so very important and requires so much effort, commitment and trust that a good bond with pup really is important (I'd imagine it's very hard being comitied to consistant training for 2-3 years when you have no bond with pup). If you feel like this pup is not entertaining enough, then I fear that bond is not likely to happen and it would be best for pup to go back to breeder while still young, so he has a great chance of going to a family that will understand HIS needs and love him like he deserves.

There are many adult dogs in rescue that would love to part of a family and play, maybe this would be a better alternative.

I would also just like to ask..if you did take this pup back do you intend to then get another and if so what happens if that one isn't the "playful" type and also sleeps a lot (which it will).

An older rescue one sounds a good idea to me.

My dog didn't play as a little puppy. She was wholly disinterested in toys - she slept a lot, and wanted to explore on her own when she was awake. People seemed unecessary to her. However, after a couple of months (yes, months) something "clicked" in her and she started to want to play. She is now 5 years old, and every evening will drop toys on me until I play with her. She will bark, play bow, prance about with toys, anything to get me to play with her. Yesterday, after a bath (having spent the afternoon playing in the garden, getting covered in soil, digging holes, paddling in the pond) she had an episode of the "puppy zoomies" round our living room. She has never grown out of this, and I hope she never does! I despaired at her lack of urge to play when she was little. I thought I must be doing something wrong, or that something was wrong with her. But I persevered, made toys and playtime as interesting as possible, and I now have a very playful, cheerful and happy adult dog. It just needs time. Your little one is exactly that - a little one. At 12 weeks my one had no interest in toys whatsoever. It isn't what you expect from reading the books, but not all dogs are the same, I learned that quite quickly!

Claire

Thanks for all the comments! I suppose maybe I just don't know how little dogs act. My last dog was 14 when he passed and he still acted like he was a pup, so I'm not used to what is "normal" for pups. We don't want the dog to entertain us, my biggest concern is for his health. I know labs need lots of exercise and I"m worried as he grows up. I don't know how to exercise a dog that doesn't want to do anything. Like I said, my last dog was always in your face from day one. He brought toys to you and wanted to play. I just don't want him getting fat and unhealthy :( I know how bad that is for dogs. He doesn't "play" with the kids without us being there. We have 4.5 acres of land and the kids don't run all over. They play in one area mostly with balls and such. Any advice is helpful, I want to make sure he's healthy and raised right.
THanks!

>I just don't want him getting fat and unhealthy

Whatever his particular exercise level turns out to be, he won't get fat unless you overfeed him. :-)

I love the 7 - 14'ish weeks stage where the pups do not alot apart from eat and sleep...cherish it because they soon start running around and causing chaos!

You may have a very laid back Lab which I would personally prefer to a more highly strung one. 

Let him be a baby and sleep, at 12 weeks my Rottie's would play for 30 mins and then sleep for about 1 - 2 hours and repeat...obviously with meals inbetween.

He won't be joining you on long treks in the outside world for many months yet when you consider the 5 min per month rule of exercise.

At 6 months old my pup is allowed on walks of around 30 mins, this gradually increases as she gets older until at 18 months I let them exercise fully for any length of time.

Give it time you have only just got him

>I just got a 10 week old lab puppy from a good kennel

10 weeks is quite late, many pups of this size/breed are homed at 8 weeks.  Was he the last to be homed and had he been left on his own for the last 2 weeks?  If so he may have missed out on a bit of socialising so he will benefit from some extra work.  There was a recent thread about all the things you should expose a young puppy to before the age of 16 weeks.  Use the search to find it or I'll post a link if I see it first.

Some puppies are quite chilled and some sleep for hours and hours.  It's often interspersed by them pinging about like mad things, but not always.  Give him time!  A few years ago there was a pictorial advert for dog food of a sleeping puppy - the caption read: Sshh I'm growing!  This is exactly what your boy is doing, they develop in such a small space of time and they needs masses of energy to achieve that rate of growth.  You could check you are feeding him enough.  Incidentally, mad moments and sleeping are often tied to mealtimes and after two weeks you should have a better idea of his timetable.  He should still be on 4 meals and you would still expect a lot of sleeping when his belly is full.

Do speak to the breeder, get their input, check his development with them and take him back for a visit if you are concerned.  My view is that you are asking a lot from this little mite and that your expectations are unreasonable for his age.  If you haven't bonded with him yet then consider an early rehome. 

Thank you all so much for the advice! I obviously have forgotten puppy stage. I had a over hyper American Eskimo before, so I think I need to relearn!! Thanks again! I will spend the next 4 weeks working hard to socialize him to everything I can think of. I think I'm wanting him to be too active too soon. Thanks again!!!
Kara

is he more from a show kennel.  I actually may be called for this but I would be expecting a 12 week old Lab to be playing.  My pup, different breed, was and still is a full on puppy at that stage and have to say didn't do much sleeping LOL.  If it's from a show kennel then then are more laid back, maybe you would have been more suitable for a working dog, but even at 12 weeks of age you shouldn't really be doing much with a pup.

From my experience pups go through the day with bursts of play, burst of real hyper play & biting, and then sleeping. I would be a little anxious if i had a pup that really did just lay and sleep at 12 weeks old and did very little else. Normally they have very sharp teeth that they like to sink into most things!

perhaps its new surroundings and if theres lots of noise and rushing about that he's not been used it could be un nerving for him. Definately get himm goin on the socialisation front and interact with him but without getting to high pitchy in the voice and over active yourself (not saying your doing this) it may just be too over whelming.

If he doesnt change then i would speak to the breeder.

Do not worry that he is sleeping, or simply watching the world go by at this age, its what I hope and expect a young Lab to do.. A well socialised Lab will be pretty much like this.. seen it all, done it all, wait till something else comes along that I need to investigate...  Many people on this board have more than one dog, and when a pup is brought into the home, it will play, and have fun with the resident dog.. When a pup comes into a new home as a singleton, you will find he will investigate at his own pace, whether that is with zoomy butt tucks, or a steady plod, or even from an upside down, laying on back, cant be bothered, but happy, then this is fine.. and in all honesty, I prefer my labs to be like this, than in your face.. you may also find that he will be more responsive in training, and more focused :)

he wont get fat unless you overfeed him..

Labs pups do NOT need a lot of excersise, in fact, it is quite the opposite.. 5mins X age in months per day.. ie.. at 12 weeks he would only require 15mins, 16weeks = 20mins and so on..

Lucky that the OP has a very positive attitude after some of the unnecessary comments on here!

It really is normal. The first two weeks my bc pup was sleeping most of the time and they are normally a bit on the hyper side... :-) so you've got nothing to worry about. He's now 20 weeks old and a very playful and confident little character. One day you might wish to turn back time to have this sleepy little pup back :-)

I absolutely agree with the not too much exercising him. The bones and muscles are not developed yet for long walks and hours of playing. You need to start slowly and gradually build the exercise level up but not until they reach approximately 6 months.

I also agree with Jeangenie, don't overfeed it, that's not good for their bones either and will only lead to problems in the future. Labradors LOVE to eat and most of them don't know when to stop unless you control when, how much and what they are being fed...

Enjoy the little pup it's great fun and yeah once he had all his vaccines take him to puppy class it will do him good.

Hi KaraS, be glad he is a sensible little chap and gets his sleep, everyone on here will tell you how important it is not to let or encourage a puppy to race around for fear of doing permanent damage to soft bones and ligaments. I know it's hard for kids who want to play with him all day, but the best thing for him is to get the sleep he needs.

I had a pup that couldn't be kept still, couldn't care less about eating once he no longer had litter siblings to challenge him for meals and would never put on any weight. Every time I saw his breeder I felt even worse that I was an 'unfit' owner and that the dog was a testament to my poor management. Now that he is 2 1/2, he looks great, very solid, very calm and a great example to my other two who have subsequently joined us.

Good luck, keep persevering.

> l">There are many adult dogs in rescue that would love to part of a family and play,

My Tinker is 13 years old and still as mad as a hatter - she does a mad run around at least 2 x day, loves chasing a ball and just running for the sheer pleasure of it.  She was a rescue dog - we got her when she was abut 2 1/2yrs old.  In the kennels she was very quiet and subdued and took some time to 'come round' at home.  Just like many, apparently lively dogs, become quiet in new homes, so too do apparently quiet dogs become lively. 
As others have said, apart from the need for sleep [perhaps a growing phase - just like kids have] personality will develop with confidence and trust in their new 'family'.

Thanks so much to everyone for the advice and help! I'm feeling better that the little guy is normal. Yesterday it was back to work for the whole family and he was alone during the day (except for his walker that comes to let him play around mid-day). He was much more interactive last night, playing and being curious. I think maybe he's just been overwhelmed by the big yard and people and activity. Now I feel bad for trying to get him to play too much! I didn't realize they needed such little exercise when they were pups. Thanks again for helping me!
Kara

Could your walker come in 2 or 3 times a day? IMO a baby pup shouldnt be left more than 2 hours max as they need regular toilet training and ideally all day company.

Without this interaction he may take much longer to toilet train and learn his manners and may find alternative things to occupy him like chewing all the wrong things! :) He will be more active in the evenings if hes sat around being bored most of the day.

I agree, a 3 month old puppy is far too young to be left alone.