Hi, I posted a while back as I was searching for a change of breed, well, I certainly got one!! We got a bullmastiff boy who was 5 months when he arrived here.  He is a great dog allready and has settled in well but I have some questions to ask(particularly bully folk).
1. How much should a 6 month old pup sleep?
He spends his entire day upside down on the sofa (no joke!).  He plays for about 5 mins twice a day with our other dogs but the rest of the time he is in a really deep, snoring sleep.
2. How active should he be?
We do keep his walks to a minimum but when he does go out (off-lead in the grassy field) he just plods about.  I have seen him run once in the month he's been here and it was like bambi.  All legs and bunny hopping. Rest of the time he ambles along or has a lovely trotting pace.
Thanks in advance!!

Hi Cracar, we have a male bullmastiff who is just short of 8 months old.....the sleeping does sound a little excessive in comparison to our guy....BUT he does sleep alot. He does get interested in anything new occurring in the house and new shopping etc but then when he has had his sniff around ....off to sleep again!

With regards to activity I am glad you said you are keeping it to a minimum.....work on 5 mins for every month.....When off the lead our guy is quite active for about 10 mins, into everything and sniffing and wanting to run around but then plodding like yours....

This was our first bully so I am far from an expert and have learned a lot from off here but I would ask the question about the "bunny hops" you refer too.....this seems odd to me....

We have a 5 month old Bulmastiff girl.

She loves to sleep but will then have periods of activity. Getting her to get up and move can be a problem and she can be a bit of a plodder when out walking but we can get her to run around a bit if we stand apart and call her back and forth when out walking! I find she needs a bit of an incentive to get up and do stuff at times!

They do sleep a fair bit - and snore - but yours should be up a bit more than just 10 minutes a day!

Hello thought Id post LOL, well our family have had bullies for about 40 years with my gran being the first to own one and we have never looked back. Bullmastiffs are a placid and lazy breed however they are working breed so will get up in a split second if needed. You must remember that he is a baby all be it a big one and will sleep but he should be into everything short manic periods where he wares himself out.

With regards to the running and bunny hopping most people don't let their bullies off the lead at 6 months to save the joints in the crucial growing period however they tend to have larger gardens so have a good run around in there. Umm the slow ambling and bunny hopping is a warning sign to me, either he is going through an uneven growth period and has growing pains which is nothing to worry about or he may have HD which only your vet can confirm with x- rays.

This is not my breed but a couple of observations:

In my experience boys do sleep, and sleep.  I've known many of the litter mates of my last two dogs and in both cases the boys are generally more laid back and chilled than their sisters.  This seems to be a surprise to some of the bitch owners, as my boys could nod off mid play.  My youngest dog (now 10 months) will snooze in the middle of the floor whilst his sister is still pinging off the walls and bouncing on his chest :)

Some food makes them extra droopy - kibble would send mine (all of them) into an almost immediate sleep

There is a sudden change at around 5 months, when some of the puppy play stops and you get glimpses of the adult dog that is developing.  In some dogs this is quite extreme and they grow up almost overnight.

Keep a diary of his movements for week, write down when he wakes, poos, wees, sleeps, plays and eats.  I expect he is awake more than you think but it's worth checking.  If he genuinely is only awake for a very short period then I'd want a thorough vet check and some breeder advice (not necessarily your breeder if he is a rescue, but someone very experienced in the breed).  I'm hoping it is the contrast between him and your girls that you are noticing and not anything more serious.

Have you spoken to the breeder? Different lines will probably differ with energy levels.

I've no Bullmastiff experiecne, but my English Mastiff was very similar to your pup, I even got a piccy of him fast asleep while sitting up - he didn't lay down fast enough so fell asleep as soon as his but hit the floor!

One morning he had nicked our other dogs bed during the night, he wouldn't get out of it and slept soundly (lots of snoring!) up untill about midday before he got up! (he was about 7 months old then).

Out on walks it's STILL mostly plodding, unless he's on the trail of a nice scent and he'll pick up the pace to a bit of a trot. He can run but chooses not too, he's all about energy conservation, as a pup and now as an adult (nearly 4years). With the right motivation he can be 'actiavted' but he would rather veg out and/or sleep! Even when 'activated' by meeting a dog on a walk, he'll now only spend about 10 mins playing and then prefer to lay down & watch - sooooooo lazy!

Oh, just remebered, around about 8 months old, Buster had a very 'energetic' period, where he would actually want to run for the sake of it while out on a walk, but he grew out of that very quickly.

Busters attitude - If I've seen it before it's boring. If it's new I'll get bored with it in minutes. Why stand when you can sit? Why sit when you can lay? Why stay awake if your laying down?.....

If you are really worried then get the vet to check him over (I spoke to the vet about Buster, he gave me a knowing smile and assured me pup was normal).

> as my boys could nod off mid play

ahh bless :)

Apparently, I am talking rubbish my OH says!  He says that I just don't notice every time he wakes to sniff something or whatever, I only notice when he is playing like a loon!!  And he is up at the bum(enough to notice without looking) just now so that is maybe why he is so gangly looking when moving fast.  I only let him off in the field and only because he doesn't run about.  If he ran crazy, I would keep him on lead but I prefer to give him a bit of freedom and work on his recall too as he wanders around.
I have spoken to his breeder and she did try to put my mind at ease regarding his inactivity but I find it so hard to believe to be honest. Working breed?!  But then he is getting better and he is alert when outside, just comatose when on the sofa!!

Buster sounds as though he has the same attitude!! Life is just exhausting!lol.

I do think you have nothing to worry about regards the energy levels.....I am sitting here now writing this and Boscoe my bully is lying at my feet (well actually on my feet) snoring his head off and has been for well over 2hours......we are having a new floor put in today so you would assume with all the movement and the furniture all over the place he would be keen to get involved in everything .....NO !....quick sniff around then fast asleep .....After reading the posts on here it does sound as though we have chosen a lazy breed.....have fun with him!....we are few months ahead of you and it just gets better and better.....they are a delight to have around and so loyal and affectionate......

Thanks Kimbo, I know what you mean about the breed.  I am in love allready!! He is so laidback and relaxed and such a big mummys boy.  He looks big and tough but hides behind our little cocker at the sight of anything unusual. He is hilarious too.  You should post any problems/milestones so I know what I've got coming!! Do you have a washing theif too?  And a chewer? And a dog allergic to rain? 
Also, someone had mentioned the kibble being the bother but he is fed raw meat and bones.  Still looks at me like I'm nuts if I try to mix in any fruit/veg but we are trying!

Lol, the bullmastiff I am fostering thinks she is allergic to rain :)

Hiya, yes we too have a washing thief.....just socks though....he will run off with them and then sit and suck them...we only had trouble chewing in the very early days (mainly us, not items around the house ) and we gave him his own chew toys as a quick alternative as soon as he started to chew something that isn't his.....we also limit toys he has that are his own and we have a basket of toys that we play with him on our terms....he has learnt when to chew and what to chew.....it takes time though !....regards food ...Boscoe is on raw free flow chicken and tripe mince and a small handful of ProPlan Robust Puppy kibble.....we also use the kibble as training treats.....he is fed twice a day with treats on the odd occasion.....we have tried chicken wings but he seems to have a little upset tummy after so we have stopped those for a while....he is currently 45 kgs and lean and very powerful.......we also use cheese as recall treats and stinky sausages to assist in the training.....the only issue we have had regards health is a anal gland problem a couple of times whilst we changed his diet to raw....that has calmed down now though....I will keep you posted on the growing trend and what to look for......He has got used to the rain now and often likes to paddle in the stream we have near by.......Have fun!

"He spends his entire day upside down on the sofa "

How this made me chuckle !!! :-)

We have an underware and sock theif. Before he goes into his bed at night I check it and there is nothing in there, I lock the cage and then when I go to let him out later there is always a pair of underware in there or a sock! I have no idea how he does it - I can only assume telekinesis!!

Tilly doesn't mind the rain but she doesn't do puddles - cant be getting those paws wet! She will actually show some energy and jump those!

Tilly has fallen asleep during her training classes while all the other dogs are barking and going crazy; she just finds a chair commando crawls under it and goes to sleep - its quite difficult to get her out so we can do the different exercises!

Their laid back attitude to lie is one of the reasons we got one. We have a nearly 3 year old son and we didn't want something too energetic racing around knocking him over. Tilly still knocks him over but its normally slowly!!

Bulmastiffs are a working breed but their work they were bred for meant when they were not needed they would be a quiet relaxed dog that just sat or laid around (in my experiance usually on their back legs wide open airing their bits as we call it) but in a split second if they were needed they were there.

At the moment i have 4 bullmastiffs aged 5 and 3 years old 16 months and 4 months old all 4 will quiet happily laze around sleeping most of the day, but as soon as they hear something they think we need to know about, all 4 are up like a shot letting us know, quiet oftern of a evening you get up to walk across the room to go to the loo and you have to step over 4 snoring dogs.

As for the moments when they do have a mad half hours at 5 months old they are usually going through their leggy stage so when they do run they seam like their legs go everywhere and yes they can bunny hop quiet a bit, all 4 of mine when they go off lead will have a mad 5 mins where they will run and play then they settle down to a quiet plod along side you.

Sounds all very normal for the breed especially a male as they seam to be more laid back than the girls can be.