In 24 hours Manic Morse is out exercising/training for 3 hours, spends 30 minutes eating, an hour playing with kids, 1-2 hours lounging with us chewing his bones and nebbing out the window, asleep while we sleep for 8 hours so what does he do the other 9 hours? More sleep? Surely its not natural! Forgot about the hour or so he spends cracking kongs or watching the world pass by the garden, but it still seems a lot of snooze time!

Our two sleep for inordinate amounts of time too - if I add it up, they definitely spend more hours in the day sleeping than awake :)

Lesley

It's normal. It's not unusual for adult dogs to spend approximately half their life sleeping, typically 12 hours a day. Some breeds need more sleep than others - as much as 18 hours per day! (typically larger breeds).

Like humans, they have two main types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and slow wave sleep (SWS). During REM sleep, they may twitch, "run", yelp and breathe rapidly.

I have almost never seen Anna sleeping during the day! She will lay down but her eyes are open and she's ready to go. I went for a walk around this morning with three friends to see what we could put up. After over 3 hours walking up a wood during which time she must have run through miles of heavy cover plus the occasional retrieve. For her afternoon she was out in the garden with me and now she's wanting to go for a walk!

This is the reason I would never recommend a Labrador from working lines to anyone who has no desire to work it. Some of course would be ok but others would be just too demanding.

What does she do all day? Walks, runs, sits and watches, occasionally eats and if she sees you doing nothing she'll bring you a toy to play with!

Best wishes, John

Mine never sleep while I am at home.  They follow my every move and from room to room if I let them.  If they are outside in the kennel and I am in, they always keep one eye on the house.

If they did risk shutting even one eye, they might just miss something!  I remember the time my son had a party for all his mates to play computer games all weekend during lovely weather, we don't usually throw things for ours in the garden but the visitors did.  They started at 5pm on a Friday and by Sunday at 6pm our springer hadn't been to bed all weekend as he was waiting for the next person to come out and play!  Someone had been playing with him all the time, all weekend, day and night!  His eyes were bloodshot and he was 'hanging' but didn't give in!

I totally agree with John about having a working dog as a pet, ours wouldn't be happy if they couldn't do what they were bred to do.  All that energy would have to go somewhere!

Hi John and Jackyjat, your dogs are what I expected when I got one! Morse was like this as a pup but seems to have slacked off a bit, mind you our walks are more like Annas than a stroll around the football field - tonight was rabbit hunting deluxe and dig em out, then hunt the cock pheasant through the thistles till called off, run pals ragged and be put into 5 minute down stay to let mother get her breath back! lol at the midnight springer hanging out for his ball.

Talking of working breeds a friend has a super wee working cocker and Ive been seeing more of em about recently maybe red car syndrome anyway she was saying some folks buy the working cocker assuming its like the ordinary cocker only to get a horrible shock, and Ive seen labs advertised with FTCh pedigree "ideal work or pet" is someone telling porkies, assuming all prospective owners are like themselves, or even just looking at the litter and sorting pups into pets or workers?

I wouldn't want a working dog that didn't work.  I would be quite happy to negotiate what the 'work' would exactly entail but they all have minds that need to be busy.  I wouldn't want my pups going to 'pet' homes for that very reason, it doesn't make for a happy dog or a happy owner.  We have 5 cockers in our road, two working ones including mine and three 'ornamental' variety.  They certainly aren't show dogs (I doubt they fit that criteria) and two of them are never let off the lead and have never in their 7yrs run free in a field - just incase they run away!  The other is a sweetie but it's hard to believe they are the same type of dog.  Seeing what a working dog can achieve in the field gives such tremendous satisfaction that you wouldn't want to deprive them.  There is a place for all of them - as my old dad used to say, a place for everything, and everthing in it's place!

Our boy is now 6 and I am still waiting for the day he slows down.  The only sign is that on the very odd occasion, he doesn't get up to greet me but is still sleeping when I get down!  Teal is only slower at the moment because she is so hugely pregnant!

Well, my Anna is a pet and friend first and a working dog second but I'd be the first to admit that if I had wanted a quiet plodder she would not be the dog for me. I think there is a certain amount of "We get what we are" in that because I work her she loves to work. Looked at the other way, If I never worked her then she would not have that interest to be out and about and of course she probably would not be anything like as fit. But of course, it is the work which occupies her brain and without it I shudder to think what she would use use her brain for, but use it she would and I figure it would not be to the benefit of humans!

Best wishes, John

I think it goes without saying that these animals are our constant companions and therefore fit the criteria for a pet.

Definition of pet: 'domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement'.

To most of us they are more than that.  Dogs were bred for a job because they suit the job so well and it is our duty to occupy those very capable brains to capacity!

"Ive seen labs advertised with FTCh pedigree "ideal work or pet" is someone telling porkies, assuming all prospective owners are like themselves, or even just looking at the litter and sorting pups into pets or workers?"

Thats exactly how I advertise my pups, and I genuinely believe it! I would say that if you cant handle the average Field Trial bred lab you shouldn't be geting involved with any medium / large breed of dog. Yes you'll get the odd 'tricky' one, but given the large number bred, its really not that difficult to find one that can be both a relaxed, easy to train pet AND a hard going gundog.

Most "field trial bred" labs are usually a Field Trial Champion dog put on a bitch that doubles as as pet/worker that was bred pretty much the same way.

If the breeding is there, the whole litter should be capable of work (in the right hands). Many people that work their labs are pretty poor trainers, so I prefer to place the 'harder going' pups with 'dog people' rather than 'dog lovers' whether or not they are planning to work them. 

I agree, Havoc - our labrador was a working-bred one with several FTChs in her pedigree, and she was a very willing, trainable family pet. Her keenness to learn made her easy to train!
:)

Do you think that if you hadn't been keen to train, she would have put her keenness to learn to a different use?

Quite possibly - but we didn't train her any differently to any other dog. We weren't particularly 'keen to train'. Being a lab, she had a need to use her mouth, so she was thrilled to pick things off the floor and give them to me (great when I was hugely pregnant, and dropped things stayed dropped!); she insisted on carrying the newspaper from the shop from 14 weeks old (never tore it); she was housetrained, day and night, by 9 weeks old. Basically she was 'just a pet' who pottered round the house and garden with me, like dogs do. If she'd been any easier she might just as well have been stuffed ...
:)

At least 18 in the case of the Maremmas! If they are not doing something else (walking, eating etc) they are asleep - seemingly quite soundly - though if something happens (something throough the door, noise outside etc) they are up and barking at it immediately! They do like to sleep near you so will follow you if you go into another room for any time - but then they will just sleep there too! Very calm in the house I think they call it!

Smooth collie has been something of a culture shock! ;)

Janet

Lucky you Lorelei - Cam spends 23 hours a day trying to persuade me to play with him, walk him, take him running, chase him, play hide and seek ... :D  :rolleyes:  . I think they call it "active indoors". :D

Jo

My 4 labs and 1 ESS are lying down with eyes closed, sleeping, no chance, I stop typing and each one of them open one eye, just to see what I am going to do, feed, play or walk them. dont kid yourself, they are not sleeping, just waiting patiently with their eyes closed.

Kay

My collies are on the go all day until I sit down in the afternoon and play on here. Then one of them lays by me until I move, then she is up and following to see if I can do something more exciting. The others are running in the garden or again resting waiting to see if I am going to move. Even when they appear to be asleep, if I move they move. I wouldn't have them any other way. They do eventually rest when I sit in the evening watching a favourite item on tv but as soon as I move I have my little shadows following to see if I might do something. I do find it sad when someone comes to us for training and they have never had a working breed and say that they are always on the 'go'. I tell them to do lots of brain work and interact with them. :-)

I was just wondering the other day about how much Sadie sleeps. (Pointer)  I was wondering if it was too much.  But when she is up and about, we better have something to do, or she will make her own fun...

I think the break down of her day seems similiar to Morse.