I have just bought a 7 mth old female deerhound and she spends 90% of the day lying down. She is a poor eater but seems energetic enough when out in the park, though her stamina is poor. Is this normal?

Lazing around at home is in the normal range though a 7 month pup is usually less of a layabout than an adult. Fussy eating (not the same as poor feeding) is also typical of deerhound bitches though again it isn't usually marked so young.

'Lack of stamina' isn't normal, although at 7 months she is still a baby so it really depends on what you are expecting from her.

If you'd let me have more details about her I should be able to give you an idea of how normal or otherwise her behaviour is and some idea of how to manage her if she is under par.

Thanks jas.
I bought her 3 weeks ago and she was being fed an adult dry food with 1 tin of "Butchers" tripe, split into 2 meals/day. She ate this well but I thought it better to change to Beta puppy junior complete dry food. She has never eaten much more than 1/2 a beta meal since. I decided to gradually change over to IAMS junior giant breed dry food yesterday and she seems more interested in it so far. She is a slow eater and I hope the lesser quantity of IAMS needed will help. She had been living outside with 3 of her litter before purchase and now lives outside but alone with us. Our yard area is a fair size but is suburban and fully enclosed compared to her initial rural upbringing. I have been advised to restrict daily walks to 100yds and I take her to a local park every 1-2 days. I have let her free exercise there twice with 2 male litter mates who live nearby. She certainly perks up in the park and particularly when she meets her sibs but after they have romped around for 5-10 mins, while they all are breathing heavily, she is the only one who needs to ly down to recover. At home she spends virtually all her time lying down--either in bed or outside on the concrete. She occasionally plays with sticks herself but doesn't seem interested in playing with myself or my 11 year old daughter at home. Saying that we're not sure what sort of games to try in any case. She is not allowed in the house. I suppose it's early days yet in terms of her leaving her litter mates/settling into a new home/routine. Weight is 30kg and increasing according to my back when I lift her in and out of the car(hates car--nervous/drools +++ and has vomited and defecated and urinated in it). She is very submissive/nervous with humans and some dogs, and especially so with children. She will pee, including her bed if in it, when approached by any human though this appears to be lessening with me since I began to ignore her until she got up and out to greet me herself. Otherwise, she appears healthy and relatively content with life; walks ok on the lead and is responding intermittently to whistle/verbal/hand signal basic training with treat/verbal praise rewards  eg sit (prefers to ly down immediately upon sitting), wait, heel, come, and stay.
If there's anything else you think would be helpful to know, just ask.
Cheers,
Ephrem

Hi Ephrem,

From your description this puppy is not behaving at all as a well bred and well socialised young deerhound ought. Have you had any support/advice from the breeder? If not, you're welcome to e-mail or private message me and I'll give you my phone number so that we can talk about her in proper detail.

Thanks jas. I've tried to send you a private message but I've only just joined the forum and am not very familiar with using it yet. My e-address is   ephrembogues@tiscali.co.uk   if I was unsuccessful.
regards,
Ephrem

Hi Ephrem, got your e-mail and have replied to it. Look forward to hearing from you again.

She sounds like an unsocialised pup who has not come across most of the things that pups will during normal lives.

If you keep her living alone outside and exclude her from family life she may also be depressed if she is used to living with a pack.

If she keeps laying down after exercise and you are sure it is because she is not unfit then I would get her heart checked out by your vet.

Thanks Kerioak. I'm struggling with the living outside bit--my wife has a very fixed view on this so I'm trying to spend as much time out as possible--weather permitting; or with back door open while I'm in kitchen. 2 of the kids like to be out the back a lot too. Vet says heart is ok. Change of meal to IAMS seems to be having beneficial effects this last 2 days--fingers crossed.
Ephrem

I have to say that I wonder why anyone would have a dog if it was not to become a valued member of the household family; why does she not want it to live in the house and did she not really want a dog in the first place?  Unless ALL members of the house really want a dog the whole venture is normally doomed to failure.

A dog is not a horse.

Just curious, is it normal to keep a deer hound pup or dog outside ALL the time??? Seems very sad ...

Kerioak has a very valid point there, your dog will see you and your family as her new pack, and she won't understand why she's being excluded. Dogs are very social animals. Is it not possible to come to some arrangement with your wife, whereby the dog is allowed into the kitchen etc, but not the rest of the house?

I hope you get your pooch sorted out :)

liberty :)

Valid points all.
Good news to report--big improvement in energy and playfulness with IAMS--licks the plate clean every time, even though the transfer isn't fully complete from Beta Junior yet! Think I might try a bowl myself--I wonder what's so stimulating in it?  Wife coming round too though that wasn't helped today, her birthday, by me spending all day weatherproofing the dog's new kennel (6'x6'x6' childrens' playhouse with windows, stable door and verandah--next best thing to the kitchen for now).
Thanks everyone.
Ephrem