[Eve-Lynn]

We have a 6 month old GSD named Link. He gets up in the morning around 8am goes to the bathroom and eats then usually sleeps from about 9am until 11am and then I take him for an hour walk (about 4 kilometres) then we come home and he sleeps on and off from 1pm until about 3:30pm. Then around 6pm he eats and around 8pm my DH takes him for another hour walk (about 4 kilometres) then he comes home and sleeps on and off until bed at 11pm and then sleeps all night. I was wondering if this is normal puppy sleeping. He seems to be growing like a weed and they say that puppies grow while they sleep. How many hours a day does the average dog sleep??

 

[derby98]

It seems like our 5 month old Diego sleeps about 23 hours per day!
Really he sleeps about the same as your Link. Those 2-3 mile walks are all they need to poop them out.

 

[CertainlySpoiled]

Emma Sleeps a lot, she is now 11 months old, I think it's normal as with any baby or toddler.

 

[DSudd]

Someone PLEASE tell me how you get your pup to sleep so much. Apollos current schedule is as follows:

Up at 5:30 AM to potty, play and eat. He is usually up and about (going the whole time) for about 2 hours.

During the week he is in his crate from 7:30 or so until about 12:30. The boys take him out, potty, play and feed him.

They put him back in his crate about 2 and he is there until I get home between 5:30 and 6.

Of course he is let out again, to potty, eat and play. In the evening we also work on training with his basic commands. Through out the evening we will crate him for short periods of time, so if we have a ton of stuff to get done we can and we know he is safe.

We normally put him to bed between 10 and 11. If he hears a noise at night, or if one of us get up for the bathroom, he is up, we will take him out, and straight back to his crate, but he normally takes about 15 minutes or so to settle down.

He doesnt seem to sleep very much, but he is growing like a weed. So tell me how you get your pups to sleep for an extended period of time.

 

[LedZep]

LET'S TRADE!!

Kuno just turned 7 months, and though he is getting better at making it all night, he still sometimes gets me up. He is crated during the day on weekdays with a lunchtime break, so he probably does a lot of sleeping then - but on weekends and evenings his sleeps very little. Maybe an hour in the evening on the couch while we watch TV.

His schedule is very similar to Apollo (above, as posted by DSudd), except his lunch break is much shorter.

 

[DSudd]

I dont wanna trade, just wondering if there are some kind of knock out drops or something I dont know about LOL I would think with the amount of time he spends running around and chasing Rocky he would just be ready to collaspe. Oh to be young with lots of energy.

 

[Lola1969]

Ozzy is 2. His schedule is:

6 am up for an hour walk

7 am -11 am - naps with husband (who gets home at 6 am)

11 am - 5 pm - "helps" with yardwork with husband, runs errands with husband, and naps

5pm - one hour walk

6 pm - 8:30 pm playtime, chew time, hang out time, obedience

9 pm - puts himself to bed upstairs, sleeps all night

When husband is not home during the day, Ozzy will sleep all day and be very demanding of attention at night. Needless to say, I like it when my husband is home during the day!

 

[lcht2]

hmm im not sure but ill make a guesstimation around 3-4 1 hour naps a day. BUT on the days when we are at work NEVER, unless he is crated while we are home, he pretty much chills out in the crate.

 

[ashim]

i have a 3 months old gsd bitch named rimo. she gets up around 9 am in the morning. after having some breakfast again she sleeps and awake around 1 -pm after lunch again she sleep and wake up around 5pm now its play time after that she sleep around 7 pm and wake up at 8.30 after dinner she sleep around 11.30

 

[Fodder]

granted I haven't raised a young pup for quite some time.... my dogs have been rescues, adopted between 6-12 months and from the moment I bring them home I pretty much pattern the schedule I want them to have.... down time was spent in the crate until they got the hang of it. I mean, I broke them of getting up at 5:30 am by simply not getting up at 5:30 am, lol.

 

[Stonevintage]

i have a 3 months old gsd bitch named rimo. she gets up around 9 am in the morning. after having some breakfast again she sleeps and awake around 1 -pm after lunch again she sleep and wake up around 5pm now its play time after that she sleep around 7 pm and wake up at 8.30 after dinner she sleep around 11.30

Are you saying that she is only awake 4-5 hours per day and then sleeps all night?

 

[Amshru]

So happy you posted this, cos I'd been wondering myself, since 5 month old Elva is NOT a morning dog. Getting her to leave her cosy crate and go outside to potty is hard... and when we come back in, she usually goes straight to the crate for another snooze.

She seems to like to sleep about 9 hours at night. It doesn't matter what time she goes to bed, she doesn't want to be disturbed for 9 hours. (Not that I'm complaining! She's very flexible about bed times.)

Morning routine is out to poop, breakfast, free run of her room for half an hour then back outside to poop again. We usually do a bit of training or a short walk before she goes back inside for a nap.

Lunchtime, more pee/poop, some ball games and obedience, playing in the garden for an hour.

Back to the crate or my office for some more sleeping, then a longer walk offleash either hillwalking or through the woods. Then it's time for dinner, followed by watching TV or playing in the house. This is when she'd really like to play with the cats, but they have more sense!

If she hasn't had at least 4 hours sleep during the day, she gets bitey in the evenings, so if we want some nice fun time, we have to make sure she's slept enough.

 

[Kyleigh]

OMG My dog would have stayed awake all day if I had let her! Kyleigh was full of energy, and I HAD to use her crate as down time / nap time for her. If she wasn't in her crate, she didn't sleep!

 

[FearlessFreya]

Nice to read this thread - I was actually just wondering about this very thing this morning...

Freya is now 6 months old. I take her out for a piddle around 7am, and back inside for about an hour so I can have my coffee and breakfast while she lounges and follows us around.

Then it's off to the park for about an hour - mostly walking, some playing, and obedience whenever I can get her attention.

Back home now, she eats her brekkie, and then naps (mainly because I ignore her). She gets up and follows me every time I move, but settles back in pretty quickly ;-)

She'll wake up usually around lunchtime, out for a piddle again, and back in for a bit of obedience and some playtime.

Naps again until about 4ish, more playtime & obedience, and excitement levels through the roof once hubby gets home. Off to the park for another hour of walking and playing. Dinner for all of us once back home, and she usually stays up now for a few hours not wanting to miss anything. Really cute watching her watching us, with droopy eyes trying to stay awake. She usually passes out around 8pm.

We wake her for a final piddle around 9 or 10 pm, and then she sleeps most of the night. Sometimes, we hear her in the middle of the night chewing on her bully, or doing a walkabout - but she generally stays quiet until we get out of bed.

Before I started this schedule, she didn't sleep much at all, and we thought we had to keep her entertained all the time. Once I figured out that she'll settle if I ignore her, it's been great!

 

[duncandaniels]

Scout has always slept straight through the night in her cage, but she has never been a napper. Even now at two, she may occasionally close her eyes for a few minutes, but if there is any movement, she will immediately jump up to see what's going on. I was actually surprised to read some of these responses! I thought all GSD were like this.

 

[Cobe914]

GSDs sleep?

 

[WateryTart]

GSDs sleep?

HAHAHA

Mine actually lounges most of the day. We think it's because she's been conditioned to either accept her crate or that she needs to let us work if one of us is working from home. She's always glad to get up and go do something fun at any time of day if we ask, but her default from waking in the morning until 4:30 or 5 PM is to just hang out. I'm sure she naps some of that time; she does with me if I'm WFH. My husband works from home much more frequently than I do and said she has a circuit for where she chooses to chill: Couch, floor, chair, office floor, crate, outside, start over.

If I'm off, I take her out for a significant portion of the day to exercise, run dog-friendly errands, or do other stuff that's fun for her.

Then she wants to go go go all through the evening, but that's perfectly fine because we've taught her to expect playtime and engagement during the evening.

She sleeps well through the night now, about 7-8 hours (longer if she's tired). I'll hear her moving around in her crate between 6:30 and 7 AM if I haven't gone up earlier to let her out. If I'm up early enough, we cuddle on the couch together for awhile before I have to get ready; she will come bounding in from outside and jump right on the couch to hang out with me.

 

[MythicMut]

Ha! I didn't even know that GSDs slept during the day (LOL) . Mine will nap if I put him in the crate for some down-time otherwise he is always on the go. If he is laying quietly when I work, he chews on a Kong or devises new ways to get me off the computer but doesn't nap unless in the crate. He is very good about going into the crate though and will let himself in it when I say "crate".