[Britneymsmith]

We just brought home our new puppy, Sarge, this past week. He’s a 13 week old GSD and is precious. At the breeder, he played with his brothers, sisters and mom, but wasn’t overly energetic. At home, he is quite lethargic. He seems unmotivated and hardly has any energy. He sleeps a lot, which I know puppies do! When not sleeping he lays down and does not get up for much. He plays with a toy sometimes and has already begun fetching but this is few and far between. He mostly lies down and refuses to move. He has already potty trained in these few days, so we know he’s very intelligent. However, we’re finding it very hard to motivate him to move around and play. He went to the vet and tested negative for worms, and she said his hips looked great and his heart sounded fine. Should we just chalk this up to new environment and people? I know his little self is overwhelmed with a new home, but I’m wondering if this is extreme?

 

[tc68]

I was going to say...probably new environment and people. But I was also thinking maybe the food? Or, do you make it exciting and fun for him to follow you around?

 

[Steve Strom]

If he's eating, drinking, and pooping/peeing fine, I wouldn't worry. He'll settle in with you and perk up. If he's not doing any of those things normally, I'd have a more thorough exam. Maybe a different vet. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in a vet that would comment like that on a 13 week old's hips.

 

[CometDog]

Is he eating/drinking/pooping/peeing normally and frequently? How is his appetite? There are things besides worms to check for in a stool sample. In the name of being thorough ask your vet if they ran a protozoa test too- for things like giardia and coccidia (I never spell those right) What is he eating? How is his appetite?

It could be anything from not feeling great due to an underlying (and usually treatable) reason, to missing his littermates if he was still with them, to new environment, or it could just be a very laid back dog. That would be my last suspicion since most pups of any breed are a handful rather than an angel. Including those details above would help us brainstorm with you.