lazy puppy

**Big Fella** · 02-25-2010, 02:19 PM

Hi folks,

No doubt (hopefully) I am going to provoke lots of different thoughts on this subject. I think that it may be down to the dog in question, but I will take on board any advice so here goes.

Red is my 17week old Labrador, he is fab and I, we, love him to bits. When we picked him we viewed both parents and were told that the dog was from working stock. From the 1st day we could (after injections etc) he was on the beach off leash, he is very social with other dogs and humans, his recall is great for his age, he walks to heal on the leash for the most part, his chewing is minimal. But this is my concern, on the beach he runs around like mad with other dogs, ruff and tumble but when he gets home he flops, lies around very quiet, when I come to take him out for a walk sometimes he is reluctant to leave the house. After lying around when he gets up, on occasions, he is like an old man.

My father has a Labrador 2 weeks younger and he is hyper running jumping mischief etc etc. Don't get me wrong with two daughters 4 & 6 its great to have a calm submissive dog (I know this can change) but he is that laid back I am concerned that there is something wrong or I am exercising him to much. He generally gets 2 x 15min walks and 1 x 40 - 60 min walk per day, the longer of the walks at least half of which is off leash.

Am I over exercising? Is it just his temperament? Could there be something a miss?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Neil

**BigBrownDog** · 02-25-2010, 02:54 PM

Sounds OK to me for a dog that age. As long as it is not forced exercise (where you are running and he is leashed to you) he is able to stop/slow down as he wishes.

Did you exercise him that much when he was very young? Has he been at all gimpy?

He may just be a Lab that requires less exercise than some.

**Baloo317** · 02-25-2010, 03:25 PM

I would wonder about how sound his structure is, to be honest. He shouldn't be acting like an old man at all at that age. A lot of the time dogs (eps. labs!) are great at masking their pain when there's something stimulating enough around (other dogs, beach, toys, etc) but you'll see it in their downtime when the stimulus is gone.

If he were mine I'd have his hips checked out at the very least.

**Big Fella** · 02-25-2010, 05:05 PM

SORRY, SORRY,SORRY. This is what happens when you have a quiet dog and hyper bath time kids, didn't realise till my wife pointed it out. Red is 17 weeks not months, Sorry. Thoughts still appreciated.