Rest and relaxation for your puppy

Rest and Relaxation

Puppies need to play, exercise, explore, eat, drink and chew.  It’s no wonder they sleep a lot!

When you get a new puppy, it is so tempting to want to play with him or her as much as possible and most people don’t realise how much time a puppy will spend asleep – about 16 to 18 hours a day!  Physically, puppies develop extremely fast and this uses up a lot of energy – sleeping is just part of the growing process and it is perfectly healthy for a puppy to sleep a lot.  It is important to ensure that your puppy has lots of opportunities to rest, especially if you have a busy household and one with children.

Puppies can be extremely energetic when awake and when tiredness hits them, they can simply fall asleep in the strangest of positions and places.  As tempting as it is, try not to allow your puppy to fall asleep anywhere (such as in the middle of a busy living room floor) as they will have a better quality, more restful sleep in a safe, quiet, comfortable and calm place (such as their own bed or crate).  This shouldn’t be in isolation, just somewhere they can be left in peace.

It is also important to remind children of the importance of leaving their puppy to rest without waking him/her up.  Sleeping is an important part of your puppy’s development and lack of sleep can result in unwanted behaviour.