How sociable was your puppy at 8 weeks?

[puppiesgalore]

Have just come back from sil?s house where I?ve been to see their new Labrador puppy. They got him about 5 days ago, and when I was there I was struck by how unsociable he seems to be. Firstly he spent most of his time in his basket in the kitchen, or lying on the grass doing nothing. Obviously puppies sleep a lot and I took this into account, but even when he was awake he seemed to be hiding from people. Didn?t respond to any human interaction, wagged his tail a couple of times at raised voice but other than that would just wander off in the other direction if any attempts were made to gain his attention.

I?ve had puppies before and none of them were ever like this. He?s 8 weeks old and at 8 weeks my dogs were always into everything but this dog seems detached somehow. Db and sil saw him in his home environment, saw the mother and the other litter mates and didn?t seem to be an issue. But even they have said that he?s not interested in them at all.

Would you say this was normal puppy behaviour?

It does sound a little unusual for a labrador to me. Yes you are right they can be quieter when they first go to a new environment, but after five days you might hope for a bit more, especially with them as he gets to know them. You as yet another stranger to him may have been a bit scarey though so to a degree perhaps that explains it a bit while you were there - but then he is still "shy" with them. It would be worth them getting a vet to check him over asap just to make sure he doesn't have a heart problem. Sometimes puppies with heart defects can be very quiet as they do not have the energy to play. Obviously the vet will give a full health check apart from the heart. If there is a problem they should consider returning him to the breeder so that he/she can take the burden of costs for any further veterinary attention.

It may simply be that he is just taking time to adjust to a new environment and people though and they just need to softly keep encouraging him, happy high squeaky kid talk voices with him, no shouting even if he is naughty so he does not feel overwhelmed by the new people around him. It would be very important to him too if he is just a shy dog to get all his vaccines completed as soon as their vet is able to do so, and get him socialised with other dogs again asap after that, and take him out and about to plenty of places and new experiences with people.

Hopefully all is well for them all and he will settle in nicely soon and be a great part of their family.

Poor pup probably needs his mum. If he's 8 weeks now and they've had him 5 days, that's awfully young to leave the litter.

If you have a bunch of puppies born of the same mother, some will be friendly, some will keep their distance, and some won't care about you. It may be normal. One of my dogs was just like that when we got it (not bothered to be with us or even to look at us) now she is a soppy thing you can hardly remove from your side.

not at all