5 month old puppy seems bored..

[Mumofsend]

.. am I doing enough?

Current routine

Up at 6.30am, straight out for wees and then breakfast.

Kids harass/play with dpup for approx 30 minutes.

We get ready to go out with random play interactions with dpup like throwing balls etc

Outside for post breakfast poo at 8 and I leave at 8m25 for school runs.

Get home 8.55 and load dpup straight into car for a 20-25 minute walk (sometimes 30 if a sniffy one)

Home by 10am. Wees and poos in the garden. Usually a lickimat like natural yoghurt to settle him.

Then he naps 10.30-12.30ish. Second walk at 1pm for similar time.

Home. I leave for school run 2.25pm, get home 3.35. Kids harass/play until dinner.

Start settling kids around 6pm. Once I come back down he's always ready to go so I give him a stuffed kong. Have various toys out to try and play with him. All he wants to do is chew wires or the kids toys.

Am I not wearing him or stimulating him enough?

Puppies chew everything. It's what they do. We couldn't leave anything out when our dog was a puppy as it would be destroyed and he was walked regularly. He'll grow out of it and he gets older.

Sounds like he's teething and/or overstimulated.
He should be sleeping approx 16 hours in 24. Does he know how to settle/self south?

Our 5 month Collies day is....
6am 30 min walk.
Breakfast and plays with his toys.
DH is WFH so he snoozes on/off till lunch.
DH plays a bit - prob 30 min, pup has lunch.
Snoozes again.
3.30m out for 30/45 min walk.
Im home 5.30ish so tea and couple hours playing ball or bits of training.
8pm he nods off.

I have a whippet and they're lazy, but he's five months and this is our loose routine:

9am: up, garden for pee and poo, breakfast
9:30: lamb muscle chew or equivalent, potter about watching me do things, play / training
10:30ish -1ish: nap
1: walk - mostly offlead, playing with other dogs, lunch on return
2:30 - 5:30: nap
5:30: supper, play, potter, training
7: he usually crashes at this time!

I keep our days low key, a mix of light training, ignoring him (important to let them get used to settling without attention), playing and a walk. We used to walk him twice but it made no difference to his naps and possibly actually gave him more energy. I think your day sounds too busy and stimulating. You need to enforce more naps!

I will say though, my puppy is often up to mischief and does need quite a lot of supervision when awake. It'll pass.

Sounds like he needs much, much more sleep than that.

Puppies of that age need between 16-18 hours of sleep each day. If I'm reading it right, yours is only sleeping overnight and for two hours each day - that's nowhere near enough.

I think you need to limit the amount of access the kids have to the puppy as their behaviour will no doubt be hyping him up. His naps need to at least triple during the day - six-eight hours of sleep during the day is probably a good target, plus whatever he sleeps overnight (I guess around 8 hours).

I try to get him to nap more but everytime I move he bolts upright and follows me around. Will try him napping in his crate and see if that helps

@Mumofsend

I try to get him to nap more but everytime I move he bolts upright and follows me around. Will try him napping in his crate and see if that helps

He sounds anxious. It would be worth doing some self soothing. How does he cope in a different room or when you go out?

@Mumofsend

I try to get him to nap more but everytime I move he bolts upright and follows me around. Will try him napping in his crate and see if that helps

My three year old dog still does this - they love to be involved in everything - which is fine when they're adults and can regulate themselves better but puppies are like toddlers.

Think of it like this - if you put a toddler down for a nap and then put on their favourite Disney movie and are some cake, they'd be up in a flash.

To your puppy, you're the best thing ever but they need to learn to sleep and settle while you do other things. So yes, use a crate or even a pen so she can watch you but not get to you. Using chews or frozen kongs will help relax her as well.

@icedcoffees

Sounds like he needs much, much more sleep than that.

Puppies of that age need between 16-18 hours of sleep each day. If I'm reading it right, yours is only sleeping overnight and for two hours each day - that's nowhere near enough.

I think you need to limit the amount of access the kids have to the puppy as their behaviour will no doubt be hyping him up. His naps need to at least triple during the day - six-eight hours of sleep during the day is probably a good target, plus whatever he sleeps overnight (I guess around 8 hours).

5 month old dog to sleep for 6-8 hours a day? Really? This is for the owner’s benefit, not the dog’s. Some people put their dogs in a crate for that length of time - the poor dog sleeps because there’s nothing else to do but what a miserable life! OP your dog’s routine sounds lovely. He’s active and chewy but he’ll grow out of it.