Out-of-sorts puppy

[Putonabrew]

I have a four-month old Labrador. She is my first dog and just so lovely. On Friday, I went to work and she went to doggy daycare where she gets to run around all day with lots of other dogs. Friday night she was very tired, but she normally is after a day in the field. Yesterday my husband took her for a walk and she was struggling a bit- he thought she may have hurt her leg so he brought her back. She spent much of yesterday lying down and snoozing and was definitely not her normal bouncy self. She was also whimpering at one point. We took her to the out-of-hours vet where they triaged her and then got her to eat some soft food which she wolfed down but they found nothing seriously wrong and thought she may have a sore stomach so have advised feeding soft food. Today, it’s only early yet, but she didn’t jump up when we came downstairs like she usually does, came out of her crate for five minutes and has now gone back in and is fast asleep. She hasn’t eaten yet, been out for a wee or had a drink. I don’t think anything happened in doggy day care as they are lovely people and would have told us if she’d got hurt- plus surely the vet would have picked it up? I asked them if she had seemed out of sorts but they said she was her usual lively self. I’ve only ever had guinea pigs before who, if they get ill go downhill really quickly. I know dogs are a bit more robust, but I’m really worried about her. Vet said to go back Monday if she hasn’t improved. Has anyone had anything similar? Do dogs just feel a bit rundown sometimes and need to sleep it off? Turns out my dog being ill causes the same sickening anxiety as when my children are ill! Thanks for any advice!

Four months is still pretty tiny - especially for a medium/large breed. I would be a bit concerned about her overdoing it if she really is spending an hour or so at a time haring around a field. If she is still eating and drinking I would wait until Monday before going back to the vet but try and encourage her to come out of her crate and interact with you.

Thank you. I thought it was the best option as she’d be with someone all day and be able to socialise with other dogs, but maybe she’s too young for it at the moment. I only work one or two days a week and was concerned about her being lonely at home. Your advice is appreciated.

It sounds like daycare is far too much for her at such a young age.

At four months of age, she needs to be sleeping for around 18-20 hours per day and her exercise shouldn't be tearing round fields all day with other dogs. That's too much and is likely to be doing more harm than good.

If you have to work, I would be looking at sending her to a home-based daycare where she spends time with a small group of dogs (generally a maximum of four) and has plenty of opportunities to rest and sleep in the daycare providers' home.

If she's been whimpering and sleeping a lot, I suspect she's over-done things and has possibly injured herself trying to keep up with the other dogs. It's really tough when they're puppies as they don't know when to stop and want to play with the "big dogs", but too much exercise will be causing more problems than it solves.

Hw long would she be left alone if you didn't send her to daycare? Would a dog walker popping in a few times a day be a better option while she's so small?

Socialising with other dogs doesn't really mean tearing around a field together all day. She'd be better meeting polite dogs on lead for now - otherwise you may end up with a dog who tries to play with every dog they meet, which is a very good way to get themselves bitten.
She needs LOTS of sleep at 4 months - you'll probably need to teach her to settle and encourage nap times (licking or chewing are good ways to help with this).

Thank you so much for your replies. She has gobbled up all her lunch and has shown an interest in my children’s lunch too so is hopefully on the mend, but it does seem more likely to be she has overdone it rather than a stomach bug. We will certainly reconsider her daycare arrangements. Feel awful as we really did think we were doing the right thing. Lots of rest and cuddles today.

It might be that you just need a different doggy day care that can cater for such a young pup. To be honest a good quality day care would know that hours in the field is too much for a 4 month old pup.

she should only be doing short walks at her age. around 20 mins and nothing overly strenuous on her joints. make sure the day care know she can't be walked with adult dogs for a while yet! if they aren't aware of this they can't be experienced and u should look for another.