Sleep problems

[LizzieBet14]

We have a 14 week old Labradoodle. On the whole, he's doing well - toilet training ok, eating ok, sleeps in his bed downstairs from 10pm - 5:30am he gets up to go for a wee outside when one of us gets up for work.

The problem is that he still wants to sleep for most of the morning and then his behaviour deteriorates from late afternoon onwards - he's snappy and no matter how we try & keep him entertained we can't appease him. I think he's tired but won't have a nap. He has two short walks a day.

Any ideas what we're doing wrong?

Enforced down time in crate / pen
plenty of calming activities like sniffing and licky mats

We do the lick mats and kong toy with peanut butter m, yoghurt etc. What are the sniff toys/games? Thanks

Google for ideas but there is some ridiculous stat like 10 mins of sniffing = 2 hours of physical activity for a dog so really good to tire them out

we used snuffle mats, scatter treats (frozen peas work) on the lawn, hide treats in a box of shredded paper, shred something stinky like fish in to a loo roll tube and then seal the ends so they have to work out how to get it out…. Etc etc etc

Thank you

Lots of sniffy activities - if he has dry food, try scattering it in the grass for him to find at mealtimes.

Good idea - he's very motivated by food! 👍

The witching hour! It's common for puppies to have a burst of energy in the evenings. But that doesn't mean that they necessarily need more activity. Enforcing a nap is a good idea. You can also begin to teach your puppy that the living room (or wherever you want to spend the evening) is a place for relaxing. It takes time but teaching him to settle is very useful.

Having said that, I would also say it's possible that he could use some additional exercise during the day, either physical or mental or a combination of the two. How short are his walks? I have never subscribed to the "5 minutes per month of age" notion. Can you take him somewhere to run about for half an hour? Alternatively, you could try a walk with a lot of sniffing.

We take him on two 10/15 minutes a day but we feel he could possibly do another as he's very energetic and he sleeps well afterwards.
I read about the 5 mins per month so was a bit worried about taking him for anymore. It would give a better morning/afternoon/evening routine especially as we don't have a big outdoor space. Thanks.

The five minutes per month thing is a bit of a myth - you just need to make sure you build exercise up slowly so they don't overdo it ☺️

I'd say half an hour at a time is fine at that age as long as it's on soft ground and you allow him to stop and rest if he needs it.

Thanks - we have a park at the end of the road & I've just sent my son out with him for a walk! It'll do them both good 😂

Pup needs to learn to settle/ enforce naps.
when ours had the witching hour we’d make sure she didn’t need a wee then crate time. She’d go straight to sleep as she was tired but fighting it

You will never tire them through excercise like you can from training. Just bear that in mind you’ll just have to keep exercising more and more.

He's not keen on the crate and just sleeps/stays in his bed at night. We'll have a go with the enforced naps as part of his routine with 3 walks. He's asleep now after his walk.

If at this young age you need to do 3 walks a day to tire them out just consider if that’s feasible as they older that’s all I’d say.

I disagree with this, we used to do several short walks with our pup, now she’s older she’s very happy with one long walk a day or two medium length ones

Also agree that 5 mins per month is a myth, I asked our vet and she said avoid running on hard pavements etc as that’s what knackers their joints but general play / walks on soft ground where you’re not forcing them to do more than they want is fine

You really don't need to walk them three times a day!

Even as adults, most dogs are absolutely fine with just the one walk, unless you're talking about a proper working breed like a collie or husky.

Thank you