Sleepy Puppy - Is This Normal?

[Subverto]

Hello All,

After doing months of research, we brought our first Newfie home on Thursday of last week. Her name is Nala (Nal-ah) and she is a beautiful 9 week old brown female. She is an absolute sweetheart and opened up to my girlfriend and I within a day of bringing her into our home. She is like our little shadow, following us around the house wherever we go. Potty traing and crate training have been a breeze so far, and she is already starting to come when called. She is essentially the perfect puppy!

The only thing that suprised me about her is the amount of time she spends sleeping. I would say on average, for every 1 hour she is awake and playing, she spends 2 hours sleeping. She also seems to get very sleepy very quickly. Sometimes when she gets up from a nap to go to her water dish for a drink, she will lay down halfway through drinking with her head resting on the bowl and fall asleep. I just wanted to make sure that this is normal, as my previous expirience with a puppy (our Rottweiler who passed away two years ago) was that they are much more rambunctious.

Here's a picture of our little baby.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Puppypeoplenj]

She's beautiful! Sorry I can't help with your question, but wow! Those eyes are breathtaking.

 

[Ivoryudx]

Congratulations on your new puppy! She's very cute! Newfie puppies do tend to sleep A LOT in comparison to other breeds, but you need to be sure she is free of internal parasites (worms) and her heart does not have any murmurs. Did her breeder have her heart checked before she came to you? That is a standard test that ALL breeders should be doing for Newfoundlands as they do carry Sub Aortic Stenosis SAS and in severe cases lack of energy is common. BUT, do not jump to any conclusions, you should have her checked by your Vet and mention that the heart needs an extra listen, just for your own piece of mind.

If she checks out fine, then I will tell you to measure her before a nap and measure her after a nap because I swear you can see them growing while they sleep!!!! They do burn energy as they grow, so keep that in mind, over the next few months.

Also, what kind of food are you feeding? Some do better on different foods, so keep that in mind that you may need to change something there to get her the nutrients her body is craving to keep going.

Enjoy your baby girl, puppyhood goes way too fast!

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

That sounds about right for a newf pup, especially that age, and being an only dog in the house. She will not have the energy level of a Rottie. They also are quiet the first few days as they miss their mom/litter mates. She should perk up a little more in a few days. Newf pups mature more slowly than other breeds, so give her time.

 

[jane]

I've heard of some puppies like this. As long as she is healthy, I say you are one heck of a lucky person!!! When my Merlin was that young he slept about a 1/2 for every 4 hours he was running around playing! Did you have her checked by your vet?

 

[Subverto]

Thank you for the fast replies! We did take her to our vet on Saturday just for a quick check-up and to introduce her to him and schedule appointments for her 3rd round of vaccinations. The vet said that she is in perfect health. The breeder had her first round of vaccinations done at 6 weeks and 2nd round at 8 weeks. She was also de-wormed at those times. The breeder did not have a cardiac test run, but we are going to take her to have one done at 10 weeks.

 

[Acadia]

Oh what a sweetheart - beautiful puppy!

 

[Subverto]

Oh, and we are currently feeding her Royal Canin Maxi Puppy food. This is what the breeder was feeding her. I did some research and although Royal Canin is ranked as an above average food, I think we are going to switch her to something of higher quality gradually over the next couple weeks. Does anyone have any reccomendations for a high quality food?

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

Elvis slept the first year of his life so this sounds normal to me!

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

Her sleeping habits sound pretty normal to me too. And the cardiologist can make you feel more secure about it too. As for food, we all have our favorites. Ours were always on ProPlan Adult because that was the closest to what the breeder in Canada was feeding. Most folks seem to agree that adult rather than puppy food is best for giant breeds, but i'm sure more people will tune in. You don't want them to grow too quickly; not good for the joints.

 

[pecanpiepatti]

She's beautiful! You have a lot of resources in your area - the High Country Newf Club http://www.highcountrynewfs.com/ does a lot of working of their dogs. Check them out!

 

[2newfs4now]

She's a cutie With those eyes, I couldn't deny her anything she wanted

 

[DAWNMERIE]

What a beauty

And the sleeping sounds normal to me.

 

[victoria1140]

max was like that, I gave up how many times I had to remove the water bowl from under him .

also he slept a lot but we have other dogs here so he was usually curled up next to them.

some like puppy food, others don't. max has had ortho issues but we switched him very quickly to adult food as he grew so fast and he is a big chunky lad. we feed grain free because one of ours has ibs and its just easier for us plus it limits potential allergy issues

 

[cmorgan.1505]

What a doll!!! The sleeping sounds normal to me! Thor is almost 16 months old and still sleeps a lot. We feed ProPlan large adult (shredded), food can depend per person and what they can afford or want to feed. Most here will agree that she does not "need" a puppy food though.

 

[lmfoltyn]

She is beautiful and newfie puppies sleep about 20 hours out of 24 until around the age of 1...at least that is what I was told...Jake was such a sleepy boy but in those 4 hours he was awake watch out! Total terror!! Welcome to the most adorable breed you will ever meet!

 

[CMDRTED]

Sleeping sounds normal for a pup that age. Definately a Cardio check, by a Cardiologist, not just a regular vet. I feed RAW, so I can't help you with foods, other than we used to, when we did Kibble, feed Origen 6 Fish, or Arcana Pacifica. All dogs are different some kibble works better than others (High Premimium Kibble).

 

[Bojie]

She's beautiful! You have a lot of resources in your area - the High Country Newf Club http://www.highcountrynewfs.com/ does a lot of working of their dogs. Check them out!

Changed our website! HCNCNewfs.org

Please come to our events and get to know us. Being part of a regional club is a great support.

 

[Nicoletta]

I don't have any advice because we don't have our baby yet, but I agree with the others that you're probably just really lucky!

I couldn't go past this without commenting on what a beautiful girl she is!! Those eyes! :heart::heart::heart:

 

[skoorka]

Elvis slept the first year of his life so this sounds normal to me!

Maggie, you slay me! My gosh, is she ever a super duper GORGEOUS puppy!!!!!