Is this much napping ok?

Until today.. I thought Merlin was a "high energy" dog I guess. I mean, I don't have much to compare him to but he does like to exercise and when necessary, can and WILL party/play all day..

until I met up with a friend and her aussie and she was telling me her schedule and what his energy level is like and I was like...erm... lol no. Her dog seems to NEED all this exercise and mental stimulation and Merlin just..doesn't.. and she mentioned something about me encouraging him to sleep that much killing his drive and messing with his brain! He doesn't really like exercise by itself so I never thought I was forcing him to sleep but when I'm busy he naturally just naps or finds something quiet to do.. usually chews on a bully.

he seems to like to nap/sleep in, A LOT.
Here is his usual schedule on days where I don't work, on days I work he is up/walking and playing from like 11-5

- He needs to pee earlyish like 9-10 AM or so
- He likes to eat his breakfast after his morning pee, but then take a LONG nap after breakfast until his afternoon walk/trip to the park for fetch and training and playing with other dogs around 2ish
- Then he takes his afternoon nap from like 3-5
- Then dinner at 5:30
- Then we go for a long late afternoon walk from like 6ish, we usually do some training after as well for about 45 minutes
- and then he basically lounges around and naps AGAIN until like 8
- He gets his "last call to pee" at 9, comes home and chews on something or naps while I study
- Then he sleeps til like 10.

I mean, anytime I am not interacting with him he seems to just..sleep.
is this normal? am I wasting away his brain? Should I encourage him to stay awake more?

He is 7 months old.
Does your dog nap this much?

I think Merlin gets more stimulation daily with all the fun things you guys do, than the majority of the dogs in this country get in a month (mine included).

I think it is just individual personalities. Summer could nap probably 22 hours a day and be perfectly content. She's also 9 though, lol. As long as she gets a couple hours of out and about, she just wants to find a comfy spot on the couch. On the flip side, if we're doing stuff all day, she's fine. But she crashes when we get home.

Mia as a pup didn't nap ever. It was in bed around 11ish then up before 5 then GO all day long. No exaggeration, she did not ever sleep during the day or even just lie down and relax. But even then it wasn't like I was 'doing stuff' with her the entire time. I'd give her a couple hours of exercise a day then she'd just be busy around the house the rest of the time. I don't think it's realistic to expect a person to be exercising their dog 24/7. So we'd hit up the park a few hours or something then I'd have a wild child at home the rest of the time. I have never been one for doing 'schedules' with my dogs. I don't have a schedule we stick to at all as far as exercise goes. Not even when they're puppies. I just wing it and don't worry. If the dog seems happy, they probably are happy.

Mia started napping and actually you know... turning off around 3-3.5. Now she's 4 and she's a pro napper. We just got up an hour ago. Gave her her food toy and played some ball and now she's sprawled out asleep on the couch. This is a pretty new thing for her, it still amazes me some. Now after work and stuff, she's wired. And if I move, she's up and raring to go.

I think Merlin is totally normal. We have very high drive dogs and their schedules are much the same. My preference is for dogs that laze around until I want to do something, then they're ready. For us, that's what makes the perfect dog

Milo would not nap as a puppy (until around 3 years) unless he was crated and everyone in the house was quiet, and it was definitely not healthy, mentally at least. Merlin sounds like a pretty average dog, especially with all the socialization, training, and exercise he gets...it sounds like he has an excellent off switch for his age. Other higher energy working (as in herding or field work) bred dogs might nap less, but you're definitely not letting Merlin 's brain rot by letting him sleep that much

Lucy still doesn't nap that much at 9 years old, but then, she's never been normal. She sleeps while I'm at work, but the rest of day she is up and moving. She is currently running back and forth between me on the couch, begging for attention, and the door, whining at squirrels and birds.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, and all that jazz...

He sounds like a dog with a good off-switch, who knows when play time is and when it's time to chill.

Blaze sleeps most of the day because I'm away at class or doing school at home. But when it's time to go walk or play, he knows and is completely excited and ready.

You're not killing his drive. :rofl1:

^Both of these.

How he chooses to spend his off time is no big deal as long as he behaving appropriately and is ready when you are.

Nope, and you should trade him with Backup, I'm sure you'll be happy to have Merlin back.

That sounds exactly like my dogs, they pretty much sleep when we aren't actively doing something else. But like Merlin, mine get a ton of exercise and stimulation (they are with me all the time). So when I'm chilling, they chill too.

Sounds like my dogs.

Siri, at 5 months old, sounds busier than Merlin, but not needy with exercise, if that makes sense? Usually if I am doing something she is trotting around finding toys to play with or bones to chew. If she doesn't find anything to do, she'll curl up and take a nap. That's not to say she doesn't need exercise, if we skip a day or two of doing something she gets a little stir crazy.

It sounds like your friend is turning her dog into a monster who is going to eat her alive if she ever gets sick and can't exercise the dog 20 hours a day

Also, Frodo's life is one big nap, with breaks to eat/train/exercise

Sounds like a wonderful amount of napping.

When Juno was a puppy, she was more like your friends dog... I thought I needed to do stuff with her 24/7, and she started to think the same thing. She was a nutcase with no off switch. It was stupid and she was annoying as hell and needed to be taught to chill out.

If I move, the dogs move. If I sit, they move around and try and get me to play with them or let them on the sofa.

They will settle and nap, once they know they're not going to get anywhere mithering me.

I've just had to give Fred something to chew to get him to leave us alone, but we have been out this afternoon. He is happy sat chewing now.

But, they will generally nap and snooze, especially if we go out

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, it really does depend on each dog. I like a happy medium.... A dog who settles when you want them to, and goes when you want them to. They annoy me when they won't settle and I want to chill!!

He sounds like a normal dog with a good off switch. Want to trade?????????????????? Ivan at 8 rarely lays down to nap on his own. If he does I better not flinch or hes up and expecting to go. He will nap if I put him up in his crate. How in the world I ended up with a dog, with out an off switch escapes me.

Yep, sounds normal to me. I think a lot of people with high energy breeds/dogs also tend to cater to them and overstimulate the dog to the point where they really DO need a ton of exercise, because that's the routine they're used to and eventually the dog gets to a point where they don't even know how to settle. I see it a lot, and I experienced it with Keira as a puppy. It's not fun. This isn't true for all really busy dogs. Some just are that way, but in a lot of cases it seems like owners accidentally encourage it.

Even Journey, while she is a busy dog who likes to do things, sleeps most of the day. We wake up around 7ish, I let her out, feed her, I go shower while she naps in the bathroom, then I go do my hair/get ready while she watches me, then she goes out again for like 2 minutes, then we make the trek to work (which likely provides quite a bit of mental stimulation) which takes an hour and then honestly she sleeps from about 10am til 2pm, I play with her for a bit, then she chews a bone or something, and then she sleeps until it's time to make the trek home in the evening. She really only gets about an hour of exercise total most days (sometimes more), but she never bugs me for it or bugs me for more. On the weekends if I'm home most of the day, I play with her for a bit or take her and go do something, but the rest of the day she pretty much sleeps or finds something to chew on once in a while. Sometimes plays with the other dogs, but not always.

All of my dogs are like that. They do stuff when I want to, and when I'm not doing stuff or am busy with other things, they sleep or chew a bone. With the exception of Keira, even as puppies all of my adult dogs were like this.

So yeah, I think Merlin just has a good off switch and it's nothing to worry about. Dogs that know how and when to settle are great! I don't know that I could live with a dog without an off switch. I'd probably go crazy.

Agree with everyone else. Cali is particularly drivey for a small dog, perhaps because she's the only small dog I know who is actually played with and does things on a regular basis... but she is content to doze around while I do homework or watch TV. However, I often feel guilty if I don't tire her out beforehand so I do make an effort to take her outside to play or for a walk if I know that I'll be busy for a decent period of time.

I think a dog lacking an off switch would drive me up the wall... I'm definitely the type of person who needs at a couple hours of relaxation a day to maintain some shred of sanity.

Other than Priscilla's Stare of Eternal Adoration, she was pretty mellow for the most part to the point I wondered if she was low energy.

But realistically she just got so much activity when the time came, and she knew when to turn the energy off.

A lot of dogs are not "high energy". A dog that paces all day long is not a "high energy" dog. Sure, he's mobile, but walking around all the time isn't even comparable to structured training and environmental exposure. Seeing new places, learning new things, spending lots of time doing structured fetches, etc etc.

I would call most people's "high energy" dogs, "understimulated and poorly trained."

So basically, IMO, you're doing something right.

With absolutely no encouragement my dogs are extremely busy. I was teasing when I said nope, Merlin sounds just fine.