On Rest

Let's talk rest!
Usually when I’m talking to clients and people who are new to the higher energy breeds, they want to talk about exercise. What kind? How much? When? Where? Is fetch okay? What about dog parks? 🎾
But there is another half of the equation that frequently gets left behind as we scramble to socialize, exercise, enrich and train.
That is rest, both physical and mental. 💤
Here’s the thing about dogs with lots of energy and drive. They are bad at boundaries. They don’t know when to quit, and they will happily push themselves past their limits.
💤 Puppies need between 18-20 hours of sleep a day.
💤 Adult dogs need between 12-14.
I don’t know about your puppy, but Biscuit sure didn’t sleep 18 hours. It was a job getting him to sleep at all!
Puppies and adolescents are growing and developing. Their bodies need time to rest so they can process all their new experiences, recover from any physical or mental stress, and invest energy into growing strong, healthy bodies and minds.
⚠️If they don’t get adequate rest
⚠️ They are at a higher risk of injury
⚠️ Their bodies can’t recover from stress properly.
⚠️ They are less able to focus, and are more likely to exhibit problem behaviours. Just like us.
The thing is, resting is boring. When you are an active, driven young dog, you have MUCH better things to do than take a nap.
❤ So just like we structure their exercise, feeding and training, we need to structure in some rest, and teach them that taking time to lay low is okay.
So take a look at your dog’s activity over the past few days.
Did they spend all Monday snoozing at home while you were at family Thanksgiving? Or did they spend the whole long weekend partying with their friends? If it’s the latter, give them today off.
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