Anyone else experience an abnormally laidbad puppy?

[Stephanie]

Hi,

 

Just curious if anyone else has any expereince  of an EXTREMELY laid back / low energy pup?   We have been trying to work through some diarreah issue since coming home last Saturday.  So here's our timeline:

 

Brought Perry home last Sat -   she did great in crate, made it all night!  Played, did great potty training, and treats! - slept w/ snuggle puppy & heartbeat.

**  I have kept her on same food as breeder , so as to not create any other tummy issues.

Sun - Monday -  she's pretty laidback - no extreme bouncyness, or  romping in general. She has a few spurts here or there of playing with chew toy, playing ball etc..

Monday - Vet check up -  slept through ENTIRE appt - prompted VET to inquire about her energy level, appetite , stools etc. - told us to come back if no improvement in enrgy. 

Monday - tues -  barely eating at all - diarreah and  by tuesday afternoon  sleeps almost entire day!

Tuesday afternoon -  slept almost all day - shakey back legs.  When we'd go outside to potty, she'd just lay down and not walk anywhere.

Spoke w/ breeder, mentioned energy level, stools etc -  swithced over to adding  boiled chicken & white rice to calm tummy  , discontinue all  ( non food) treats . Also recommended to drizzle Karo over food, incase it's hypoglycemic related low blood sugar due to loss of appetite.

Tuesday night - after getting chicken, rice etc - HUGE burst of energy...   then bed time

Wed - did ok, by wed afternoon, shakeyness reappeared - went back to Vet.

No paraistes or worm present, blood sugar good. -  he prescribed an anti-diarreahal paste - it has worked SOME, not completely.

Wed. night & thursday - GREAT energy, eating good

Friday - eating good, playing outside ** note that when I say PLaying - it' s a very LAZY play - we have only yet to hear her back twice since she came home?  if she's not mad about being crated ( temporarily) then she never makes even a whimper.

Sat - back to no eating, no energy, sits down outside  etc....   she doesn't take opportunity to play w kids.  just this am , she sat in my sons lap in for a ride in the car, and did't even CONSIDER trying to sniff his donut!!!

 

she won't respond to any type of treat after pottying anymore either - ever since i quit giving her "treats" and just kibble as a reward.  she won't even eat it.

there is a bowl of fresh chicken & rice in my kitchen she left...  took a few bites...

 

Just worried -  is she just transitioning, sad being away from litter?  will her energy pop up?

 

I've just read SO much about all the other  'energetic, bouncy , chewy trials  other puppy parents experince....  and it just has me worried!

 

Don't get me wrong, she's SUPER sweet, and we have loved her & snuggled her to death -  and if this is her that's fine - but it just seem a little "off" if ya know what i mean??

 

she has barked 2 times since we brought her home....

 

 

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

hmm interesting. I cant help with alot of it, but a few bits I can

My Cooper is not a barker. She occasionally did a little bark when she was a pup, one day she saw a reflection of herself, thought it was another dog, and wanted to play. She barked and we were shocked her high pitched puppy bark was now a big grown up dog bark. Made us realize how she never barked

Cooper also lost interest in kibble as treats - understandable really. So we bought really good quality treats, or used a different flavour of the same brand of kibble.

A bit more info may be useful - how old is your pup? How did you get her (maybe she is a bit traumatized from a flight?). What food is she on? Changing her food could help with her energy levels - if she already has runny poops and is eating some kibble, some chicken and rice... then changing may not be any worse

Give her some canned pumpkin (in the baking section in the grocery store, just make sure its not pie filling with spices added), or some boiled and mashed sweet potatoes/yams to help firm up her poop. 

[Stephanie]

she came home @ 8 weeks,  we drove her home, no airplane ride.

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

I would think it's not unnatural for a puppy who's just come home to be a little lethargic. It's a big change from being with mom and littermates to being an only dog.

Is the puppy drinking water? With the diarrhea, I would be concerned about dehydration. If she isn't drinking, you might try a canned puppy food, because canned foods contain a lot of water. Or include some broth (homemade or canned low-sodium) in the chicken and rice you're feeding her. That might make it more palatable to her and get her more hydration, too.

Did you give her the Karo syrup? Did the vet know that when he/she did the blood sugar test?

It's good that your vet is already aware of this. At this point, I would monitor her over the weekend, try to keep her hydrated and tempt her to eat, and let your vet know if nothing changes by Monday.

[Stephanie]

Yes, we added a little canned food Sun,  She did eat well yesterday,  but she didn't exactly go bananas over the canned food they way i thoguth she would, but she did EAT!

Yes, the vet knew about Karo -  he tested a few hours after she'd eaten to make sure it stayed stable after meals.

 

She does drink well and pee a lot!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

did the vet check her hips - my MILs friend had a Newfoundland puppy who was lethargic - turned out he had severe hip displaysia and had to be returned to the breeder to be euthanize at just 4 months old. Dont want to scare you, but its worth getting that checked out

Also, my MILs dog (not a doodle) does not play - she chews, but prefers to just "hang out" in the yard and doesnt toss or fetch toys like Cooper does. Just her personality I guess. Not sure how she was as a very small puppy, they got her at 7 months

[Bonnie and Kona]

Our almost five year old doodle has been a super calm and laid back puppy and on. He seemed like a mature adult dog from the word go. It's hard to describe but he has an "old soul". He did not have any digestive issues. Your pup may be lethargic and behaving in this way due to an illness. Our pup just never chewed anything, barked or had the zoomies as described by other doodle owners. Our second pup has been the complete opposite... a wild maniac. ;o) 

I hope your puppy is just calm and laid back and not sick. I can certainly see why you are worried though from the way you describe Perry. :o( 

[Stephanie]

I'm ok with an "old soul" pup!  we had yippy poodles before, so this is a DRASTIC differnt in personlaity as well -  but that's exactly WHY we went w/ a doodle!  I  just want to make sure any appetite problems aren't  energy related....

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Your puppy sounds almost just like Bexter when I first got him.  In fact, all my family members kept telling me that they thought something was wrong with him.  All he did was sleep pretty much.  He slept through his entire vet visits at first too.  He did have giardia and coccidia, so not sure if that had anything to do with it, but let me tell you...He was LAID BACK.  Well...fast forward a couple of months and everything turned around!  He is (I would say) medium energy now.  Runs around the yard like a crazy dog, gets into all kinds of trouble, loves going for walks & hikes, etc.  He is FINE.  I'm sure your puppy is too!  ENJOY THIS MELLOW TIME!  It will likely end.

[Katie and Sophie]

Soph Was a super mellow young pup too.  She still is pretty low-key, but not nearly as mellow as she was when we first got her.  Also, for about the first 3 weeks I had her I was convinced she didn't know how to bark.  I have since learned otherwise :)  Being separated from the puppies mom and littermates is often a high stress experience for them.  so much so that they would be more sleepy and lazy than usual.  I foster puppies and you can often see physical symptoms of their stress over being separated from mom, but they get over it quickly and take on my girls as surrogate mom type figures.  Also, when my dogs get diarrhea or the foster pups get shaky like you described I will make up a batch of doggie pedialyte and they are back in action in no time!  For now I would continue to keep an eye on the situation.  If the not eating/diarrhea continues for much longer I would head back to the vet.

[Stephanie]

what is doggie pedialyte?

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

The no barking doesn't bother me, but the not eating and the shaky legs and the diarrhea do bother me quite a bit.  If I remember correctly some fecal tests have come back negative and then the next time positive.  I think I personally would be back at the vet.  A day or two or three after you come home, but not a whole week.  I would as a minimum call the vet and ask.  Laid back and calm is one thing, but shaky, not eating and diarrhea is another.

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

My Wilson is the laziest, laid back puppy ever..very different from my Murphy.  Wilson will lay in the yard and watch Murphy fetch for hours...LOL.  He gets the zoomiest for about 20 minutes once a day and then he is content to nap and snuggle.  He is my teddy bear and I love it.