How much sleep does 8 month old need?

[Laura & Chewie]

I have posted about problems with Chewie mainly regarding resource guarding. Again tonight he growled/snapped when he didn't want to be handled. Like the problem last week, this was after going to daycare and having very little rest since waking up this morning. He is still a puppy and I imagine he needs more rest in the form of naps than what he gets on days like this. When he gets home from daycare, you would think he would rest, but he seems to just keep "pushing himself" like a little kid might do. I am not excusing his behavior, but it certainly would be easier to understand if we could point to a specific reason like being very overtired.

So, how much do/did your dogs around this age sleep during the day? Chewie is in his crate at night from about 10:00 until 8:00 or so the next morning, so plenty of rest at night.

[Laura & Chewie]

That might be a good idea...kind of a "forced" rest for his own good (and ours). We do frequently keep a leash on him...always have and it's helped us out of many situations over the past six months.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

I'm not sure what doggy daycare you use, but some of them (Camp Bow Wow I know for sure) will let your dog have a little rest time during the day while they're at daycare. They even let you bring they're blanket to make them feel more at home if you want to. Not sure if this might help a little. Even if it's not a service your daycare offers you may ask them if it's possible for them to do to see if it helps with your gaurding issue.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

My dogs both sleep ALL of the time especially my younger male goldendoodle. He's especially lazy and pretty much sleeps 17 hours of the 24 maybe more. Our other doodle is smaller, older, a girl, and has way more energy and doesn't sleep nearly as much now, but definitely slept more than she does now when she was younger (probably about 18 months or so is when she started sleeping less). This being said, I'm pretty sure my dogs sleep the majority of the time we're at work so they're good and ready for us when we come home. Even when we keep them up all day and they don't get their normal naps they're not really cranky though just a lot more sleepy that evening and the next day.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think puppies are very much like kids. When they were difficult or upset, I'd go through the 1)do they need to go out, 2)hungry or thirsty, or 3)tired. Luca, particularly would get nippy and frenzied at times. Putting him "down for a nap", either in his crate or tethering him somewhere with his leash, worked wonders. After a little protest he'd settle down for a nap and later he'd be much better.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness gets up at 7:00, and naps a total of about two hours in the morning. He also goes down for a good two hour nap in the afternoon. Other times throughout the day he may lay down in whatever room I'm in, but doesn't sleep. At around 8:00 in the evening he is ready for bed. He sleeps on my bed until 11:00, and then goes out to potty and into his own bed for the night. On days he's at Daycare, he goes into a rest period from 12:00 to 2:00. The rest of the time he's running with his buddies. So, this is the schedule on a typical day. If the kids/grandkids are here, all that changes. He'll run with them until he drops.

[Laura & Chewie]

It actually is Camp Bow Wow that Chewie goes to. They do have a rest period for about 1-1/2 hrs mid-day. Chewie only goes for a 1/2 day and yesterday he was there from 1:00 - 4:45. When he got there at 1:00, there was 15 minutes left to the rest period and they kept him up front with them to play because they enjoy him so much.

Thinking back, I believe this behavior almost always occurs in the evening. I am going to pay particularly close attention and see if I find a connection to daycare days or just busier days where he doesn't get appropriate rest.

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

Frankie is 8 months too and when she goes to daycare (once a week) she gets so exhausted, she can barely move the next day. We ask the daycare people to pull her out half way through the day so she can rest up for a few hours and this seems to help as at 8 months, I think they truly can "overplay".

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri also goes to daycare 1x/week - they have "naptime" from 12-2pm daily. But when she comes home, she doesn't even TRY to stay awake. She cuddles with us on the couch and sleeps until she moves to her bed in our room during bedtime.

DH and I both work, so I would say she sleeps most of the day. Probably 8 hours. We come home for a long lunch every day - when either of us come inside, there are no noises - both dogs stretch like they have been asleep the whole time. Then we do a 20-30 minute walk, coupled with some training, and she is pooped again before we leave. And on the weekends, Peri has a big morning nap from 9-11ish and again in the afternoon (so that must be what she is used to). She never gets grumpy and there is no resource guarding. Maybe she gets enough sleep???

[Shannon Querry]

Fleury is also 8 months old and goes to daycare twice a week. She's beyond exhuasted when she gets home those 2 days! She usually curls up after about 15 minutes of walking in the door and when it's bedtime she's ready to hit the sack! She did in daycare training she was going 5 days a week and by Wednesday we were actually having to carry her up the stairs. That evening I had crawled into bed beside her(SPOILED!) and she kind of grumbled at me, not growled, just like "ohhhh just leave me alone!" I can't blame her I feel the same way when I'm exhausted!

I'm a WAHM so days she's home most of her napping takes place in the morning and then she'll finally settle down around 4:30 or 5 for about an hour or so. She's always more than ready to go to bed around 9:30 or 10 and sleeps until 7:30 or 8!

[Laura & Chewie]

As a little experiment, I handled him all different ways this morning while playing with him...not a growl out of him. Did everything that prompted the bad behavior last night and he could have cared less...happy as could be. I think I'm definitely on to something. Also, all your responses are quite convincing that my assumption may be right on. I think he must be exhausted and just isn't winding down so to speak when he gets home. He just goes and goes until so overtired, he has no patience left. I will definitely be talking to the trainer about this, but also trying to somehow encourage him to "chill out" as the kids would say.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You can try some "time outs" in the crate. We still do this with Peri every once in a while. If she gets too mouthy or annoying with Taquito the chihuahua, we say in a friendly voice "okay Peri, its crate time". She goes right on it, chills out for about 5 minutes, then we let her back out. We don't make it seem like punishment at all - she loves her crate and it needs to stay that way.
Maybe try that?