Mary Allen
Have you ever thought your dog was lazy? While other four-legged friends achieve top performances in agility or master great tricks, does your furry friend prefer to lie comfortably on the sofa and doze off? This isn’t usually a cause for concern, but it’s worth taking a closer look and looking for the cause of the listlessness.
Dogs need between 18 and 21 hours of rest a day – they don’t necessarily always sleep soundly, but they doze off or relax to replenish their energy reserves. So your dog is not lazy if he spends most of the day looking for a comfortable spot and making himself comfortable there. Senior dogs and puppies tend to need more rest than adult animals.
Is the Dog Lazy or Sick?
Nevertheless, you should keep an eye on the resting habits of your four-legged friend. If something changes in his behavior and he seems to be sleeping more and having less drive than usual, a visit to the vet is recommended to be on the safe side. It may be that an illness is behind his apparent listlessness. Certain metabolic diseases such as hypothyroidism, allergies, or cold cause exhaustion. Even if your dog is overweight, it often appears listless and lazy because every movement is difficult for it.
If everything is fine with your dog physically and it still seems to have no energy, review its living conditions. It is quite possible that you unknowingly over-or under-challenge your four-legged friend so that he has lost the fun of any activities.
Take the Dog’s Biorhythm Into Account
Like humans, dogs have a specific biorhythm. Some times of the day they’re fit as a fiddle, other times of the day they’re lazy. Maybe you know that from yourself, that you could uproot trees in the morning and would prefer to take a comfortable nap on the couch in the afternoon; or you can’t get out of bed in the morning and suddenly you’re wide awake and active in the evening. This is also the case with our pets and they also have different preferences.
Observe your dog when he seems particularly awake and alert and when he prefers to relax in his basket. The active waking phases are ideal for training, long walks, games, and teaching tricks. Your four-legged friend doesn’t really want to do this when he’s resting and can at best be persuaded to take a short, leisurely stroll around the block before he returns to doing nothing.
Listlessness? Try New Games
If that’s not enough to motivate your lazy dog, it may be due to the wrong training and unsuitable games. After all, dogs have different tastes, and not every four-legged friend loves to fetch, run or spend time doing dog sports. This depends on the one hand on breed and on the other hand on the age of your pet; there are also individual preferences. It is best to find out about suitable dog sports for the dog breed of your choice before you buy them so that you can find suitable employment for them right from the start.
Huskies, Australian Shepherds, and Border Collies, for example, are very active dogs that love to run and need a task – otherwise, they get bored. Draft dog sports are great fun for huskies; Australian Shepherds and Border Collies like to exercise agility or dog dancing. An English Bulldog, however, would be completely out of place in these dog sports. Bulldogs are not that physically resilient and enjoy leisurely walks, intelligence, and hidden object games that require them to use their brains without getting out of breath. Experiment with what your animal companion enjoys and mix things up to keep things from getting monotonous.
Tempt “Lazybones” With the Right Reward
Dogs are just animals too and only do things that they deem worthwhile. If your dog seems lazy, it is conceivable that the promised reward is not enough for him to make an effort. In this case, it is best to try out what can motivate your four-legged friend to cooperate.
Dog Looks Lazy? Check Nutrition
If your dog is healthy and generally well-exercised and busy, there’s another reason he can seem lazy: poor nutrition. Not only obesity but also a lack of nutrients can make your pet feel listless and listless. In order to remedy the diet-related listlessness, switch your four-legged friend to high-quality dog food or to BARF. Then he will soon have more energy again.