How Sleep and Naps Can Help Your Puppy Learn Better and Faster

sleeping-quest

Human parents quickly learn that their new baby needs to get plenty of sleep and naps. But for some reason, many new puppy guardians dont think of getting their puppies a sufficient amount of down time. Puppy naps are key!

Puppies reorganize what they learn or are exposed to when they sleep or nap. These breaks gives the pup’s brain a chance to reorganize their neuropathways so that they can recall the information later.

If your puppy is getting ornery, nippy or mouthey – ask yourself how long its been since it had a nap. Most people don’t realize that adult dogs sleep 17 hours a day on average. Puppies sleep even more.

As a rule of thumb, make sure your puppy gets nap time every few hours, especially on days where you are very active. I can’t tell you how many times I hear from people who take their puppy to the lake or a long all-day outing and report the puppy is being naughty. Its not being naughty, it needs a nap!

Quest gets really mouthey when he needs a nap. That or he stops listening or performing things he knows how to do. If you find your pup acting in a similar fashion, try a nap.

Napping is especially important when training a puppy. Puppy neurons get fatigued easily. This is why its best to keep practice sessions to 1-2 minutes. Combine short practice sessions with regular naps and your pup will learn faster.

Practicing your puppy going down for naps early on helps them get used to taking these little breaks. Id recommend doing this as soon as you bring your puppy home so it just becomes part of the routine.

Frequent naps are also why I strongly recommend setting up a puppy play pen in a spare bedroom. This allows you to close the door and go about your day. Once left alone most puppies take to napping very easily.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply