# 8 Month old puppy, Low Energy...Normal??



## Youreamonkey274 (Jul 14, 2014)

First of all, I would like to say hello . I am a long time lurker, first time poster. Just wanted to say I love the sight and I have learned a lot reading about experiences other GSD parents have had.

I am the proud mommy of an 8 and 1/2 month old purebred German Shepherd puppy. For about a month now I have noticed she doesn't have nearly as much energy as she used to. I don't know if it is because she is getting older, or if there may be something wrong. She is a lot more cuddly and loving than she was before (which I am totally taking advantage of :wub I also feel like she is panting a lot more, but that could just be because it has been a lot warmer here lately. She has not been spayed yet. I did switch her to adult dog food about 6 weeks ago, could that possibly cause her energy to be lower? I currently feed her 4Health Performance Formula Adult food (4Health Dog Food | Review and Rating). 

I'll try to explain what I mean by low energy. We live in an apartment, so I take her on several short walks every day. We used to walk around the complex twice with no problem. About a month ago she plopped down in the grass and refused to move after once around, which worried me, but I figured she just wasn't in a walking mood. That continued for about a week, and got to the point where she would stop twice just going around one time. So I took her to the vet to make sure nothing was wrong. He didn't really say much, he watched her walk around a few times and messed with her legs to see if she was in any pain. He said everything seemed normal and sent me home with doggie ibuprofen, saying she could have hurt herself jumping around. I cut back her activity for about 10 days and she has been better (we can now successfully walk all the way around the complex without stopping) but her energy level just isn't what it used to be. Should I be worried? Or am I just paranoid?

Oh, also I had her hips X-rayed when she was 6 months old just to make sure they looked ok. At the time, she wasn't showing any signs of hip problems, I just wanted to have it done for peace of mind. She vet said her x-rays looked good. I'll try to attach a picture.


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## arctic (Jun 20, 2014)

Try having her play with another dog and see how energetic she is.


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## Snapdragon (Jul 1, 2014)

Hmm. The first thing that came to mind was lyme. That can cause drop in energy etc., but then I know a dog who's being treated for it and nobody even could tell she'd been sick. Might be worth looking into, especially if you live near a lot of woods.


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## kay88 (May 27, 2013)

If your dog was always a low energy dog that would be one thing but if it's a fairly persistent change in energy along with the change in behavior it's worth taking a look. The change in food could cause tummy upsets but shouldn't cause a change in energy level.

Personally, I would take the pup to a different vet if all they did was look at the legs. It could be nothing...but it could also be a heart problem, (as mentioned previously) lyme, etc. Better to be safe than sorry.


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## Youreamonkey274 (Jul 14, 2014)

Thanks so much for the replies. We live in an apartment and not near the woods. I take her on walks and out in the yard to play, so I have never seen a tick on her (not saying it is impossible, but unlikely). We bought her when we lived in Texas, live in Tennessee right now, but moving to Oklahoma this weekend. So she has seen a lot of different vets in the 6 and 1/2 months that we have had her. I guess I was just hoping for something that could be the cause, so that I could take her to the vet and have some sort of idea of what it could be. Because I haven't had any good experiences with taking her in and getting any answers. The vets will usually just look her over, do a fecal, maybe some blood work, and everything comes back normal...and I am in the same place I started....minus a couple hundred bucks :-/.

She hasn't had any stomach issues, and she eats great. She's super smart, and well behaved (for the most part...she's still a pup and has her moments). When she was a small pup I spent A LOT of time training her, but haven't been as diligent as I should have been these last few months. But from everything I can tell, usually bored GSDs get crazy energetic, not low energy right? Not saying she bored...or at least she doesn't seem like it, we are almost always together, just don't have training sessions as often anymore.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

All our dogs are different, specially if they have a different breeding and background. My GSD's are from working lines and I ask the breeder for more energetic ones for my agility plans. So my pups are fairly active (all the time )

But if, instead, I had a breeder that was generally breeding more 'pet' quality and then within a litter had higher and lower energy pups, then these would probably not look like mine or act like mine but still be normal FOR THOSE LINES!

Can you talk to your breeder and get their feedback? They should also be able to link you up with the other littermate owners so you can chat. This is why we do all the work on the front end to find a responsible breeder so their knowledge and experience is a great resource. 

Did any of the vets mention pano? The GSD in this video is extreme and limping, so your dog may not be limping but still sore.


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## kay88 (May 27, 2013)

Youreamonkey274 said:


> Thanks so much for the replies. We live in an apartment and not near the woods. I take her on walks and out in the yard to play, so I have never seen a tick on her (not saying it is impossible, but unlikely). We bought her when we lived in Texas, live in Tennessee right now, but moving to Oklahoma this weekend. So she has seen a lot of different vets in the 6 and 1/2 months that we have had her. I guess I was just hoping for something that could be the cause, so that I could take her to the vet and have some sort of idea of what it could be. Because I haven't had any good experiences with taking her in and getting any answers. The vets will usually just look her over, do a fecal, maybe some blood work, and everything comes back normal...and I am in the same place I started....minus a couple hundred bucks :-/.
> 
> She hasn't had any stomach issues, and she eats great. She's super smart, and well behaved (for the most part...she's still a pup and has her moments). When she was a small pup I spent A LOT of time training her, but haven't been as diligent as I should have been these last few months. But from everything I can tell, usually bored GSDs get crazy energetic, not low energy right? Not saying she bored...or at least she doesn't seem like it, we are almost always together, just don't have training sessions as often anymore.


That's good she's eating etc. How a GSD responds to being bored depends on the dog. Ours is not a high drive dog so when she gets bored she would bad things for attention (chewing on forbidden things) rather than bounce off the walls. You mentioned previously that it had been hot outside...how hot and is the weather still that way?


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