11 week old yorkie breathing fast uncomfortable sleeping

by Lisa
(NJ)

11 week old yorkie breathing fast, uncomfortable sleeping does not seem to be in pain.

Should I be concerned?




Hi Lisa
I get many questions and emails from new puppy owners who are worried because their new puppy breathes erratically or twitches and seems restless when sleeping.

99.9% of the time this is nothing to worry about, it's perfectly normal for young puppies to behave in this way.

They may breathe very fast, or seem to take long pauses between breaths at odd intervals. Often puppies will twitch, wriggle, whine, even bark or 'run' in their sleep.

Basically they're doing something similar to the way humans dream. Sleep plays an important role in normal puppy development and their nervous systems are very active when they're sleeping.

Most puppies do grow out of this behavior and become more restful sleepers as they mature.

As long as your puppy seems happy and healthy when he's awake, is eating, drinking and eliminating normally and doesn't seem to have difficulty breathing or controlling his limbs when awake, then I doubt you have anything to worry about.

However, if you are still concerned, or he does have difficulties or strange symptoms when awake, I would recommend having him checked out by your vet to make sure all is well.

You can learn more about normal puppy behavior on my Bringing Home A New Puppy and Puppy Behavior pages.

Hope this helps, best of luck with your new puppy.