Is it normal for my puppy to not nap during the day?

Crate Training

Hey everybody! You all might remember me from my previous post asking about where my 9 week old GSD should sleep since they were dropping him off at a super early time (1-3 am). Well I’m happy to announce that he actually arrived at 6 am and having him since Thursday it turns out he is a dream in the crate.

He whines minimally before settling nicely. My only question now is…is it normal for him to not nap during the day? He sleeps flawlessly throughout the night without a peep except for when he has to go potty at ~2am.

The only issue is that during the day, he will settle but won’t actually sleep most of the time. We have him on a strict schedule of 1 hour up, 2 hours down, but during those 2 hours he just kind of observes us and maybe lays his head down for about 10-20 minutes, before popping his head back up at any movement from us or general house noise (running water, washing the dishes, pots and pans clanking while we prepare to cook, etc.)

We stay in the same room as him for most the day, he has a snuggle puppy with a heartbeat inside his crate, one chew toy, and a shirt of mine that i wore throughout the day with my scent to help him calm down.

Is there anything else I should be doing apart from leaving him alone to settle and ignoring his whining? Should we leave the room during every nap? How can I help him fall asleep? I feel like he’s not getting enough sleep!

If anyone has any advice, please let me know 🙏🏽 I just want him to sleep the amount he needs so he won’t get overstimulated.

Posted May 10, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

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