You want them to be able to interact with you. You are kind of their life, especially if you don't have a lot of other animals. They come from having their mom and a litter of other puppies to play with, so they're relying on you to keep them social and active. Interacting with your puppy and training the puppy is something you can do for play. Offering different types of toys and different interactions like that can really keep them stimulated.

Puppies are like the Energizer bunny; they are going to need an active lifestyle. It depends on the breed, but many of them are going to want to go, go, go for about 20 to 30 minutes and then nap for a couple of hours. That's a cycle that they'll have throughout the day, so you want to have them out and active.

It could mean that they are just slowing down over time, just like we do. We start to slow down as time goes on, our bodies start to wear down, and we don't have as much energy as we used to. That could be what's going on, but you also want to check in with your vet. It could mean that they have a health problem that needs to be addressed because, for some reason, they don't feel so well.

Some dogs, no matter how much exercise you allow for them to get while you are home, can still be destructive. That's when crate training comes into play. But, if they have a toy that is fairly indestructible that they enjoy chewing on, you can give that to them. If you are able to take them for a nice long walk before you leave, you can get some of that energy out so that they're tired and sleeping while you're gone.

You can make training a little bit of a game. Having them sit or lay down and rewarding that with either throwing a ball or giving a treat are all things that they learn to look forward to. Things like fetch and learning to stay or to come are also good methods to train them.