My Puppy O_o

[Monica]

We just got a new puppy, a mix of German Shepard and Black Lab, and his name is Chopper. But he's always very serene, except when we go and convince him to play. And this is the strangest part. After like 10 minutes or less, he'll just pass out, instantly asleep - no matter where he is or what he's doing. We can wake him up, so it's not a coma, so we just let him sleep. He's fainted in the strangest places and the strangest poses. On his back, halfway under a chair, hanging off the couch, you name it. You can whatch him frolic (when he feels like it) and then suddenly pass out. I've had lots of puppies and some were nice and calm while others were more playful, but none of them did stuff like this. I hope he's ok :( Mom says he might have this desease that makes the brain shut off and you fall instantly asleep. It's funny to see where he'll end up sleeping next, but I'm kinda worried...:(

Oh, well she was joking about the desease, so now I'm not worried, but what's the strangest habbit your pet has had?

[Erasul]

There actually is a disease called narcolepsy where animals and humans fall asleep instantly. You should check with a vet to see if they can test for it somehow.

[Monica]

Yeah that's the desease she was talking about, but I had no clue how to spell it.

[Kryten]

Yep, that certainly sounds like narcolepsy. Not to worry, he'll grow up to be a normal, healthy dog. One of my friends had a narcoleptic dog; it would go running after the ball and, sometimes in mid-stride, just collapse into a deep sleep. The only problem is remembering that it can happen at any time and any place, so get in the habit of remembering where the dog goes, because you may spend a half hour searching for him while he's sleeping under the bed where he just happened to have conked out. ;) It's neither harmful to the dog, nor avoidable (at least, as far as I've heard).

[moon_princess]

Oh my, that's bizarre...I've never heard of anything like that before. That'd be odd...but probably kinda cool to see. I have a dog that has seizures sometimes...it's odd, she just shakes uncontrolably for a few minutes and then stops.