Crazy puppy time

Pups often have a wee 'daft half-hour' in the evening. You have to be very firm, consistent and patient with them, and everyone in the household needs to be on the same page. They are very hard work at that stage and you do need to be patient, but it does pass. It's often when they are over-tired or over-stimulated that they behave like that, so make sure he has a quiet, safe space where you can put him.

Yes to Blondiescot’s comments.

There’s a good book, the happy puppy handbook by Pippa Mattinson. Also Easy Peasy puppy Squeezy - Steve Mann.
Puppies thrive on routines. They need to sleep 19 hours a day. They’re most likely to have the zoo miles, racing around, mouthing etc when over tired
They need a safe, quiet place to relax/sleep. I’ve always had dogs, never crate trained till 16 years ago but crate trained 3 since then. Or yiu can buy a puppy play pen, put the pups bed in there and get her used to being contained. It’s a huge help with toilet and other training.

That is mad hour I’m afraid. I’d never had it before with previous puppies but this one turned into a Tasmanian devil in the evening. My daughters Miniature Schnauzer was the same. I found my puppy (Whippet) was worst when she was on the sofa. My other dogs had never been allowed on the sofa. She’d started puppy classes and I found that, when I put her collar and lead on she would behave better. I thought I’d been sold a monster, but the trainers at both training classes we took her to, knowing dogs far better that me, told me I had a good dog, and they were right. The training classes were the making of her. She understands far more words than my other dogs ever did. I would eyeball her, touch my nose and say ‘behave’ when she was being extra naughty. Even now, at nearly 5, at mad hour she wants to do her training with treats: sit, down, turn, round, lie down, heel, wait, stay, paw etc. There was a very good programme with Clare Balding about dogs the other night that gave some really good tips. I don’t know what channel it was on. When my daughters mini was extra naughty at mad hour the would all get up and leave the room and ignore her! I think I spent a lot of the first few months in tears and would have given her back if I could have but she’s amazing. I’d love to be able to go back and have one of those mad puppy nights again, knowing how she was going to turn out. I do think training classes asap are the way to go. We did go to one that didn’t suit either of us. It was outside with too many distractions for a sight hound and the were only interested in dogs that with gold standard potential.

Thanks MayBee for the positive note on training classes. Every puppy owner/rescue handler should go

I agree about crate training, too. Never as punishment. Even now she’ll take herself off to her crate. Routine is important. And, once you let them do something it’ll be difficult to undo it.

What I did with mine at that age was to take him out in the garden to play, even if it was dark, at about 7pm. He was tired then in the evening, and it was much easier to settle him down. He slept on his own (same room as the cats) from Day 1 though. As he sleeps with your daughter, part of the problem is that he’s probably telling her in his own way that he needs to go to bed - they are more clever than you’d think.

A lot of people are a bit sniffy about crate training, but if it's used properly, it can be very good. As MayBee70 so rightly says, the crate should never be used as punishments, but should become a safe space - many dogs naturally take themselves off to their crates when they need a bit of quiet downtime. When pups have their 'daft half-hour, it's often like toddlers who have become overtired and literally do not know what to do with themselves.

Vets refer to this as 'The Zoomies' it seems. Our puppy would behave like a wall of death rider, seemingly without provocation, when zoomies struck, and we even had an occasion when the dog next door joined in. Four adults, open mouthed, as the pair careered around the house at an impossible speed, yapping and unstoppable. Fortunately they didn't break anything. It will pass, good luck!

A puppy will be as happy sleeping in a dog bed downstairs rather than in a bedroom.
Dogs need to know their owners are the masters and sharing a bedroom or bed with a human is confusing for them.

The “zoomies” are quite normal but the biting needs to be watched, if it’s snapping in the air that’s fine, it’s how they play.
Biting however needs to be addressed.

I've always used a crate with a big pen attached, pup goes into pen at regular intervals during the day while I get on with things and is put to bed quite early but got up for a wee before I go to bed. They need a lot of sleep, get easily overtired and then they are hard work. The zoomies is a sign they need rest. I'm another who doesn't share a bedroom with a puppy but I do pop a warm hot water bottle with one of my T shirts wrapped round it into the crate from day 1 and pup is usually found sleeping on it. Stick with a routine it doesn't last long and suddenly they are no longer pups!

When we looked after DSs puppy, DH made a large puppy pen in the garden to keep the puppy safe. It depends on your garden and size of puppy, but they can wriggle out of small spaces. In the pen we always supervised and there was room to run and play.

My latest one air snapped and that did worry me because I’d never had a dog that did that before. She tended to do that in the evening and when on the sofa. My dogs always slept in the kitchen after my first dog became blind at an early age and then developed dementia. I decided it would be better to keep any future dogs in the kitchen so it was all that they knew. However, now I’m retired the current whippet sleeps curled up next to me: something I’ve never done with a dog before. Cats, yes, but not dogs. There’s no going back, now, and it worries me that, if ever she had to be rehomed it would have to be with someone that would allow that too. When you think about it, a little puppy has a lot to learn in a short space of time, because the first few weeks and months shape them for life, and they have to understand how to fit in with our lives. Winnie’s breeder was wonderful in that, before her puppies go to their new homes she does everything with them. Car journeys, visits to other houses, nail clipping (very important, that one). But above all she talks to her puppies and gets them listening to her from birth. And she’s always there to help with any problems, too.

Oh yes, that sounds very familiar. Every evening we would have the naughty hour where the monster would bite arms and feet, and he even tore some of my clothes. We tried everything, leaving the room, putting him out of the room, playing, ignoring - you name it. To this day I have no idea what he wanted and he was our 5th puppy.
It lasted about a year, but he has grown into being the nicest, sweet natured dog.
Good luck, there is some good advice on here.

Our DGC renamed him Sharky. 🦈

foxie48

I've always used a crate with a big pen attached, pup goes into pen at regular intervals during the day while I get on with things and is put to bed quite early but got up for a wee before I go to bed. They need a lot of sleep, get easily overtired and then they are hard work. The zoomies is a sign they need rest. I'm another who doesn't share a bedroom with a puppy but I do pop a warm hot water bottle with one of my T shirts wrapped round it into the crate from day 1 and pup is usually found sleeping on it. Stick with a routine it doesn't last long and suddenly they are no longer pups!

I did this with my most recent pup, a labrador. The play pen ensured my older spaniel got peace and young grandchildren -pup safe space from each other.
Hot water bottle or you can buy a beating heart cuddly on the evil empire for about £12. Our pup had a 150 mile journey home. The beating heart snuggly, wrapped in the blanket his breeder gave us, settled him so well.
Routines are good

What you’re describing is the zomies . Most very young puppies do it . It’s us sign they’re overtired . We crate trained our last two . And I’d put pup in the crate and he’d go to sleep.
Both our crate trained dogs like their crate , it’s their safe place and they’d sleep there .
It’s also a good place if you want to leave them for a short while and don’t trust them not to destroy the house .

Zoomies are a way of burning off excess energy. Our 4 year old Springer Spaniel has them daily. I don’t think you mentioned what breed of dog the pupster is. Once he’s had his jabs go to a reputable puppy training class and do buy Graeme Halls books - he is absolutely brilliant. I’m not a fan of crates. They’re ok to provide a safe quiet space for a dog but they should never be shut in for anything other than a short space of time if necessary. Good luck with the pup!

I think crates need a different name. I’d call them dens. They can get their teeth caught in them if shut in. Mine did that once and it was terrifying. I have a cover on mine to make it more den like, but it’s important to not cover them with anything loose that the puppy can pull through. There have been tragic consequences from that happening. Sometimes they need to be out in one for their own safety though. And they are a home from home if you travel with them.

Crate training, done properly is helpful in so many ways. Of course, never use as punishment, don’t work and leave your dog crated all day etc
My older dogs always go into a crate that’s been put up for a puppy . My old dog who was suffering vestibulitis, so falling etc, went straight into the crate I put up, wondering if he’d prefer to be in a cosy bed on there. He did, it kept him safe in his final weeks.
If your dog has to go in for surgery etc, she will be crated at the vet. Much better if they’re at ease with that. I use them for about the first year by which time they’re ok to be left for short periods. Even my lab had stopped eating the skirting boards by 12 months. None of mine have continued any zoomies as adult dogs

My six year old border terrier goes into a crate for travelling and also if we stay at anyone else's home overnight. He wasn't shut in as a pup as the crate opened up into a large penned area in the kitchen, so he could go in and come out of his crate when he wanted to. Interestingly he still has the zoomies but it's generally if he comes into the house when he's wet and he'll also occasionally come upstairs (which is actually out of bounds) and go absolutely crazy. We think it's excitement. I think using the crate + pen was very helpful in toilet training, we had one wee in the pen on his first night and after that nothing. I did get up as soon as it was light to take him into the garden and he was taken out at very regular intervals during the day, but he was clean and dry from day two.

I think the evening thing is more than just using up energy. There also seems to be some mental stimulation going as well. Apart from my first ever dog, all of my other dogs spent their puppyhood living with an older dog and lived in the kitchen. So this was my first experience of an only dog that was allowed in the living room and on the sofa. She’s also a it of a lockdown dog because although thankfully we did all the socialisation during her first year the next few years resulted in her being with us 24/7. For that reason, on the rare occasion that I do have to leave her on her own I put her in the kitchen where her crate is as there’s nothing in there that she can damage and no way that she can hurt herself. What is touching is that I leave her with a special treat but she doesn’t eat it till I return home. Previous dogs had permanent access via a hole in the wall to an enclosed dog/cat pen but I don’t allow it since my last whippet had a frightening reaction to a wasp sting and I’m scared of that happening if I’m not there.

It's just a phase and, when an evening walk is allowed, it should settle down. My JRT would nip ankles in the evenings, so we'd all be wearing boots! Her behaviour was (and still is) much calmer when she wore her harness.

It’s like horses that I’ve known that are quite dodgy, especially when in their stable but, once tacked up become totally well behaved and biddable.

Most young animals have a crazy hour or half-hour just before settling down or the night - nature's way of making sure they are warm enough to make it through a night outdoors.

So this would be a good time to take him outside.

However, not even a young puppy should be allowed to bite or snap, so reprove him gently when he does so. The sooner he gets the message that biting and snapping is not acceptable behaviour towards humans the better.

"Bad boy!" said firmly may be enough, but you may have to resort to a light tap on his nose (not to hurt, ,just to make the point, although the cats, as you are aware , will slap him hard enough to hurt if he snaps or bites them)

As he knows cats hit out, and have claws, hissing at him as much like the dominant cat as you can manage, may very well be the best way of ensuring good behaviour.

A good friend's three month old labrador is unwilling to comply with commands such as "Sit!" when told to do so by us, but when my Tigger arches his back, fluffs out his tail to the size of a flue brush and walks sideways towards Molly, she sits down on her behind very promtly. And as yet neither Tigger, nor his sister Trubel has slapped or hissed at the dog.

Trubel just employs the look common to the elder generation of school-mistresses in my childhood.