Every night around 7pm-9pm our dog goes loopy. She gets over excited for no reason and is starting to get snappy while she is at it barking and appearing quite aggressive. We have tried ignoring it, distracting her, putting her in her crate which she then tears about. The rest of the day she is quite normal – gets excited when she plays but nothing like she is in the evening. It’s like she is possessed! I have tried taking her for a walk but she bounces all over the place and refuses to do anything she does during the day. Any advice? She has her last jabs tomorrow – as I type she is tearing round the house growling at things in a frenzy.
What you describe is a fairly common problem so don’t worry you’re not alone! It’s usually resolved by either a short training session or settling puppy down with a frozen Kong in their crate or utility room before they get silly.
Usually the issue isn’t too much energy, but actually that they’re overtired. Imagine your children after a birthday party 😉
Training wise take some really tasty treats (from a selection of suggestions I have here on my blog) and run through some of your puppy’s training repertoire or perhaps even a new trick. Only use around 10 treats in a session, so it’s short and sweet, and puppy doesn’t get bored.
And if you haven’t already got one, get hold of a Puppy Kong from somewhere like Pets at Home and fill in to the brim with some of puppy’s kibble, baby food (mild and gentle for young tummies!) and plug the top with some cream cheese. We usually use something like plain Philadelphia.
Once you’ve made this up (oh and you might want a couple of these so you have one ready for the next time you need it) pop it in the freezer. This achieves two things – nice and cold for sore, teething gums (just like human babies!) and it will also take puppy a lot longer to get through it too. Peace and quiet for 45 minutes – 1 hour. What’s not to love? 😉
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