# Beware the witching hour :(



## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I am not a trainer. But it sounds to me like 30 minutes of walking a day isn't enough. A tired puppy is a good puppy.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

What kind of training/brain work are you doing with her? Archie also gets Night Crazies in a bad way, especially if we've skipped out on the long walk he usually gets in the evening (which typically includes some off-leash fetch time). When it's really bad, the only thing that snaps him out of it is to bust out the treats and make him work his brain for a while. It's like it re-centers him. 

If he's really in crazy mode, I start with easy stuff he knows, like sit and down. Then I work up to the harder tricks he's learning, including some self-control stuff like stay, wait, leave it, etc. Stuff that really forces him to stay still and concentrate. We've also started working more training into his play time - for example, we'll ask him to sit before throwing a toy, then ask him to sit and _wait_ before throwing the toy (very hard for him - he likes to race out so he can get a jump on catching it), etc. Wears him out much faster than just regular fetch.

Anyway, there's something about dedicated, intense training time that calms him down. The way I see it, the Night Crazies are just him flailing out for any kind of outlet for his energy and boredom, and channeling that into working for treats satisfies that. After about 10-15 minutes of training practice, he'll usually take a tough chew of some kind and settle with it for a bit.

I've also used the crate as a time out space, but I still do it in a positive way - like I stick him in there with one of his stuffed Kongs so he has a fun thing to do but is out of everybody's hair. For more punishment-oriented time-outs, he gets stuck in the bedroom with the door closed. I don't find that as effective, personally (not least because the cat likes to go to the other side of the door and mess with him when he's in there), but I know some people swear by it.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

A classic case of the zoomies! Beau pretty much grew out of this by the time he was three. (He's six now.) Every once in a while, he'll surprise us with a bout of the zoomies in the evening -- now we just find it amusing and play with him for a bit. the nice thing is, he tends to settle right down afterward.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I agree with lisasgirl and the others that this is normal behavior for a pup the age of yours. I wouldn't necessarily add more on leash stroll the neighborhood walking, but instead really encourage you to follow lisasgirl suggestions to make her think it through. Many people underrate the value of brain work as tiring for a puppy, but it actually tires them out way better than just staying on leash around and around the neighborhood.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Perfectly normal spoo puppy behavior. Try 15min of "catch the ball/Chase the ball" about 1/2 hour before the zoomies start.
Eric


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