Hyper in the evenings?

[Heather and Dotty Dog]

Hi everyone,

I just wondered if my Dotty's behaviour is normal, and if anyone has experience of it too?

Dotty is a 15 month old Spanish rescue (we think half Galgo, half Podenco). I got her at 6 months old and she was a stereotypical high energy, clever puppy that needed a lot of attention all the time.

I work from home, and we have established a routine of playing 10 minutes of ball in the garden every 2 hours throughout the working day. We generally walk for an hour around 2pm (we have to avoid busy times as she is very dog reactive). Outside of this, she snoozes or relaxes around me or in the room nextdoor, until I finish work at around 5pm, and she has her dinner.

At 6pm, she needs a lot more attention for a good 3ish hours every evening solidly. Ball is no longer enough, and she chews furniture or barks, or scratches doors etc. if I turn my attention away. I always prepare enrichment games to deal with this: games of find the treat, hide and seek, trick training, homemade dog toys, frozen kongs, wobblers, various bits to chew, and a nice sniffy walk around 7:30. It's only around 9 that she begins to settle and I can usually guarantee she will relaxed and sleepy by 9:30pm.

Is this 3 hours of super full-on mental and physical attention standard for her age? I do my best to keep her entertained and am happy to, but it would be lovely to be able to watch a bit of TV sometimes after work, even if it's just an hour of something!

Is this an age thing, does it settle down a bit as she gets older?

 

[JoanneF]

I think dogs are creatures of habit and she maybe has just learned to expect 3 hours of attention. If she were mine, I would train a 'settle'. I will attach a video that might help. I would also try training other things because using their brain is very tiring for dogs. Impulse control is useful, tagging @JudyN as she has a good video for that (I can never find it!).

For other ideas on things to train, Kikopup on YouTube has loads.

 

[Heather and Dotty Dog]

That was a really helpful video thank you!

 

[JudyN]

Here's the impulse control game:

I wonder if there's anything in her past life that explains why she's hyper at this time? Or maybe she missed out on some puppy experiences so it going through the standard evening zoomies phase now?

I doubt it makes any difference now though - and I'm sure it's partly an age thing. I think you need to tread a narrow path between satisfying her need for physical/mental activity and teaching her that there is such a thing as down time. Having a clear signal that you are 'unavailable' can help - one trainer has suggested hanging up wind chimes when you aren't going to give the dog attention (beyond urgent garden trips and similar, obviously). But the vid JoanneF posted might well have the same approach - the dog learning that now is 'sleepytime' or whatever.

 

[JoanneF]

That was a really helpful video thank you!

I'm a big fan of Kikopup. She has some great stuff, Chirag Patel is another good one to watch out for.

 

[Rinkydinkydo]

Lovely looking hound,I know someone who's got a pondenco. They describe the dog as a patterdale or a jagd terrier locked inside a sighthounds body = high energy,then add the galgo.... on paper sounds like a good dog.

 

[Linz1012]

Here's the impulse control game:

I wonder if there's anything in her past life that explains why she's hyper at this time? Or maybe she missed out on some puppy experiences so it going through the standard evening zoomies phase now?

I doubt it makes any difference now though - and I'm sure it's partly an age thing. I think you need to tread a narrow path between satisfying her need for physical/mental activity and teaching her that there is such a thing as down time. Having a clear signal that you are 'unavailable' can help - one trainer has suggested hanging up wind chimes when you aren't going to give the dog attention (beyond urgent garden trips and similar, obviously). But the vid JoanneF posted might well have the same approach - the dog learning that now is 'sleepytime' or whatever.

Slightly off topic, but thank you for this video. I've been meaning to check out "It's yer choice" for a while now, as I think Milly Lurcher might benefit from it.