Why Is My Puppy Doing That? Puppy Translation Guide Part 1
The Witching Hour
It's like the gremlin appears as soon as the sun sets.
Welcome to the 'Witching Hour', where zoomies, frantic biting, jumping over/on everything, digging the sofa and random barking awaits. Bet you can't wait for this every day.
It has a very different feel to a happy hour, that's for sure.
It might seem like your puppy has loads of energy and needs to go for a walk, but it's very much exactly the opposite that they actually need.
Near the end of a day, your puppy is running pretty much on empty. That mental bucket is overflowing after a day of processing the world, learning new things, playing, training, smelling new smells, seeing new things and growing their brains and bodies.
Come the evening, they're overtired and they've lost the ability to self-regulate. Pair that with a time when lots of things tend to happen in households, like people coming home or dinner being cooked and it's no wonder they act out like an irritable overtired toddler...but with really sharp teeth.
Increase the intensity of the witching hour tenfold if your puppy hasn't been napping throughout the day too and getting an absolute minimum of 16 hours of sleep per day (ideally, way more).
Your puppy hasn't learnt the off switch yet and surges of over-excitement, with a lack of ability to self-regulate, can often lead to witching hour behaviours too. It always seems like a great idea to play like crazy in the evenings, at the end of a long day for them, only for that to result in witching hour behaviours.
A puppy who has had very little mental or appropriate physical engagement during the day can also explode with pent-up energy, so ensuring that everything is fairly regulated throughout the day is a great idea.
Need help with puppy training? Please do reach out if you're struggling or share this with a frustrated puppy parent.
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Happy training xx