Evenings are just awful :(

[heygirl28]

EVERY evening without fail, just when we want to sit and relax and watch a bit of tv, our 12wk old goes beserk! Its really upsetting to see the behaviour, she is constantly jumping up to either me or my husband on the sofa, when we tell her 'Off' she doesnt listen so when we say 'Off' and push her off she bites. As soon as her feet touch the floor shes up again and it seems nothing is working. We've tried standing which works for a second, she lays down with her toy but the minute we sit again, she's up again and the whole thing goes on for ever. Help anyone??

[GSD-Jay]

If it was my dog I;d pick her up and put her in a different room for 5 minutes. When you can no longer hear her, I'd open the door and wait for her to come back in. If she goes nuts again, repeat. She'll get the message eventually.

[Tedsmum]

This it totally normal behaviour for a puppy and you will find that all puppy owners have to go through the madness at about 9pm or earlier.
I am afraid you need to get up and play with her for a while or stimulate her in some other way while she is young.
She is bored and has an energy boost about that time of the evening.
So record you tv show and get down on the floor for a romp with her, or do some training or groom her, or just let her run around the garden after a ball.
I was often to be seen freezing my but off at 9pm in the garden when ours was a pup and that was in January.
She will eventually grow out of this habit but for now you should give her some attention for a while until she is tired and ready for bed.
It may only be for 30 mins that she is lively after all.
Enjoy you pup while she is still a baby cos she wont be for long xxx

[Chrystie22]

Hi Heather! I soo know what you are going through as Diva is the same, albeit a bit older (18 weeks today); she has moments when she goes bananas, she can be nice one minute and the next she goes beserk running around like she is posessed and doing anything to attract our attention!! When she is too hyper, we take her out of the room for some time-out for a few minutes until she settles and only allow her back in when she has calmed down, we repeat as often as necessary and she soon gets the message, believe me, coz she'd rather be with us but quiet than by herself away from us!!! Puppies are like children, they need to be constantly occupied, so play with her as long as you want and when you decide the game is over, she has to follow your rules, if she doesnt there need to be consequences, ie ignoring her, which is the worst that can happen to a dog, aww!!

Originally Posted by heygirl28

EVERY evening without fail, just when we want to sit and relax and watch a bit of tv, our 12wk old goes beserk! Its really upsetting to see the behaviour, she is constantly jumping up to either me or my husband on the sofa, when we tell her 'Off' she doesnt listen so when we say 'Off' and push her off she bites. As soon as her feet touch the floor shes up again and it seems nothing is working. We've tried standing which works for a second, she lays down with her toy but the minute we sit again, she's up again and the whole thing goes on for ever. Help anyone??

You're interacting with her so you're reinforcing that behaviour. Pup pesters you when you sit down, you push her off (seen by her as contact, play, touching), standing up - just a different dimension of the game to her... and so a learned behaviour is formed. They are intelligent creatures, she's already worked out how to get your attention.

You need to train her, play with her, tire her out, give her boundaries. She's got energy to burn off, so walk her before you settle down and watch tv. And learn to ignore her. Curb unwanted behaviour and encourage good behaviour.

[GypsyGSD]

I always called it puppy hour lol some good advice given x

[DTJazz]

We are only 6 weeks ahead of you and I posted a thread a few weeks ago called evening madness - all I can say is it has got easier. We do put her in the crate if she needs to calm down or is overly mouthy but by the far the best thing is finding a favourite game. We now have a ball that she plays with and that helps amuse and entertain her. And as she has started to teeth, her mouthyness has calmed down too!

[jackie]

Mishka is exactly the same, she has a mad hour just when I think it is time to chill. I found that playing training for a bit followed by a session of those intelligent dog puzzle games does the trick. So now I make a point of playing, training and short walk about an hour before the glass of wine starts to call my name and we are both content to chill.(No pun intended with CHILL as it is not chilly it's bloody freezing.)

[LOVEGSD]

I can only agree with what everyone has already said, she's loving your attention so don't reward her with it, Jay's idea of the time out is great.

[Mewzard]

Oka was the same till recently.
She has a walk at 6pm for 20 to 30 mins, she'd come in for a drink, I'd take her out and play ball for 10min (max time before she got too excited and started biting), then come in and sit down and she'd start going loopy. After a week or so we figured she was just tired and couldn't calm down so we took to crating her at 8 for the night. She always settled within 2 minutes and was asleep - we had the added benefit that Oka's eyes go pink round the edges when she is really tired so we knew we were right to do this.

Now at 6 months she comes in from her walk and plays a bit, chews something for a bit then crashes out around 7:30-8 - like we've set the clock for it now.

For that 'mad flid' it's best to stick 'em in the garden and get them running around for a bit then they will crash out - i used to do 2 ball fetch. OR give them something new to explore - cardboard box, carrot, an egg, treats in a cardboard tube, an old towel, plastic bottle...that helps tired them out mentally.