Evening issues, still!

[cheeseisthebest]

My gorgeous nearly 7 month old shih tzu boy is such hard work in the evenings.
He sleeps through the night in my sons bedroom, 10pm until 7 ish. Never needs the toilet.
Good as gold with toileting, we have 40 minute walk every day, he has puzzle toys, kongs, he generally sleeps whilst I'm working at home, he's just mostly lovely in every way.

But the ongoing problem we've had for months is he won't settle in the evenings. He gets overtired and if I'm busy in the kitchen, etc he will settle then follow me so doesn't just relax and sleep which he really needs. Wont go in the crate hasn't for ages and we don't have a penned off area but he has a dog bed that he loves. He's anxious without me I think and when he's over tired his behaviour is exhausting, nipping jumping and barking. I do ignore this behaviour but I start to get anxious each evening thinking its going to be stressful.

Honestly I tho just keep going. FawkesPup has been my shadow constantly. He's known as "bog dog" by the kids as he insisted on accompanying me to the loo.

But.....he's just starting to settle better. We do sometimes crate him in the day with a cover on. Without the cover he gets barky and whines, even if we go e a Kong or chew. Cover on and he will settle.

In the evening we have tuggy play and a slow sniffy walk round the block. He then flops onto his bed or the rug about 8pm and isn't for moving. I even need to pick him up for bedtime wee now!!!

What would happen if you put him in your son's room, say, 15 mins earlier? You say he sleeps in there from 10pm. Is this with your son?

No I don't expect him to sleep him all evening and all night, he can play, have a chew but just the constant barking and alertness and general overtired panickyness is exhausting and for him too.

He won't even go in my sons room with just my son there, he won't settle until he knows I'm upstairs too so I take him when I go up.
Tried all the chews mentioned, tried frozen kongs. Tried everything!
Used to an evening walk but didn't help!

He dozes most mornings I think because he's absolutely worn out.

@duvetdrama

A good chew can really settled my pup in the evening...beef tails or pizzles are her favourites. Can you expect him to sleep in the evening and then all night too though?

Having said that he isn't during a 24 hour period, getting anything like as much sleep as he should be getting for a puppy his age. So would do him good to sleep most of the evening, I think he needs it!

I think it’s an age thing, it will get better. But teaching settle is a really good idea, I used the tips on the FB page dog training advice and support (lots of really good tips highly recommended).

Throwing treats on the bed, do this in the day too and praise calm. So if they are just lying there praise them.

We would do a snuffle mat or just a bit, 5 minutes of training in the evening , which knackered her. Just sit, stay etc. smearing cream cheese on a chew stick. Also just one chew stick out at a time, ours liked lamb tails and an ostrich bone.

We’d also do what I saw on here described as the flitting game, just any time in the day, so you go in and out of rooms not doing anything exciting and they eventually clock on that they don’t need to follow you every time you go out the room.

But basically they are Velcro dogs, they like to be with you.

We’d also leave ours for a bit in house alone, not-in a crate, just building up by a minute or so each time.

But it is very likely to get better. But it won’t be instant.

“ Having said that he isn't during a 24 hour period, getting anything like as much sleep as he should be getting for a puppy his age. So would do him good to sleep most of the evening, I think he needs it!”

Again, they need to be taught to settle in the day. To get more sleep in the day. But it’ll come. Ours was a nightmare and now just takes herself off to be for a lot of the day, she’s 2.

We have the same issue! Pup is now 13 months and is better than he used to be but some evenings are awful. We have a pen now to put him in just as the barking starts.he usually falls almost straight to sleep in it and then can join us again ten minutes later or so. Chews also help. Ours likes yak chews and sometimes I have to hold it to keep his attention. We do a calm short walk about 6 pm now too as sometimes the bark ing was because he needed a poo. Another thing that helps sometimes is if I walk out of the room as he seems to then settle. I’m hoping it will get easier!!

Does he have a solid routine and how much sleep is he getting throughout the day?

At seven months he still needs about 16/18 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period as an absolute minimum. Dogs need so much more sleep than people realise, especially in their teenage phase.

Personally I would try a tether - basically an indoor lead. Tether him to you and give him no choice but to sit or lie down with a chew. Don't give him the option to wander off and bark. If he doesn't want the chew, that's fine but wandering off and barking shouldn't be the alternative choice - the alternative should be sleeping or resting.

Is he allowed up on the sofa with you in the evenings? My dogs' favourite thing ever is to sit on your lap covered by a blanket and go to sleep - because he's warm and close to his people that way. Is that an option at all? Keep him tethered or on the lead at first to teach him what to do.

Thank you. This all really helpful and appreciated.
He is allowed on the sofa and we would all love him to snuggle up and slept but he jumps off and wanders off most of the time!
I do tether with a houseline.
I will carry on training settle, I've tried for months.
What I did think last night was we were all watching telly, Christmas lights on, noisy, etc. In the end I took him on his houseline and had him at my feet in a quiet, dark room and me sat on a chair with feet up so no temptation to nip my feet. He feel asleep in about 2 minutes. So maybe the telly etc was all too overstimulating.

His favourite place to sleep is on the floor, not laps, his bed, blanket or sofa. Just the carpet or cold floor of kitchen or dining room!

FawkesPup is asleep on the floor as I type. He has his crate and a bed and the rug but hard wooden floor is his choice.

Teaching settle is hard. We get so far then he gets the fidgets but I do find if I time things well he will sit at my feet whilst I mark/plan my teaching stuff.

Interesting about the telly, we've had the radio on more recently and he seems more settled with that on (classic FM/Scala).

Sounds really tough though. The tired/hyper/bitey thing is awful to deal with, like a toddler having an epic tantrum

He is allowed on the sofa and we would all love him to snuggle up and slept but he jumps off and wanders off most of the time!

How can he wander off if he's tethered to you? I wonder if you're using a line that's far too long - our lead for tethering is only 5ft.

What I did think last night was we were all watching telly, Christmas lights on, noisy, etc. In the end I took him on his houseline and had him at my feet in a quiet, dark room and me sat on a chair with feet up so no temptation to nip my feet. He feel asleep in about 2 minutes. So maybe the telly etc was all too overstimulating.

I think you're exactly right. Christmas is hard for young dogs - guests, lots of food, no routine, noise, lights, games, children, toys - it's so new and different and overwhelming.

Mine is four now and takes himself off to sleep when it gets too much, but as a puppy he got very over-hyped and bitey - and he was 10 months when we had his first Christmas. As soon as the guests went home he just slept and slept!

Well by wander off he jumps and settles at my feet I guess

Teach him to stay in a spot when you’re cooking or whatever you do in the evening.
Keep going back, reward the staying. Give
Treats. Make it worth his while to stay on his bed and not follow you.

If he’s anxious without you then he has separation anxiety and you need to work on that. I imagine sleeping in DSs room isn’t helping. He needs some time alone.

Try playing with him earlier then using puzzle and scent games closer to the times when hes badly behaved
When do you walk him - can you make it so he gets a later walk just before you cook?

Hi @cheeseisthebest. Can you tweak the routine at all? Maybe change the timing of your walk or split it into two walks? And similarly experiment with the best times of day for games, etc.

One other thing occurs to me. Is he alone with you most of the day and the rest of the family is at home in the evenings? More people = more stimulation. I’ve noticed that my pup can be perfectly calm with one of us, but if another member of the family enters the room he can become over excited.

@cheeseisthebest

Well by wander off he jumps and settles at my feet I guess

That's absolutely fine then - it doesn't really matter where he settles as long as he does so :)

So tonight I've done a similar thing. Taken him into quieter room on houseline and sat in the dark and quiet with him until he settled. He barked for a bit and whimpered trying to jump up to me but I knew if he came up he would just be nippy and naughty. After about ten minutes he crashed and now we are back in lounge with everyone else and he's conked out and snoring! Have I finally cracked it? And why didn't I think of this before?

He's in his dog bed snoring his head off! Feels like a win!

Can you take him for a quick evening walk? We have to walk our dog between 8-9pm for around 20 mins in order for him to settle.

I could but we live in the middle of nowhere and there's no street lighting so I would have to drive somewhere cos he's not a fan of walking in the total dark even if I have a headtorch.
He's had an hours walk today so slept a lot after that.