6 month puppy won’t settle in evenings

[PearlyGirls]

Hello all, am after some advice for our 6 month lurcher pup. She’s mostly a delight during the day and snoozes whilst I work from home but come the evening it’s a different matter. She paces, whines, repeatedly hides and re hides a chew, scratches the sofa, barks - you get the picture. I can tell she’s over tired but struggle to get her to settle.
She gets two good, long off lead runs a day where she plays and runs with other dogs, some training, attention and company ( but like I say, is very lurcher-y and snoozy during day).
She sleeps in a crate overnight but if I try and pop her in to settle her before bedtime she barks like crazy, ditto popping her in the kitchen behind a gate where she has a bed. We live in a terrace so I’m trying to reduce stressing out my neighbours with the noise.
Any help or advice gratefully received. We live in a super chilled household, no kids or other pets.
I’ve tried playing with her, walking her longer, extra training, enrichment activities like shredding cardboard, licky mat, ignoring her, giving her soothing strokes, BUT NOTHING WORKS 😭. Is this something she’ll grow out of or do I need to be doing something different? I feel like there’s something I’m missing. Thank you!

My spaniel used to have a mad hour or two around 8pm. I remember trying to watch a film and she was going crazy running up and down the hallway. She grew out of it but not sure when. I think they just get over tired and don't know what to do with themselves. I'm not sure what to suggest, I'm sure someone will be along soon who will be more helpful.

We found a 10 minute on lead walk just to the end of the road and back having a good sniff really useful when our pup was like this in the evenings - just seemed to reset her and she'd settle nicely afterwards.

Thanks both. I have a hunch it’s normal for age / breed behaviour but also that I could probably be doing more to help her self regulate. Sadly a sniffy walk doesn’t help 😔.

Isn't that too much exercise at 6 months?

We had this with our spaniel pup too and had to “teach” him to settle. Try feeding using puzzle toys or snuffle mats so they get mental stimulation as well as exercise every day. I always give him something to chew in the evening when it’s time to wind down. An ostrich bone, yakkers chew, antler, stuffed cow hoof, pigs ear, kong, pizzles etc. You could also do 15 minutes of training before giving them a chew, that wears them out a bit. But it’s mainly an age thing and it will pass.

She’s off lead for about an hour- an hour half a day on lead for about ten. I’ve yet to see any peer reviewed evidence that this is too much exercise for a small breed six month lurcher. Any less and she’s obviously frustrated.

What time of day is her last walk?

I'd take her out again personally! I'd don't think she's over tired if she sleeps most of the day.

I agree with you re exercise. I've had several dogs over the last 15 yrs. all of which have received plentiful exercise from a young age and all have lived to a ripe old age with no lameness or arthritic problems. Tired dogs are settled dogs imo.

I think you could be right @GrandRapids… her last walk is usually late afternoon as she can be a scaredy dog in the dark (tries to turn around and come home. She’s a sensitive soul 🙄) and I’m trying to catch the last of the light. I’m living for the longer evenings so we can have a nice walk later on… thanks.

What sort of Lurcher mix op? Anything with Saluki in shouldn't be running that much.

@Santahasjoinedww bedlington whippet

I would not add in an extra walk. She's getting plenty of exercise and you really don't want to be in a situation where she's dependent on a late evening walk everyday in order for her to settle.

Adding more exercise will not, long-term, tire your dog out. All it will do is create a super fit dog who needs more and more exercise in order feel tired. She needs to be taught how to self-settle and be calm instead.

What worked for our beagle was to put him on a short lead (we only ever used this lead in the house), give him a chew or stuffed kong, and ignore him. He was near us and could sit and cuddle or eat his snack, but because of the lead, he couldn't jump around, scratch at the furniture or run around like a loon

It worked and all we have to do now is say "Do you want to go on your lead?" and he knows that means he has to settle down :)

@fairylightsandwaxmelts that’s helpful thank you. Want going to add another walk, just aiming to move her evening one a bit later. I think I’ve been a bit lax on helping teach her to settle because she does it so well outside the hours of 7-9pm! But we shall go back to training this as a skill.

Evenings with puppies are the witching hour IMO

My beagle was a nightmare even though, like yours, he was excellent during the day! It normally meant he was over-excited (being picked up from daycare, DH and I coming home, dinner time, lots of activity) and he just didn't know what to do with himself, lol.

I have to disagree, I don't think a 30 min lead walk in the eve is going to turn her into a super fit dog. It will just help to break up the boredom of being in the house most of the day.

I would at least try it and see how she goes.

@GrandRapids

I have to disagree, I don't think a 30 min lead walk in the eve is going to turn her into a super fit dog. It will just help to break up the boredom of being in the house most of the day.

I would at least try it and see how she goes.

Sorry if I wasn't clear - I didn't mean that one extra 30 minute walk would lead to a super fit dog - more that if you start relying on extra exercise to tire your dog out, it will soon become a necessity and soon it won't tire them out as much as it's just part of their normal day.

So - yes, at the moment, a thirty minute walk is "extra" and breaks up the boredom, but soon it will become routine and part of her expected exercise, and she'll need it every night in order to settle. Which is fine if you want to be walking dogs late every night, all year round, but it's certainly not essential.

I've never walked my dog in the evenings for this exact reason - I don't want a dog that needs an evening walk every day in order to settle down. He gets a low-fat chew or some brain games if he's restless but most nights he just chills out on the sofa with us.

Too much exercise in dogs can also lead to poor behaviour and hyperactivity.

You need to teach her to settle. Reward the behaviour you do want. She is getting more than enough exercise. Exercising a dog to the point that they are so tired they are settled is a really irresponsible way of settling a dog in my opinion. The two things need to be independent of one another.
With mine I find background noise helps. The have an audiobook and natural noise on YouTube playing. I keep the house warm and dark. They are far more settled with low lighting. I never encourage play in the house - the house is where we chill. We play when we are in the garden or out and about. I teach settle from day 1 and reward them when they are settled and quiet on their beds. It takes time but pays off!

My dog used to be like this around the same age too. He's a working Cocker and would basically bounce off the damn walls.

We used a pen for enforced naps, a specific (but not rigid) routine, plus settle training.

Since your girl isn't keen on being placed in a separate area, a routine plus settle training on its own should do the trick!

Google "settle" and "capturing calm" by KikoPup. You can also Google the "Relaxation Protocol". These things are what worked for our dog. It's important to reward actual moments of genuine settling, rather than just the lying down bit. Otherwise you'll get a dog who lies down but is just waiting, alert, for a treat :D

You will eventually get to the point where you can say "settle down now" and she will.

On routine, what we did was set certain times of the day for certain things. Basically, most activity (games, training, puzzles) in the morning; winding down to the least activity in the late afternoon / early evening (chew, no wild interactive games, no free access to toys).

The running around with dogs honestly might be making her too amped up, also! Lots of running and chasing is fun, but pumps adrenaline through the bloodstream, which takes over a day to wear off. My dog gets super wired and edgy in the evening if he's had a chance to run around with other dogs. Just food for thought!

@dustofneptune this really is so helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share.

@PearlyGirls No problem! Good luck with it! You'll get there! :D

Agree that too much exercise can be too much, definitely.

I definitely found a slow, on lead sniffy walk helped our puppy (also crazy spaniel!) but teaching a settle is really important too. It's taking ages but I am making progress with ours now.

Make sure toys are away on a evening. But have an antler or a chew of some description to lay and chew on.

At that age I had a very strict and enforced routine for our rescue pup. In the house she was either in her pen or in the crate. If outside the crate we would do controlled playtimes on our terms so all toys put away and we selected one to play with with her. She learned very quickly that we were the source of fun and zoomy times were only when we permitted it. It also meant her recall and obedience training improved hugely as she realised we were her leaders.
Evening routine:
Walk around 5pm on the beach, sniffs, runs, ball chasing, playing with doggy friends
Home for dinner 6
Quick play and some training until 6.30
The In her pen with a chew while we made dinner, she was happy to chew and keep an eye on us pottering
7.30/8 in her crate near us watching TV. Ignore the FOMO whining. She grew out of that behaviour really quickly and would settle quickly
10pm out of crate for a quick wee walk and 5 minute sniff
10.30 back in crate and lights out where she slept until 7am.

We'd repeat this through the day morning afternoon and evening. She now a super chilled and obedient 8m old who knows her zoomies are for the beach or when we say so in the house. She's not crated or penned at all now apart from overnight 10.30 to 7 where she sleeps without a sound. The more boundaries I put in the less stressed she was and she became a different dog in a matter of days.