Helping adolescent pup to settle

[TheRealMaudOHara]

I'd love some advice please! DDog is 17 months and has recently been spayed. She recovered very quickly and found not being able to do long walks or jump around extremely frustrating. We've been signed off now and she's happily build back up to longer walks, playing with friends etc but she seems to be struggling to settle.

We can get back from an hour's lovely sniffy walk with some training and games, running around with friends etc and whereas in the past she flopped down and slept for a while, she now seems wired and stalks the house looking for trouble. It's getting frustrating because I need to work! We have a snuffle ball and a couple of puzzle games which help a bit, but she often gets bored and goes off looking for things which will get her more attention.

Any tips or toys which you can recommend to help her settle again? She settles fine in the afternoon after her second walk, it seems to be the mornings which are the most energising for her!

We have a Labrador who was like this as a teen, we really focused on settle training using the “place” command. It takes time & patience (and lots of treats😂) but is so valuable!

Puzzles 🧩 after our Whippet was spayed were solved fast- and they do like a bit of human encouragement and interaction when solving puzzles.
Chews can keep them busy for an hour or so but sounds like she needs to wait this healing time out.
Hopefully she’ll return to settling when normal exercise routines can be done as usual.

Thank you! Yes we do use the settle command but it isn't lasting at the moment! I need to put in some more time. It's years since we last had a puppy and you forget all these stages and how much time they need. Hopefully she'll grow out of it soon enough and I'll redouble efforts on the settle command too. Is your lab a good settler now?

It does take time but it’s so worth it. He is amazing now, we had a baby 8 months ago so I’ve been using the settle command a lot when she is on her play mat/on the floor and he quite happily goes to his bed when I tell him to and either stays there until he falls asleep or if he’s not sleepy then he’ll sit/lie there watching us until I give him the release command. It does take time though!

Although now we have an 8 month old baby who is crawling and obsessed with the dog so I could do with teaching her the settle command next😂 good luck! X

I have a puppy at heart 12 year old rescue dog who has trouble settling sometimes and also stalks the house looking for mischief. I didn't realise other folks dogs did this! I help him by restricting him to the room I'm in and the hall and that helps him to bring it down a level and have a nap. I guess the settling command is a longer term and better solution though.

Look at the "types" of walk she is getting in the morning.

If it is high energy, loads of other dog play, ball chasing etc she may be coming back too over aroused and then find it hard to settle. Shorter high energy walks are quite hard for dogs to come down from.

Introduce some quietly sniffing and wind down at the end of the walk may help her.

Although it may not have anything to do with this

You know what? As I was typing I thought 'maybe she's a bit overstimulated' and your reply is so kind and gentle when it should be obvious - thank you! Today we had a little play and ended on some quiet sniffing which I hope will help!

@noctilucentcloud I shut her in my office with me yesterday and it made a big difference thank you! She's a clever little thing and definitely knows how to get attention. If we go out she's straight on the sofa for a nap so it's not boredom per se - she only picks up a shoe to chew if I'm in range to come and tell her off then she can make a game of it! Your rescue sounds awesome to have that playfulness at 12.

He is pretty awesome. I think it's because he's making up for lost time - I got him when he was 8 and he had a pretty boring life before then.