HELLO! We have a lovely female black lab pup who is sweet and charming by day and a crazed maniac from about 5pm till her 7:30 bedtime. She jumps and bites and resists being stopped. Is this common and we just have to get through this phase? If not please troubleshoot with me! (We are clicker training with treats and she responds eagerly the rest of the day!) I’ve been referring to this site for the past 3 months and have thought about asking several questions over that time - but now I’m desperate. Please help. Thank you, Anxious Puppy Mom
This is called the zoomies and it’s very normal and common. If you research it, most places will tell you that it lasts 5-15 minutes. For my Sophie (14 week black lab) it is longer and happens first thing in the morning and from about 6-8 pm at night. She is also very bitey, won’t listen, crazy eyes while she’s like this, my dog trainer explained that the zoomies are an adrenaline rush. When they have this rush, they can’t focus on you, listen or learn. My puppy is very hyper so her zoomies are worse. what I do it let her run outside a while and then put her in playpen to calm down. Puppies do not know how to self-calm so we have to teach them. I reward Sophie for calm after zoomies snd I also act very calm around her during this time. I’ve stopped speaking normal and talk to her in a lower, quiet, slower tone to not wind her back up, when she’s bitey I give her really good chews like a yak milk bone or bully stick, she eventually calms down. They say some grow out of it. I’ll wait and see.
Hi When I don't catch the over stimming in time I've taken to giving are pup a bit of clean cardboard to destroy. Makes a mess but soon calms down ready to sleep. Oh some dogs zoomies never end. had a 14 year old that still did it occasionally. Chris
Our puppy went through this phase and don't panic like ours yours too will grow out of it. We bought our puppy something called a dogwood stick which really helped him with the biting - focuses it on the stick rather than you and other family members. Consistency and routine plus the dogwood stick and some strong favourite toys got us through this phase. Good luck don't lose heart it'll be over soon.
