any help/advice please I have 15 month black lab called Murphy ! He has lots exercise attention games and is a normal sometimes miss behaved lab pinching stuff etc through out day which I expect and is fine good off lead comes back etc!! Problem is of evening when been up since 6am and want relax for few hours Murphy starts this barking and biting my husband and won't stop !! Not sure why have tried lots things at 7pm every evening he has frozen Kong as trying teach him that evening is chill out time and to calm down but soon as he demolished that which not long he starts barking and biting my husband !!not nasty biting but no ugh make hubby squeal but not aggressive!! Have tried time out no good bitter apple spray which appears make him worst he goes mad !! Husband is getting very annoyed and worriers as having first grand child in April and needs stop this behaviour but at a loss any suggestions please. X
Do you use a crate? Certainly for puppies who get overtired, a crate is a boon in the evening. This sounds like over excitement and may be related to tiredness. A crate possibly. Or how about teaching a "mat game" with a "settle on a mat" being the activity you are trying to establish. With or without a kong? Gradually extending the time he spends on the mat. A good settle is a valuable skill.
It's definitely not unusual for young dogs to turn into bitey demons at about that time of the evening. Our dog used to as well. I agree with Jacqui that it's overtiredness or similar (or the body being tired but the brain still running hot). For ou dog this behaviour was fairly predictable so what we did was have a 15 min clicker training session before the usual start of the 'evil hour'. This wore his brain out enough to send him into snooze mode after the training (also an ideal time to go into the crate with a treat). We managed to avoid the evening biteys that way.
I remember this! Our boy would go mad - I thought we'd got Marley from Marley and Me. I cried one night cos of this, really thought we were the only ones to have got a mad dog. I then discovered if I played a Find It game he miraculously calmed down. Like the idea of clicker training Oberon mentions above. I used a favorite toy. Made Snowie wait outside the bedroom. Hid the toy in the bedroom. Then said: Go find it! Loved the game! Totally exhausting. I made it more and more difficult, like hiding the toy under a mat, or under the duvet. Sometimes he needed clues. Played about 5-10 rounds and like magic, off to sleep. We never fed food like a kong later than dinner time altho others might advise that; we just never thought of doing that. We also didn't use a crate, but I think it sounds like a great idea. They do get older and calmer. There is hope! Hopefully by the time the grandchild arrives he'll be calmer. Definitely invest in baby gates to separate pup and baby.
I found mine gave up this evening behaviour at about 6 months once I could take them out for a walk in the late afternoon. Can you exercise him early evening so that you get some peace?
We had similar issues with Holly at that age. We found that a gentle lead walk around the neighbourhood helped. We'd let her stop to sniff a few posts. By the time we got back she was ready to settle down.
Thanks for advice got rid of his crate months ago but do have stair gate we put him behind when he starts for time out !! Will try playing hide seek etc for 15 mins of evening see if this helps !! Hope so as the hubby has had enough every evening him acting up and biting and barking!! Thanks again x
