u/jjjmi21

Our puppy is usually pretty good during the day but has become crazy around 6-7pm after dinner, even through she’s just up from a nap. I’ll take her outside to potty then sniff around and light play but she instantly gets riled up and her eyes go wide for my ankles. Unless I pick her up and take her inside, I cannot get her to calm down or divert her attention. Then inside she’s still pretty wired.

My thought was she just needs more naps, but our vet said we should probably exercise her more. Throughout the day she’s usually up for an hour and down for 2-2.5 hours and while she’s up we’ll light play or sniff outside or train for 30 minutes then hang out inside for 30 just chewing on toys. Am I not giving her enough exercise already? I almost feel like we’re exercising too much, but she is a spaniel and wants to be active.

8 week old spaniel for a first time dog owner

Day before pickup) I’m nervous but excited. Done tons of research but feeling underprepared for this life changing event

Day 1) 6 hour car ride back home in her crate. She slept almost the entire time. Got home and she was a little hesitant to come out but did and explored calmly. Ate dinner. Cried for 15 minutes at bed time and woke up at 2am and 5am for potty. I’m tired and a bit overwhelmed tbh

Day 2) warming up some more. Exploring a lot. Picked up “sit” pretty quickly. We train during meal times. Overall she calm, but constantly having to keep eyes on her. Cried 10 minutes and woke up once at 3am. Feeling better about this, kinda easy

Day 3) demon mode. Confident, energetic, biting. She’s all over the place. Running all around the house, all around the yard. If I put a leash on she bites it or flails around or bites my ankles. She goes into her crate for naps on her own though. No crying at night. Wakes up at 3:30am

Day 4) same as day 3

Day 5) I restrict access. She can free roam in my office while I work. She has her crate, water, and toys we play with. I’ll put her leash on in the office and carry her outside, no more free roam outside. She’s not allowed throughout the house anymore. She’s napping more, biting less, no more leash biting and thrashing. If she does bite me outside we come straight back inside to chill out. At night, she’s straight to bed no crying, woke up at 2am and 5am for potty

Day 6) similar to day 5. Feeling like this is the new schedule. She’s behaving well with the limited access and seems more focused when it comes to training. Sit, lay down, and come are very good.

Overall positives - lots of potty breaks so very few accidents. She loves her crate which is awesome.

For reference bed time is 10pm and wake up is 7am. I had been restricting access to water before bed but she seems to be more calm when having it and it makes me feel better bc I would want water too.

Would love more advice but for now we’re just slowing things down.