Too much energy after 10 PM

[goodword45]

Buddy is 8 months old and seems fairly mellow before 7 PM. After 7:00 he wants to play and play and play until 10:00 pm. That is when our day is wound down. I know we probably need to allow him more exercise, but with the cold it is hard to get out for a long (maybe even a short walk). Is the problem just lack of exercise or more complicated?

Also he has to urinate about every 30-45 minutes after 7PM. When the weather is around 20 degrees like it is now, it sure is inconvenient, but necessary. What do you think about the constant urination? He is very demanding that he get water at night. He will bark incessantly until he get water.

We don't know what to do. I hope all of you experts can help.

Thanks!

[take4roll10]

It's tough to exercise them outdoors in the winter, but it does sound like his increased energy is due to lack of exercise. Any way you can tire him out indoors? Teach him a new trick, play fetch using stairs, hide treats around the house and let him find them, freeze a kong, try some treat dispensing balls.

I have a similar problem with my dog drinking too much water too. First, I brought a urine sample to the vet to make sure she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. I wouldn't want to limit her water intake if she had illness. My vet said everything on her urinalysis was perfect, so it is safe to say my dog is drinking water out of habit and boredom. So now I remove her water at certain times. Otherwise she will drink a ton of water despite not being active and then ask to go out every 1-2 hours because her bladder is full. Which is tough for me when it is so cold out and I don't have a yard.

[goodword45]

Well, I tried for the past 2 afternoons and nights to give Buddy more indoors exercise. Not much luck getting him to sleep when we want to sleep. He is up as late as midnight. Last night the exercise seemed to just wind him up.

Oh well, we'll keep trying.

[BarbV]

Originally Posted by take4roll10

It's tough to exercise them outdoors in the winter, but it does sound like his increased energy is due to lack of exercise. Any way you can tire him out indoors? Teach him a new trick, play fetch using stairs, hide treats around the house and let him find them, freeze a kong, try some treat dispensing balls.

I have a similar problem with my dog drinking too much water too. First, I brought a urine sample to the vet to make sure she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. I wouldn't want to limit her water intake if she had illness. My vet said everything on her urinalysis was perfect, so it is safe to say my dog is drinking water out of habit and boredom. So now I remove her water at certain times. Otherwise she will drink a ton of water despite not being active and then ask to go out every 1-2 hours because her bladder is full. Which is tough for me when it is so cold out and I don't have a yard.

Ditto to this. I agree you need more indoor play if you can't get outdoors. 8 month old pups have energy to burn.

Also, my dogs seem to drink water a ton in winter as well, and I suspect for the same reason. Thankfully, they both seem to have huge bladders, but it does kick in at 5 a.m. every morning.

[celloyogi]

Olive is about 14 months old and she still has energy to burn, at all hours of the day. We've found that 1) taking her out on a long lead in the yard and 2) playing ball inside, help to curb her crazies. She gets the puppy rips while on the long lead, so even if we're walking around, she'll get many times the exercise because she's looping around us. Can't imagine what the neighbors think, but Olive loves it. Kind of like lunging horses, except with a 24lb sheltie.

Olive can play ball for a good hour inside, running up and down the length of our kitchen/dining area, before she starts to get so tired she starts literally falling over. We go until she drops or I do. If I'm really busy, I'll kick the ball (hands-free doggy play so I can cook/write papers/etc).

[rose]

sounds like Sugar, like got the days and nights mixed up. still working on it, and she is 4 yrs old

[goodword45]

Originally Posted by rose

sounds like Sugar, like got the days and nights mixed up. still working on it, and she is 4 yrs old

Wow! 4 years old. I hope we aren't dealing with this for 3 more years or more.

It does seem he has his days and nights mixed up. Last night I just put in his "house" / crate and let him bark. Really the barking only last for less than 2 minutes and he went to sleep. It could be he just wants to play or wants the attention. Play seems to be more important than sleep. Of course it was 12 midnight and we weren't into playing.

We have been letting him sleep where he wants to in the house (which is usally on the bed), but I think we'll have to crate him again at night.

[Shelby's mom]

From the beginning we would stop playing around 8-9pm. If she wanted to play we would just ignor her. Or we would give her a chew bone to settle her down. Now she is almost 3 and every night around that time she goes and lays down. When she was a pup bed time meant she went in her crate and no matter how much she cried (and she cried for hours sometimes) she was not going to be let out. Now all we say is "bed time" and she is upstairs laying on her bed.

One thing our trainer taught us was that we determine when we play she does not. And when we say "all done" all playing stops and we can not give in to her.

[goodword45]

Originally Posted by Shelby's mom

From the beginning we would stop playing around 8-9pm. If she wanted to play we would just ignor her. Or we would give her a chew bone to settle her down. Now she is almost 3 and every night around that time she goes and lays down. When she was a pup bed time meant she went in her crate and no matter how much she cried (and she cried for hours sometimes) she was not going to be let out. Now all we say is "bed time" and she is upstairs laying on her bed.

One thing our trainer taught us was that we determine when we play she does not. And when we say "all done" all playing stops and we can not give in to her.

Thanks for the advise. Yes we have been letting him determine when to play, even if it is late in the evening. We definitely have to stop that. We will keep trying to be better parents and not so lenient.

Last night he did go to sleep in his "house" without complaint. It was 9:00. Better but he still wanted to play nonstop from 7:30 until 9:00.