Dog witching hour agony

[Anonymous]

We find that pup cups from pet smart work wonderfully to distract and relax close to bedtime

[Anonymous]

OP here and watching all of the videos from LA about shelter pets needing to be adopted or fostered to make room for displaced pets inspired me to come back here with an update in case it encourages anyone to take a rescue dog.

Our dog has improved so much! We reduced his physical exercise and increased mental exercise and variety of experiences (car rides during the day really make him happy at night!) and have used crating much more when we know he will become overstimulated. When it’s witching hour and our dog used to get crazy, the worst he does now is pick up a toy or shoe but we’ll say “bedtime”, and he’ll follow us up to get tucked into bed. He isn’t doing the herding behavior at home anymore and is much more relaxed during the day. I think he was quite vigilant and wasn’t getting enough sleep even in months 2-3 after we brought him home.

Our shelter cited the 3-3-3 rule (3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months) to set expectations around rescue behavior. I think 3 months really should be more like 6-9 months, which tracks with our past rescues.

Anyway, I’m happy to say that our dog is settled and much happier, and so are we. Thank you to the encouragement here that helped me find a just-right amount of exercise and to use crating mode. I appreciate the support!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why people buy puppies from responsible breeders. You don't know what his experience was before you got him.

How much night time and day time sleep does he get? Are naps in the crate and at the same time every day (like 1-4)?

Breeding animal for $ is not responsive.

[Anonymous]

Oh, this update makes me so happy! 🐕🐾

[Anonymous]

Thank you for updating!