How Do Puppies Behave During the Witching Hour?
You can easily identify if your puppy is going through the witching hour by simple observation. Some behaviors can be biting, barking, running around the house pointlessly, not listening to you, showing tantrums, and sometimes exhibiting aggression. Their behaviors can be unruly and crazy most times.
Observe the timing as and when these behaviors show so that you are well prepared to tackle the behavior. If you know the timings of the witching hour, it can better equip you in phasing out the witching hour.
At what age does puppy witching hour stop?
The witching hour is not age specific, it doesn’t only occur in puppies, adult dogs can have a dog witching hour too. But as dog’s age, they generally will slow down and have less energetic outbursts.
When the puppy’s witching hour stops will depend on your dog’s overall energy level and how you handle their needs for physical and mental stimulation.
Giving your dog the appropriate physical and mental stimulation is key to a happy and healthy dog. A bored dog is a troubled dog.
Some dogs need more exercise than others, but most dogs will benefit from a long walk at least once a day. Even a few minutes of fun training each day will go a long way.
And on days when the weather isn’t cooperating, try some of these indoor dog games.
Be careful not to overstimulate your puppy, because it could have the opposite effect and turn your adorable puppy into a cranky puppy.
You may not realize it but laughing or yelling at the dog to stop zooming around or jumping is fueling the crazy behavior.
Instead, give the dog a calming activity, such as a frozen Kong or lick mat. A simple dog puzzle could help stimulate your dog’s brain yet promote calm behavior.
This depends on your dog’s personality, if puzzles excite your dog, then find another activity that calms your dog.
The idea is to slow the brain down and create a calming environment.
I normally recommend a consistent schedule for most rescue dogs, but if your dog anticipates activities to the extreme, it may be time to switch things up a little.
If you can’t always stick to a schedule, then try changing the time of day you take walks, feed dinner, etc.
Changing the schedule could help your dog cope with change more easily, helping to eliminate the anxiety when you can’t take that walk or be home at 5 pm to feed them dinner.
If you have a dog that is easily excited and go “over the top” then SpiritDog’s Calm Down Course may be a perfect solution.
Teaching your dog how to calm down on its own can change your life forever. Not only for the witching hour phase but in everyday living.
The Calm Down course will help you:
When Do Puppies Grow Out of Witching Hour?
You will be relieved to know that your puppies eventually grow out of witching hour and can be easily disciplined. Witching hours do not last long, and dogs phase out of it.
For puppies, the witching hour starts to end by four months, and in some cases, it can last till five months. It is not uncommon to see adult dogs exhibiting witching behaviors. However, it is much more common in puppies. Even adult dogs do eventually phase out of it.
One need also to remember the duration might not be the same with every puppy as the breed of the puppy also affects the puppy’s behavior. Some breeds do tend to take longer than the period mentioned above.
Stop The Witching Hour With Calmness Training!
“What age does puppy witching hour stop?” is what a lot of puppy parents are wondering about.
It’s cute at first when your puppy seems to have his 5 minutes. But that gets old really quickly. And after a few weeks the only thing you can think about is “when does puppy witching hour finally stop?”, right?
So, in this article we’ll look at the questions “what age does puppy witching hour stop?”, along with some tips that will help you have a calmer puppy much sooner.