witching hour - HELP!!

[Moses]

went through that a couple of weeks ago. Teaching him to retrieve, release and leave it has stopped that issue. (which they need to learn anyway not just for manners, but field training as well) Moses was wanting to play tug of war with everything and would not let go for nothing. The growling was just part of the tug f war play, but it needed to be stopped, because it was leading to be destructive. (rugs, pillows my shoes). It doesn't hlep that their teeth have a way of embedding into what they grab on lol, because sometimes when they ARE trying ot release, their teeth are hung up on it. Training will stop this though. I have no problem with Moses concerning that now-- only took 3 days of consistent training.

[Di]

Ahhh yes at our house we called it " Happy Hour" Sammi would be a complete lunatic for about an hour everyday. Always around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. We would just take her out and let her go, if not she would be butt tucking through the house and going banana's. Can't remember exact ally when she stopped doing it, she is almost 6 and there are days I miss her "happy hours"

[Sophiesmama]

Yep! We called it Sophie in "crack-dog" mode! She would go nuts for about an hour, maybe less, at about 10pm every day. She out grew it, but still goes into crack-dog now and again when she is being a pill! She can (as many of you already know) manage to get herself in trouble from time to time. The biting will get better. You need to find a command and use it every single time she bites. We put a hand on Sophie's muzzle and commanded "Don't Bite!" She quit at about 3 months. Once your pups get their big dog teeth, they don't bite you as much, they just chew everything else in sight!

[redw4rds]

That's called crazy hour in our house - Bryn is just growing out of it aged two but still happens sometimes.

We found that grabbing the scruff of the neck and pulling back so the skin is tight (but not so much that it hurts them) was a good way to get our lab to drop things. Easier to do in the house rather than on a walk.
Bryn loves tissues and paper too - I try to keep an eye out and get them out of his mouth but I'm not always there in time, I figure neither will do much damage if he swallows them. He managed to eat and poop a pair of tights last year without any issues!

[SharonaZamboni]

Bean used to become a total maniac, too. I felt much better when I realized that is was just the "crazies"! They kinda outgrow it

Teach "leave it". Bean picked that one up very quickly, and he's very good about it.

"Drop it" is a very good thing to teach! Bean knows it, but sometimes I have to go to him and hold his collar by the top of his neck. He'll take a few seconds to rearrange the item in his mouth, then drop it. It's great if you happen to have a treat in your pocket at the time, then you can reward the drop with something even better than what he had already.