My dog (1.5 y.o. spayed female mutt) won’t settle down in the evenings

[rosesanddaisies]

Hello fellow dog lovers! This is my first time posting here. I adopted Echo, a female mutt who has lots of active breeds in her according to Wisdom Panel (German Shepard, Great Pyrenees, boxer, lab, and beagle, to name a few) in August 2020 at 12 weeks old. She is the light of my life and I adore her!

From the start, it was clear she was an active and intelligent dog who needs stimulation and activity in order to get her energy out. From the start, we’ve socialized her with other dogs and walked her at least an hour each day off leash in the woods + playtime of course. I’m a nurse who works full time, so my mom who works part time watches her while I’m at work. There is not a single day where she doesn’t get at LEAST an hour of hard exercise. My mom (or me, if I’m not working) walks her off leash in a local wooded park (we have an off-leash permit) for an hour during the day. If she’s working, she goes to full-day doggy daycare and does come home exhausted and happy.

When I come home from work around 6, Echo is happy to see me and wants to play for a bit but then generally settles down for a bit. However, around 8-9 pm, JUST the time I want to relax on the couch with a glass of wine, she becomes restless and just stares at me and will even whimper and bark until I acknowledge her. But then, even if I give her attention and play with her, it seems like she’s not interested; she’s just restless and doesn’t know what to do with herself. I try giving her bones or Kongs to stimulate her, or let her outside, but as soon as she finishes she’s staring at me again and pawing at me to acknowledge her.

I would love if she would just be able to chill out with me on the couch when it gets to be 9 pm, and when she’s tired enough (after 2 hours of staring at me and being restless) she will. But it’s almost like she fights sleep/relaxation. I do give her a calming chew approved for dogs that has small amounts of hemp, melatonin etc and that does seem to help a little. But as it is, I feel stressed that I can’t ever fully relax after work, and I feel guilty for feeling this way, like I’m ignoring my dog.

Has anyone else ever dealt with something similar? Is it possible she has anxiety? She’s otherwise a very confident, “alpha” dog. I suppose I could take her for a walk after work, but as I don’t get home til 6 and need to make dinner, do housework etc, it’s not always feasible, and like I said, she does get a minimum of 1 hour of exercise a day already. I love her sooo much but I do need time after work to do adult things too!

Any opinions, suggestions or advice are welcome! Thanks!

 

[sexyme1]

@rosesanddaisies Exact same thing happens here!!! We call it the 8:00 crazies. Then she’s asleep. Now that she’s 3 years old, we can exercise it out of her. So you can watch all those shows 2 years from now.

 

[rosesanddaisies]

@sexyme1 That’s a good point, it could be her young age! I always joke that she doesn’t understand she’s not a baby anymore; she still wants to play just as much as the day we got her! How did you handle it with your dog? Just wait it out until they got older?

 

[sexyme1]

@rosesanddaisies Luckily I have a daughter who likes to wrestle with her. But now she’s in college so that’s my job. Plus letting her in and out if the house, every minute, tossing a ball, and if I’m not too lazy, teaching tricks, which she loves.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@rosesanddaisies I think it’s FOMO, but try switching up locations when she starts her shit. Like, if I’m trying to relax, but she’s staring at me shoving a wet toy in my hand after she’s had three hours of exercise and training and walks and I just want her to chill the eff out, I’ll move to my dining room, ignore, and she’ll usually get bored and wander away to nap. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. She’s a working line gundog, so I think she’s just like that

 

[rosesanddaisies]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Thanks, this is good advice! It’s funny, she does tend to settle down if I move to the kitchen table or if I’m busy cleaning or doing something productive. It’s just that sometimes I want to be lazy on the couch and that’s when she stares at me and whimpers. But point taken, maybe I just need to occupy myself more in the evenings to give her the idea “mom is busy, you need to chill out.”

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@rosesanddaisies Oh, I get it. There are nights when I get off the couch and go clean something because it’s less irritating than having her stare at me. There’s a reason mommy smokes her funny cigarettes

 

[rosesanddaisies]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Also “shoving a wet toy in my hand” has me loling. That’s exactly what she does!