Every evening, countless puppies in homes around the world collectively lose their tiny minds. Biting like crazy. Having accidents. Terrorizing the household.
And every evening, their humans wonder if their puppy is the only one in the world to be so shockingly obnoxious.
Welcome to puppy witching hour!
Let me explain what this is and why it gets so bad, and give you my somewhat controversial take on how to handle it.
What is puppy witching hour?
This is the very scientific term for the dreaded daily transformation where your puppy goes from relatively normal to an out-of-control little demon.
The festivities begin somewhere between 5pm and 9pm. Which is super frustrating, right? At the exact moment when you’ve hit your daily limit of work/life BS and just want to dissociate in front of the TV, Sparky decides it’s the perfect time to act like a maniac. It almost feels like they can sense your weakness. Like sharks smelling blood in the water.
“Ah, the human’s at the end of their rope? LET’S RIP THAT ROPE TO SHREDS.”
Witching hour can look like:
- Biting that gets extra intense, relentlessly targeting your feet/legs/clothing
- Jumping all over people or your other pets
- Wild behavior that seems low-key aggressive
- Getting the zoomies or running around like a psycho
- Bouncing off the walls (figuratively but probably also literally)
- Constant “demand” barking
- Having accidents in the house (even if they didn’t have a single accident all day!)
- Not listening and completely ignoring cues they know perfectly well
- Undoing all of the training progress you worked so hard on during the day (why does it always seem like you take one step forward, ten steps back?)
Nothing you try makes any difference. You feel like you’ve got a decent daily routine that ticks all the usual “puppy training 101” boxes: You exercise them plenty. Make sure they take their naps. Provide lots of mental stimulation and chew toys.
And still. The nightly madness continues.
You’re probably wondering if you’ve done something wrong. Did I accidentally reinforce this behavior? Am I exercising them too much? Not enough? Am I just not cut out for puppy parenthood? There’s no way I can keep this up forever!
Why do puppies go crazy every evening? (It’s not what you think)
It’s not a training issue or a behavior problem.
It’s a culture clash.
Dogs are naturally most active at dawn and dusk. So fresh little baby dogs (who haven’t adapted to human routines yet) have an energy spike at the end of the day.
If your puppy had stayed with their original canine family and been left to grow up as nature intended, this would be would be prime wrestlemania time.
The littermates would spend hours chasing and biting each other, biting and climbing all over any good-natured adult dogs in the vicinity, chewing stuff, investigating stuff, digging stuff up.
In other words, they’d be:
- Bonding and building relationships
- Building their communication skills
- Learning how to handle conflict
- Burning energy
- Relieving stress
- Learning about their world
- Doing the important work of growing up and becoming a well-adjusted member of society
And come bedtime, they’d all collapse in a big happy pile, ready for a nice long sleep.
Even though all that “crazy” behavior was getting “reinforced,” and there was no one around to tell them to sit or train them to be calm, those puppies would still grow up to be some of the most chill, well-adjusted adult dogs around.
But of course, that’s not how most puppies are raised. At a very young age, they get sent to separate homes to live with a completely different species. A loving species, yes. But also a confusing one.
Their new family doesn’t play the right way. They have (understandably) strong feelings about biting and wrestling. They’re also trying to juggle jobs, errands, kids, dinner, and the general exhaustion of life under late stage capitalism and can’t give the puppy everything they really need.
The puppy still feels the call to heed nature’s plan, but they can’t. So now they’re frustrated and confused, which makes their witching hour behavior worse, which makes the humans more upset, which makes the puppy more upset…
Around and around we go.
So that’s why nothing you try seems to make a difference. You’re basically fighting Mother Nature at every step.
None of this is your fault or your puppy’s fault. There is no “behavior problem” to solve here.
It’s just the culture clash.
Factors that make witching hour worse
A puppy’s witching hour behavior is often exacerbated by:
Being overtired
Even though it looks like they’ve got endless energy, they could be having a meltdown like a cranky overstimulated toddler.
Sometimes, though, it’s the opposite:
Being under-stimulated
After a quiet afternoon in their crate or pen, the pent-up energy explodes at night. Especially if the humans have been at work or school all day. You walk in the door and they’re like “YOU’RE HOME. FINALLY. LET US DO ACTIVITIES IMMEDIATELY.”
A need to shake off the day’s stress
Being a puppy in this reality is hard work. Adapting to a new human family is inherently stressful. Especially if there are other sources of tension and misunderstandings between you and them. Which is likely the case if, throughout the day, you’re dealing with things like:
- Excessive biting
- Having to tell them “no” a lot and take forbidden objects away from them
- Drama with the resident cat or older dog
- Training sessions that don’t go well
- Needing to leave them home alone a lot
- An especially fearful puppy
- Not being able to take them on adventures out of the house
Evening mischief can be their way of decompressing before sleep.
And sometimes, it’s more about your energy level than theirs
Raising a puppy in this reality is hard work! You’ve been supervising and training all day long. You hit your limits and can’t keep it up anymore, which means house training accidents are more likely to happen and normal puppy annoyances feel extra annoying.
My controversial witching hour opinion: “calmness” should not be our main priority
First, let me say don’t worry, I haven’t gone completely off my rocker. I’m not saying you need to just suck it up and deal with being miserable every night. You don’t deserve that.
Anyway:
IIf you read the typical advice about witching hour (or puppy chaos in general), you’d think it was the most awful terrifying thing ever.
Don’t laugh at their antics or you’ll encourage it! Don’t roughhouse! Don’t reward their attention-seeking behavior! Encourage quiet, calm activities only! Try relaxation techniques or even calming supplements!
We’ve gotta stop being so afraid of puppies acting like puppies.
Like actual young living creatures with a pulse. “Energetic” is not a bad word.
I get it, though – the dog world (including me, before I knew better) has long terrorized dog owners into thinking that if we dare “reward” play biting or whatever, then oops, that’s it, you’re doomed! This dog is going to bite like crazy for the REST OF THEIR LIFE.
For your consideration:
When my dog Flower was a puppy, I actively encouraged her to wrestle with me and play-bite me. I even… *gasp* let her tug on my clothes during playtime.
Shock! Horror! Someone revoke my dog trainer card immediately.
(What can I say. It was COVID lockdown time in Australia. We were bored)
By every rule the dog training world has taught you, I was rewarding bad behavior and setting myself up for disaster. She should be an out-of-control bitey maniac right now, right?
Except she’s not.
As an adult dog, Flower doesn’t put her teeth on humans. I literally can’t get her to play bite me no matter how hard I try. It’s kind of sad, actually.
If the rule is “don’t reward wild behavior or you’ll just get more wild behavior,” how did my dog turn out fine? How did she grow out of it naturally, without me obsessing over consequences or corrections?
Real life is too nuanced for oversimplified rules, turns out.
Flower’s wild puppyhood behavior didn’t persist no matter how much I “rewarded” it. It resolved because her needs were being met.
Will your puppy grow out of this?
Witching hour is a normal developmental phase and most dogs outgrow it. However, you have to handle it the right way, because the resentment this phase can cause doesn’t just get better on its own.
If you’re creating good habits now (managing their environment, channeling their energy appropriately, meeting their needs for social play and exploration), the transition will be smoother.
If you’re fighting it with punishment or not giving them appropriate outlets for normal puppy antics, it might stick around longer or create other problems.
How to survive witching hour without losing your mind: the strategy
When we work on this issue with our members, the approach we take is always a little different depending on the specific puppy in question. But the strategy we usually go with is…
Channel the energy, don’t fight it
Because when we jump straight to tactics like:
“Ask for a sit.”
“Reward quiet.”
“Walk away when they bite.”
“Ignore the biting.”
“Give them a Kong.”
“Don’t encourage excitement.”
It’s like telling a bored toddler who’s been cooped up in the house all day to meditate instead of letting them run around the playground.
We don’t need or want to squash witching hour completely. That’s a futile task. The real goal is to get through this normal, healthy part of puppyhood in a way that meets their needs, doesn’t drive you completely insane, and doesn’t create bad habits or damage your bond.
This is about recognizing that witching hour is largely a timing problem, not a training problem. We’re not trying to make Sparky be “well-behaved” immediately. We’re helping your feral wild child learn how to regulate themselves over time. That is a much more realistic, achievable task.
The tactics: six practical tips for getting the madness under control
Here are a few of the tactics that our members have had success with. This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the things we might try, but it’s where you should start.
1: Get ahead of it
By now, you have a good idea of when witching hour begins. So plan for it – take away as many opportunities for them to make bad choices as possible.
Make sure they’ve had a potty break. Your shoes are out of reach. Your cat can’t access the danger zone and get tackled. Anything they might destroy is put away. There’s a physical barrier between Sparky and the toddler.
This sounds obvious, right? But most people end up waiting until witching hour hits, and then they have to scramble to do damage control. Your puppy’s already amped up, you’re already stressed, and now you’re also trying to remember where you left your good sneakers before they become a chew toy – oops! Sparky’s already chewed them up.
That puts you in the position of having to chase them around and be the fun police, which doesn’t exactly foster a strong bond.
Instead, set yourself up to win before the clock even strikes 5pm.
2. Divide and conquer (if you’re lucky enough to have help)
One of the reasons witching hour is such a problem for humans is because it happens during a time of day where we have other stuff to do. Like cooking dinner or helping the kids with homework. Or lying on the couch staring at the ceiling as we try to remember what it feels like to be a human being after a long workday.
So if any of the other resident adults or teenagers who participated in the decision to adopt this dog are home at this time, use them. One person gets cooking duty, one person gets puppy entertainment duty. Or you take turns staring at the ceiling.
This isn’t about being lazy or “not handling your own dog.” No one would expect you to raise a newborn human baby by yourself without any help at all, and you shouldn’t be expected to raise a puppy by yourself without any help at all, either.
3. Stop telling your puppy to sit
For two reasons:
1. If they’re hyper because they’re in a naturally high energy point of their day, they don’t need stillness. They need to move.
2. If they’re hyper because they’re overstimulated and cranky, they don’t have the capacity to follow arbitrary commands that they only sort of understand. You’re asking them to use executive functions they can’t access right now.
So stop asking for obedience. Stop trying to manage the behavior with commands. Let them move.
4. Direct the energy into play
Tug, fetch, flirt pole, training games, etc. Anything that lets them move their body and use their brain in a way that feels good.
But here’s the caveat: the specific type of activity that works best will depend on your puppy.
Some puppies thrive on training games when they’re amped up, and others just don’t have the brainpower for it.
It also depends on the type of training you choose.
An easy, reward-based game that they’ve practiced a million times during more chill times of the day? Perfect. They know it. They love it. Their brain can handle it even when they’re running hot.
A training game that involves teaching them something brand new? Not so great. This would be like someone asking you to learn the rules of a complicated new board game when you’re already on the verge of a meltdown.
A training activity that involves correcting them or removing your attention when they do something you don’t like? Even worse. I’m thinking especially of that “no bite”/”no jump” training thing where you put the puppy in their pen and then walk away every single time they bite or jump.
Haha yeah, that’s an exercise in frustration at the BEST of times. Attempting it when you and your puppy are running on fumes is a surefire way to make everyone even more cranky.
(In Puppy Survival School, we teach a few training games that tend to work well during witching hour because they hit the right balance between movement and brainwork)
5. Get them using their nose
Scatter kibble or treats in the grass or around the living room. Sniffing lowers arousal and is a really good way to let dogs decompress.
This is one of those sneaky moves that works because it channels their energy into something that naturally soothes them. They’re still moving, but their body is getting the signal to slow down.
6. And then bring the energy level down
Once the energy wave has crested and their body language starts saying “okay I’m tired, please help me settle down because I am too young to regulate my own emotions,” that’s your window.
Now you should offer a stuffed puzzle toy or a long-lasting chew to help them relax and get ready for bed.
If it’s not improving, here’s what usually needs tweaking
The problem usually isn’t what you’re doing; it’s how and when you’re doing it.
Some common issues:
You’re trying to tire them out when they’re already overtired. Sometimes the answer is a 20-minute enforced nap in a quiet space, not more activity.
You play with them, but the game riles them up too much. There’s a sweet spot between “engaging enough to burn energy” and “so exciting they can’t come back down.”
The training game you’ve chosen is too complicated or too focused on creating stillness. You want something challenging enough to get them thinking, but not so challenging it makes them ragequit.
You let them move, but without clear transitions, they never get the signal to come down again. If you play with them for 10 minutes and then just… stop, they might stay in “play mode” for another hour.
You redirect them onto a toy, but it’s the wrong toy or game for their mood. You have to pay attention to what toys and play styles actually appeal to your puppy.
The missing piece
Here’s the thing: these tips work. I’ve seen them work for hundreds of puppies. But they only work if you know how to adapt them to your specific situation.
Because your puppy isn’t like every other puppy. Your schedule isn’t like every other schedule. Your energy levels, your living situation, your other commitments… they’re all unique.
And that’s where most people get stuck. They know what to do, but they don’t know how to make it work for their life and their dog.
This is what Puppy Survival School is for. Inside, we don’t just give you the framework. We teach you how to recognize what your puppy needs at any given moment. How to know whether you need to play more, rest more, or try a completely different approach.
You get access to coaches who can look at your specific situation and say, “Okay, here’s what I’m seeing. Here’s what I’d try next.”
You’re not trying to figure this by yourself at 10pm on a work night while your puppy destroys your couch – you have a whole team in your corner.
So give these suggestions a try. You might get lucky and nail it right away. But if you get stuck – if you’re doing the work but it’s not working, or you’re not sure if you’re doing it right – that’s the signal that you need more than quick tips.
We’re here for you. You get to bring your real-life scenarios to group calls and forums and get feedback from people who’ve solved this issue a million times before.
Because I’m guessing you don’t just want to survive witching hour. You want to get through puppyhood in a way that keeps your sanity (more or less) intact, builds good habits and a strong bond, and sets you and your dog up for a lifetime of adventures together.
And you don’t have to do all that alone.
