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Hoping that someone can help us better manage/entertain our new 8-month-old spoo!
He seems happy and well-exercised during the day, but gets restless and paces in the evening when we're trying to settle ourselves. He very recently started chasing his tail a little and the first time parent in me is worried that he'll develop an obsession with it. I can't figure out if he's overtired or that we're not working him mentally/physically enough.
Right now he gets a 45-minute fast-paced walk (with short runs on grass) in the morning, a 20-minute sniffly-walk in the evening after dinner, and three 10-15 minute potty walks throughout the day. He also gets four 5-10 minute training sessions throughout the day in the office (currently working on 'stay').
When we're in the office, he'll walk around and inspect the room a little before settling down for a nap for basically as long as we're in the room. He'll do the same in the morning and during lunch when we're not in the office - pace a little, then if no one interacts with him, he'll settle down for a nap or play with a toy.
However, he has started pacing in the evening and will do so even after his post-dinner evening walk, ignoring his toys and pace at a much faster rate relative to during the day. (If we hadn't just taken him out, I would've thought that he needed to go out again.) After an hour or so of this, he'll flop down to sleep...but he has also stopped walking himself into his crate to nap/sleep. He'll now only go into his crate for the night with a Kong (but he will happily go into the crate and settle in there if he sees me holding a Kong). But to get him up and into the crate for the night will induce another bout of energy + pacing. One thought is that he's hearing the neighbors coming home around that time and getting inquisitive, but this is a recent change.
I can't tell if I'm over-worrying and/or obsessing, but we'd obviously like for him to be happy and mellowed out at the end of the day. Thanks in advance for any help/advice!
He seems happy and well-exercised during the day, but gets restless and paces in the evening when we're trying to settle ourselves. He very recently started chasing his tail a little and the first time parent in me is worried that he'll develop an obsession with it. I can't figure out if he's overtired or that we're not working him mentally/physically enough.
Right now he gets a 45-minute fast-paced walk (with short runs on grass) in the morning, a 20-minute sniffly-walk in the evening after dinner, and three 10-15 minute potty walks throughout the day. He also gets four 5-10 minute training sessions throughout the day in the office (currently working on 'stay').
When we're in the office, he'll walk around and inspect the room a little before settling down for a nap for basically as long as we're in the room. He'll do the same in the morning and during lunch when we're not in the office - pace a little, then if no one interacts with him, he'll settle down for a nap or play with a toy.
However, he has started pacing in the evening and will do so even after his post-dinner evening walk, ignoring his toys and pace at a much faster rate relative to during the day. (If we hadn't just taken him out, I would've thought that he needed to go out again.) After an hour or so of this, he'll flop down to sleep...but he has also stopped walking himself into his crate to nap/sleep. He'll now only go into his crate for the night with a Kong (but he will happily go into the crate and settle in there if he sees me holding a Kong). But to get him up and into the crate for the night will induce another bout of energy + pacing. One thought is that he's hearing the neighbors coming home around that time and getting inquisitive, but this is a recent change.
I can't tell if I'm over-worrying and/or obsessing, but we'd obviously like for him to be happy and mellowed out at the end of the day. Thanks in advance for any help/advice!