Does your puppy seem relatively manageable through the day, only to turn into a completely different dog in the evening?

Suddenly they’re zooming around the house, biting your hands, grabbing your clothes, barking, chewing things they shouldn’t and seemingly completely unable to settle.

And when your puppy looks that energetic, it’s very easy to think:

“They obviously aren’t tired.”

But very often, the opposite is true.

An overtired puppy doesn’t necessarily look sleepy.

They can look completely wired.

And one of the first things I look at when somebody tells me their puppy won’t settle in the evening is what has happened during the rest of their day.

Have their needs been met?

Have they eaten enough?

Have they had enough sleep?

Have they had too much stimulation?

Have they actually been given opportunities to switch off?

Sometimes the answer to an evening puppy who appears to have endless energy isn’t more exercise.

It’s more rest.

If your puppy won’t settle in the evening, look at what has happened during the whole day rather than only focusing on bedtime.

Why Won’t My Puppy Settle in the Evening?

There isn’t one single reason.

Your puppy could be:

• overtired
• overstimulated
• hungry
• needing the toilet
• teething or uncomfortable
• struggling with a busy evening household
• getting too much exciting play
• not getting enough quality sleep during the day
• still learning how to regulate their own arousal

And that last point is really important.

Puppies don’t automatically arrive knowing how to switch themselves off.

Some puppies are naturally better at settling than others, but many need us to help them learn it.

Your Puppy Might Actually Be Overtired

This is one of the things puppy owners often find hardest to recognise.

If we think of a tired adult dog, we picture them curled up asleep.

But an overtired puppy can look very different.

They may:

• start biting much more
• grab your clothes
• race around the house
• bark for attention
• jump up
• grab furniture
• become frantic during play
• struggle to concentrate
• seem unable to stop moving

It’s very similar to an overtired toddler.

A toddler who desperately needs a nap doesn’t always quietly announce that they’re tired and climb into bed.

Sometimes they get louder, sillier and much harder to settle.

Puppies can do exactly the same.

And sometimes they really do need us to help them go down for a nap rather than waiting for them to decide to sleep themselves.

If biting is one of the biggest things you notice when your puppy is tired, you can also read my blog Why Does My Puppy Bite More When They’re Tired?

When your puppy won’t settle in the evening, more exercise is not always the answer.

Is Your Puppy Getting Enough Sleep?

Young puppies need an enormous amount of sleep.

Depending on their age and the individual puppy, this can be around 18–20 hours across a 24-hour period.

But it isn’t just about counting hours.

Look at the quality of that sleep too.

Has your puppy actually had proper, uninterrupted naps?

Or have they spent the afternoon lying in the middle of a busy room, waking every time somebody moves, the door opens or something happens?

A puppy who appears to have been “resting” may not necessarily have been getting the deep, restorative sleep they need.

And if they miss enough sleep during the day, evening is often when you start seeing the consequences.

I also have a separate blog on how much sleep puppies need, which is worth reading if you’re unsure whether your puppy is getting enough rest.

Puppies Need Help Learning to Switch Off

There is a lot of emphasis at the moment on giving dogs enrichment, training and mental stimulation.

Those things are important.

But puppies also need to learn something much less exciting:

How to do nothing.

They need time where nobody is entertaining them.

Nobody is throwing a toy.

Nobody is giving them another puzzle.

Nothing exciting is happening.

They can simply relax.

Dogs need to learn that being bored sometimes is okay.

They need to learn that they don’t have to be constantly entertained.

And they need opportunities to practise switching off.

Calmness is a skill.

It doesn’t always magically appear as your puppy gets older.

Think About Arousal Going Up and Coming Back Down

This is something I talk about a lot with clients.

If you take your puppy’s arousal up, you also need to help bring it back down.

Imagine you spend the evening:

Playing tug.

Chasing toys.

Running around.

Doing really exciting games.

And then half an hour later you expect your puppy to calmly go to bed.

That can be a really difficult jump for them.

You’ve taken their arousal right up, but haven’t given them anything to help bring it back down again.

That doesn’t mean you can’t play with your puppy in the evening.

But think about the order of what you’re doing.

You might have some play after dinner.

Then move into something calmer.

A little training.

A chew.

Some sniffing.

Quiet time.

And gradually bring that energy level back down before bedtime.

More Exercise Isn’t Always the Answer

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes I see.

The puppy is racing around the house, so understandably the owner thinks:

“They need tiring out.”

So they add another walk.

More play.

More training.

More stimulation.

And the puppy gets increasingly frantic.

Sometimes a puppy who looks as though they have endless energy actually needs less.

Less stimulation.

Less excitement.

And more opportunity to sleep.

Before adding another activity, ask:

“Could my puppy actually be overtired?”

Go Back to Basics: Have Their Needs Been Met?

When behaviour starts becoming difficult, I always like to go back to basics.

Before worrying about training, look at the whole puppy.

Ask yourself:

• Have they had enough sleep?
• Have they eaten enough?
• Have they had access to water?
• Do they need the toilet?
• Are they teething?
• Have they had appropriate exercise?
• Have they had some mental stimulation?
• Have they had too much stimulation?
• Have they had opportunities to simply relax?

Sometimes behaviour improves considerably once those basic needs are properly addressed.

What Should a Puppy’s Day Look Like?

I don’t like putting every puppy onto an incredibly rigid timetable because puppies are individuals.

But there should usually be a fairly predictable rhythm to the day.

For example:

Wake up → toilet → breakfast → toilet → play/training → toilet → sleep

Then, when they wake:

Toilet → activity → toilet → rest again

And this repeats throughout the day.

Walks, training and enrichment can fit into those awake periods depending on the puppy’s age.

But the important part is that sleep keeps coming back into the routine.

Puppies shouldn’t be awake and entertained for hours and hours at a time.

A Chew Can Help Your Puppy Wind Down

If your puppy is tired but struggling to settle, giving them something appropriate to chew can sometimes help bridge that gap between activity and sleep.

Chewing can be a useful part of a wind-down routine.

So rather than going straight from frantic play to:

“Right, bedtime!”

you might transition through something calmer first.

For example:

Dinner → toilet → short play → a little training → chew → toilet → quiet time → sleep

The exact routine will vary.

What matters is that the evening gradually becomes less exciting, not more.

Keep a Puppy Diary

If you’re struggling to work out why your puppy won’t settle, this is one of the simplest things you can do.

Get a piece of paper.

Stick it on the back door or somewhere everyone in the house can see it.

And start writing down:

• when your puppy sleeps
• how long they sleep for
• when they toilet
• when they eat
• what they eat
• how much they eat
• when they play
• when they walk
• when the difficult behaviour starts

You can often spot patterns really quickly.

Maybe your puppy only slept for an hour all afternoon.

Maybe the biting always starts after a long period awake.

Maybe dinner is much later on certain days.

Maybe there’s loads of activity in the house just before the evening chaos begins.

When you can see the whole day written down, the behaviour often starts to make much more sense.

When Evening Chaos Is Actually a Routine Problem

It’s tempting to focus entirely on what happens at 7pm when your puppy is hanging off your trouser leg.

But I’m usually interested in what happened at:

10am.

1pm.

3pm.

5pm.

How much sleep did they have?

How much stimulation did they have?

When did they last eat?

How long have they been awake?

The behaviour you see in the evening may actually be the result of the whole day, rather than something that suddenly went wrong at 7pm.

That is why getting a good routine in place can make such a difference.

What Not to Do When Your Puppy Won’t Settle

If your puppy is completely wired in the evening, try not to:

• automatically add another walk
• keep winding them up with exciting games
• continually throw toys to “wear them out”
• repeatedly tell them off for biting or zooming
• expect them to suddenly know how to switch themselves off
• wait until they are completely frantic before helping them settle

Instead, start looking for the earlier signs that your puppy is getting tired.

It is much easier to help them settle before they reach the full land-shark stage.

Your Puppy Needs to Learn Self-Regulation

Part of growing up is learning how to move between different levels of arousal.

Play can take arousal up.

Excitement takes it up.

Seeing people can take it up.

Going for a walk can take it up.

Your puppy then needs opportunities to bring that arousal back down.

And while they are young, they often need our help to do that.

Over time, with the right routine and plenty of opportunities to practise calmness, they become better at regulating themselves.

But we have to teach and support that process.

When Should You Speak to Your Vet?

Most evening puppy chaos is perfectly normal.

But if your puppy suddenly becomes unable to settle when they previously could, seems physically uncomfortable, is pacing persistently, panting excessively, crying, struggling to sleep or showing another unexplained change in behaviour, it’s worth speaking to your vet.

Behaviour isn’t always a training issue, and physical discomfort should always be considered.

Need Help With a Puppy Who Just Won’t Switch Off?

If your evenings are dominated by biting, zoomies, barking, chewing and a puppy who seems completely unable to settle, this is exactly the sort of thing I help owners with through my 121 Dream Puppy Programme.

We look at the whole puppy, including:

• sleep
• routine
• biting
• settling
• crate training
• enrichment
• development stages
• calmness
• nutrition
• making sure their needs are being met

Because puppy training isn’t only about teaching sit, down and recall.

A huge part of raising a puppy is helping them learn how to cope with everyday life — and that includes learning how to switch off.

Final Thoughts

If your puppy won’t settle in the evening, don’t immediately assume they need more exercise.

A puppy who is zooming, biting, barking and racing around may actually be telling you that they’ve had too much, not too little.

Look at the whole day.

Look at their sleep.

Look at their routine.

Look at their food.

Look at how much stimulation they’ve had.

And help them practise coming back down after excitement.

Before asking:

“How can I tire my puppy out?”

try asking:

“What does my puppy need in order to switch off?”

Sometimes the answer is simply a quieter evening, a good routine and a much-needed nap.