[Woovic]

Our cockapoo is around 18 months old and we are finding it difficult to get him to settle at night time. He paces, scratches the carpets excessively, gets snappy and bites the sofa. We are finding it difficult to relax together in the evening. We’ve had a behaviourist come and see him and are yet to have any successes.

we are trying our best to make sure he has plenty of exercise although he does have hip dysplasia. He does lots of sniffing and plays lots of games for mental enrichment.

He sleeps in his crate as it’s the only way to get him settled.

 

[2ndhandgal]

Can you try tweaking the later afternoon routine so you have lots of tiring but calming stuff like a bit of training, a sniffy walk and then tea served in activity toys of hidden around the garden to get him to search for it?

Might also be worth trying a painkiller to see if pain is stopping him settling.

 

[Woovic]

Thanks for your reply! I’m going to give this a try. Do you recommend any good activity toys? He has a Kong and we often hide treats for him to find!

He’s been on onsior and Gabapentin and we haven’t noticed much of a difference in his behaviour.

He seems to find it difficult to relax in the evenings only, even if he’s had a busy day. The scratching is starting to damage the carpet and he will bite the sofa too! It feels like a switch has been pressed at 7pm. We are finding it impossible to sit down together in the evening because one of us needs to watch him!

 

[2ndhandgal]

Things like snuffle mats, likimats or kong wobblers all work well I have found.

My collie lab loves to dig her bed and she has a single duvet for a bed in the living room which means she can happily spend time digging and rearranging it to her hearts content - or is he scratching the carpet and biting sofa for attention?

 

[ljbridget]

I read some where that hiding treats in a ball pool will keep them occupied or even in the garden, I play hide and seek when I’m out on a walk good for recall. And the trainer from class gave me a small plastic bottle with a few marbles I so when my puppy got over excited and didn’t like being ignored and would start to bite I just give the bottle one large shake it stops them in there tracks , I only have to put my hand near it now and he just sissy down.
Worth a try don’t reward him though ignore him afterwards