Tired Dogs are Crazy Dogs?
Yep, you heard that correctly. Many dogs, particularly youngsters and puppies, are like toddlers– when they are at their most tired is when they are running around, screaming, and causing chaos. Although tired dogs are happy dogs and are less likely to do annoying behaviors, it is a double edged sword because they get the “too tired to sleep” zoomies just like kids.
I brought Linus with me to school on Friday while I taught classes since both classes are small, pretty easy, and neither have reactive dogs. Linus worked with a volunteer assistant for the first class and it was a bit stressful for him (though he did AMAZING). He worked for part of the second class but then just observed quietly in his xpen. It was very hard work for Linus–he was doing training AND making friends with people and was quite stressful for him (though not over threshold).
By the end of class he was absolutely exhausted, he practically dove into my car and was asleep in my car before I got out of the Humane Society driveway. It was a totally different story as soon as we got home… he got CRAZY wild. He was zipping and zooming around the room. He was pestering all the dogs to play. He was getting wild growling at, tugging with, body slamming, and biting Shayne and Rio. I mean he was throwing all 24.5lbs of himself around the room and was totally going wild. It was a half hour of craziness before he finally, finally, settled down (I was moments away from bringing out his settle mat or crating him.
The moral of my story is that MORE exercise is not always the answer. Him being BONKERS was not an indication that he needed more exercise. It was an indication that he was extremely tired and was fighting sleep with the crazies. It can even be the same when students come to school–while I suggest a walk before school to take the edge off, having a strenuous walk/jog/play time RIGHT before class can make them extra wild during class.
If your dog has the “I’m extra tired zoomies” my suggestion is to crate the dog, or tether the dog, or give them a stuffed kong on a mat/bed, or pretty much anything that will encourage them to settle down because it generally only takes a few minutes before they are conked out.