Is your puppy bouncing off the walls late at night when you just want to go to bed? It doesn’t have to be this way, because there are ways you can help your puppy be calmer at night.
Keep reading to learn some tips to help calm down a puppy at night!
How To Calm Down A Puppy At Night
It is difficult to calm down a puppy immediately once they begin displaying their hyperactivity. You can attempt to create a calming bedroom environment, give them a relaxing massage or rub, or use dog-friendly calming sounds and scents to encourage drowsiness.
With that being said, most efforts involved with calming down a puppy at night won’t bear fruit if you want immediate results. Puppies need to be wound down before bedtime so they can calmly sleep when you’d like them to.
8 Things To Do Before Bed To Help Your Puppy Be Calmer
1. No Naps Before Bed
Puppies are big whirls of energy that go a mile a minute one second and then screech to an exhausted halt the next. That means they nap fairly often throughout the day. If they nap too close to bedtime, they’ll likely be unable to sleep when you want or need them to.
Try to keep your puppy awake in the hours leading up to bedtime. Entice them with something engaging to keep them alert!
2. Playtime
Playtime can help to burn off all the energy that your puppy has. When you engage in play, you’re allowing your dog to make themself tired all on their own.
3. A Short Walk
A short walk is a good form of exercise to tire a puppy out. They’ll also be able to get a little bit more physical activity into their daily routine with a walk each evening.
For younger puppies, a short, quick walk in the evening can be relaxing and help them burn off a bit more of their extra energy priming them to be tired.
4. Crate Training
Crate training is a lengthy but rewarding process. It involves creating a feeling of safety and comfort surrounding a crate so that your dog enjoys being inside it and feels relaxed when inside. When you crate train a puppy, they will eventually associate the crate with relaxation and naps.
As such, when you lead them there each night, they’ll be able to calm down quickly.
Do note that crate training isn’t right for all owners and dogs, so do some research and talk to a vet first before deciding to go through with the process!
5. A Potty Break
A lot of dogs wake up throughout the night due to the need to use the “bathroom”. Bring your puppy outside for a potty break shortly before bed.
This will ensure that they’re ready for several hours of uninterrupted sleep.
6. A Comfortable And Soft Bed
An uncomfortable sleeping environment is unlikely to do you or your puppy any favors in terms of calming down for the night. A nice, soft dog bed is a very worthwhile investment for a puppy.
It gives them their own safe, cozy space that will naturally evoke drowsiness!
7. Lying With Them
Your puppy loves you and feels safe with you. That’s why lying down next to them can help them to start to get calm at night. It’s also a good way for you to unwind and relax alongside them so you can both drift off easily when needed!
8. Familiar Accompanying Scents
If a dog feels anxious or restless at night, giving them items with comforting scents is a good idea. You can give them an old shirt of yours or allow them to sleep with a favorite toy or blanket.
Why Is My Puppy So Hyper At Night?
1. Overtiredness
Ironically, puppies may be unable to calm down at night due to being too tired! This is because puppies aren’t able to tell when they need to rest. They don’t understand what sleepiness means.
If they’re too tired, they may not know how to stop the constant flow of activity that led to this exhaustion!
2. Lack Of Exercise
Exercise tires a puppy out so that they feel sufficiently mentally and physically stimulated throughout the day. This prevents any restlessness that could lead to hyperactivity at night as your puppy struggles to find a way to feel more sated.
3. Lack Of Daily Routine
When there’s no daily routine in place, puppies get hyper because they don’t know what “time” it is. Dogs are creatures of habit. They do exceptionally well when they have a routine.
A nightly bedtime routine can help to relax a puppy while reducing feelings of stress or anxiety. It also communicates to a dog that it’s time to wind down and chill out. They’ll know what to expect and will instinctively follow that.
How Long Will It Take For My Puppy To Learn Their Bedtime Routine?
The answer depends on your consistency. Assuming that you’re very consistent in the nightly bedtime routine structure, your puppy can learn the routine in just a couple of weeks.
However, for that learning to occur, you have to make sure that you’re consistent. The routine doesn’t have to be overly strict, but it has to provide an unyielding, larger structure. Breaking the routine too often will undo your hard work, and breaking it at all during the learning phase will completely undermine your efforts.
Conclusion
Puppies are tiny bundles of energy, and it’s hard to calm them down in any instant manner. By preparing a routine for your puppy before bed, you’ll give them the chance to relax, unwind, and release hyperactivity so they can drift off peacefully at a convenient time!