What Age Does Puppy Witching Hour Stop?

When your puppy starts acting crazy, you may find it cute at first.

But then you start to wonder, when does it stop?

And, how do I handle puppy witching hour?

Not to worry.

These are common thoughts that all puppy owners have and I’ll walk you through how to deal with the chaos known as puppy witching hour.

What Is The Puppy Witching Hour?

Does your puppy have a case of the zoomies that just won’t end?

Is he biting, or just otherwise not listening to you when you try to get him to behave?

What you’re experiencing is the puppy witching hour, or as I like to call it – chaos on four cute little legs.

Some people call this a puppy tantrum.

What Age Does Puppy Witching Hour Stop?

While dogs of any age can exhibit this, it is most common with puppies.

For the most part, your dog will grow out of this phase as he matures.

The things that can bring this behavior back are boredom, not enough stimulation, and too much stimulation.

Also keep in mind that some breeds have more energy than others, so the puppy witching hour is more noticeable with some breeds.

How Long Does The Puppy Witching Hour Last?

Despite it’s name, you should not expect this chaos to last exactly one hour.

Most puppy parents notice that the puppy witching hour lasts for a few minutes at a time.

Though if you have a high energy breed, then puppy witching hour can last as long as three hours!

For most puppies, the time of chaos is early in the morning and in the evening, with 5pm to 8pm being the time period most dog owners notice a bad case of the zoomies in their puppy.

How to Handle Puppy Witching Hour

You likely already know that trying to intervene does nothing since your puppy does not listen to you during a puppy witching hour episode.

There are some things that you can do to attempt to end the insanity your pup is bringing to your life.

1. Give him a routine

If your puppy is used to a regular schedule and knows what to expect each day, then it greatly reduces those manic puppy moments.

2. Give him regular exercise

You don’t want your puppy to have any pent up energy, so make sure that you are regularly giving him exercise.

Just remember to keep that exercise as part of a regular routine.

3. Hold him still

Sometimes puppies just need to be held to be calmed down when they’re being manic.

But, during puppy witching hour they also often try to bite you. So, as you hold the puppy make sure it is in a way that he cannot bite you.

4. Put him in his crate to relax

You should already be using crate training with your dog, and this is the perfect opportunity to put in the crate for a time out.

Once inside, he should calm down and relax a bit.

5. Stay calm and don’t yell at the puppy

Dealing with puppy witching hour can be really frustrating as a dog owner.

But you have to remember to remain calm so that you do not agitate the dog even further.

And definitely do not yell at the dog out of frustration because he doesn’t know any better.

Final Word

As you can see, the puppy witching hour is a real thing that all puppies go through.

How long is lasts and when they grow out of it varies from one dog to the next, but luckily there are ways for you to effectively deal with it while it is happening.

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