I’m the proud owner of a little 3-month-old female Australian Shepherd.
I’d like to understand some of her behaviours:
- Mad moments (the zoomies):
All of a sudden and for no apparent reason, my puppy goes absolutely wild. She stops listening, starts jumping everywhere, nips at anything she can get her teeth into, and refuses to walk on the lead, bouncing around like a little goat and so on. This happens at home (of course), but also during long walks (at the start, middle, or end).
Regarding exercise, she goes out 6 to 8 times a day, with at least three 30-minute walks (except at weekends when we’re out and about for longer and she comes with us). I’ve managed to arrange my work schedule so she isn’t left alone for more than 3.5 to 4 hours at a time, and that’s only 4 days a week. I really can’t do more than that.
Later on, when she’s old enough, she’ll come running with me three times a week, plus the occasional mountain bike ride.
Is this normal for a puppy of this age?
Is this behaviour likely to get worse or will she settle down as she gets older?
Are there any ways to calm her down? (I’ve already tried play, treats, and cuddles)
Thanks,
Franck
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
Hi, I’ve just got an Australian Shepherd and she gets the zoomies too. I’m at home all day, I take her out regularly, go for walks, do enrichment games... basically, I couldn’t do any more for her, and yet she still goes hyper on her own sometimes. It’s even worse when we get back from a walk or exercise, when I’d expect her to be tired and calm, surely..?? Sometimes she dives into her water bowl and tips it everywhere, I just can't get her to stop! She also scratches quite a lot even though nothing is wrong (been to the vet, she’s wormed, had her flea treatment etc...). I must admit I’m feeling a bit stressed... I’m not really sure what to do? She’s three months old.
Hi, I see your post is from a year ago. How are things now? :) We’ve got a four-and-a-half-month-old puppy and it’s really tough going.
Personally, I remember those "mad moments" with a previous dog and the advice my parents gave me: keep her favourite toy with her—ideally a rope ball—and everyone should just ignore her. I’ve had a little female pup for nearly a fortnight now; she’s almost 3 months old. You’ll probably all boo me for this, but to help me stay calm and avoid constantly shouting "NO!", I’ve made some rolled-up newspapers that I use to tap the furniture to make a noise, combined with a very firm "NO". This creates a sort of scale for the "NOs": the one that warns her, like "NO, leave it", and the one that signals a punishment, like "NO! GO TO YOUR BED!". Now, just picking up the newspaper—even though we never actually hit her, at most we just tap the forbidden object with it—makes her react and obey. After a 15-second standoff, we de-escalate with a pat and some encouragement. It’s important to de-escalate so the puppy doesn’t get too worked up with all the "NOs". Going back to those mad moments, I keep my newspaper handy and watch her out of the corner of my eye while I go about my business. If she’s playing with her toy, I don’t say a word. If she attacks her bed or gets into other mischief, a "NO" with the newspaper to stop her, and then as soon as she goes back to her toy, lots of praise. If she grabs something she shouldn't have, "NO", then I gently take it back after offering her one of her own toys instead.
Okay, thanks for the advice. We’ll stick with the time-outs in the kitchen then, even though we have to lead him there by the scruff, which gives him a chance to turn and snap at us.
Rey is exactly the same; she turns on us whenever we have to force her by the collar or the scruff of her neck.
I’m always worried about my kids. We’re managing to handle things ourselves for now, but it’s still a concern.
Do keep us updated if you can. It’s always good to share our experiences, see what works and what doesn't, and support each other.
Thanks to Emla for the advice!!!
Yes, we’re already doing that. She has her own room and we put her in there for several hours during the day. She loves being in there and sleeps soundly.
It’s true that with the lockdown it’s not easy to avoid overstimulating them; I think you’re right and that’s the reason for her acting up.
Right, thanks for your advice. We’ll stick with isolating him in the kitchen then, even though we have to pick him up by the scruff of the neck and it gives him a chance to turn on us when we do.
We've tried using a water spray bottle, but she just barks and growls at it so loudly you can't hear yourself think.
We play fetch every day, and we used to play tug-of-war (always on our terms), but even though she lets go as soon as we tell her to, we've stopped because her "mad moments" have been getting worse. We were worried it was over-exciting her and encouraging her to "nip".
We've already tried holding her muzzle shut when she goes to grab us, but she just bites again the second we let go.
We’ve tried pinching her thigh, and when she really started scaring me, I even tried pinning her on her back. None of it helps; it just makes things worse. Absolutely nothing works when she’s in one of these frenzies. Mind you, during the day, if she gets a bit too hyper or starts mouthing, a firm "NO" or a quick scruff usually does the trick.
In the evening, she’s like a different dog. She’s even started spinning around to bite her own tail when she’s frustrated.
The only thing that calms her down is putting her in the kitchen for a few minutes. She comes out calm, and we’ve been doing this since she was a puppy whenever we couldn't settle her at all. But in the long run, it's clearly not the solution since her behaviour is getting worse. Plus, the other night at the neighbours' house, she started acting up... what are we supposed to do then, ask to borrow their kitchen? Lol
I'm just so overwhelmed by her behaviour and I really don't understand it. We've tried doing more with her during the day, and then doing less, but it makes no difference to the evening madness.
