Our 12 week old cockapoo seems to get in a really wild state at around 8:00 every evening. By wild I mean, if we correct him for things he does, he wines, runs under the couch, and then barks and lunges out from underneath the couch...he repeats this action several times. And if we say "NO" to him he gets in that lunged state and barks a little more and runs all over like a rabid animal. He also is difficult to pick up at this point too because he is squirmy and maybe a little bitey. Is this just puppy play? I've read there are certain times during a day that puppies get the most wild or playful...any truth to that? It just seems like when he is in this state of mind our corrections mean nothing to him. Other times he seems to mind very well, it just always seems like M-F around 8:00 he is spaztic! The weekends he is always better because he's not in his kennel as much. We work full time. I'm just worried that these actions could have an affect on him becoming an aggressive dog in the future? Is this just pup stuff...or should I be concerned?

How about doing his walk at that time? He sounds like he's full of frustrated puppy energy. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I tried that one night, I got so frustrated when he wasn't listening to me I just couldn't take it anymore. It could probably be a good solution...he's still learning how to heel. Although I took him out one morning early and it was about 45 degrees and he wimpered off and on the whole time...do you think that could be because he was cold...I've really only walked him 3 times....maybe he just needs more practice?

I think he needs to be walked more than 3 times.

A little young to work on heeling and he probably can't go to far, but then again that means you don't have to go far either. He's only 12 weeks old, I wouldn't expect much obedience out of him - he can't really comprehend anything yet.

I doubt that your dog was cold.

Are you already correcting him? He is REALLY young.

He could also need to outside to the bathroom. When my dog starts wandering around I take him outside and he goes right away.

By correcting him I don't mean that pronged collar, if that's what you're wondering. We usually just try to give him a firm NO and then distract him with something...if he's being really bad we try that whole grabbing his scruff thing that Ed recommends...or a tap on the nose.

Have you gone through the ground work? How often is he in his crate a day? Is he crated? What sets him off, you said it was a correction for something? What bad thing is he doing?

Does he like to play with a ball? Maybe you could get him tired out playing ball in the living room?

I am by far not an expert but from the experience of watching my friends the tap on the nose doesn't do anything except make the dog mad. Not something that the dog understands.
I myself use a prong or DD collar but my dog is quite a bit older.

Amy,
Well first off this is a very young puppy so most of this is more than likley him playing and attempting to burn off energy. You might want to try walking him even if it is in the house for a short while to get him to settle down a bit. I know that at 8:15 most if not all of us are tired and not wanting to walk our little guys, well that is if you are like me and get up at 4:30 AM. So I would suggest that you walk the little guy at the first sign of his energy rising. Not a formal heel, way to young if you ask me, just put him on his lead and walk him in a steady fashion for a while, like maybe 5 minutes, not allowing them to stop and smell the roses so to speak, but a nice an steady walk. Do not push that to hard as this is a very young pup. 5/10 minutes of getting them to walk will not hurt them and will allow them to go into more of a resting mode once some of that energy is burnt off. No formal OB should be done at this stage IMHO. Just fun play and all motival OB, sit/treat, walk nicely/treat..treat..treat..treat. All fun nothing formal.

He is crated Mon-Fri. from 7-4 with the exception of 2 hours when my husband and I take lunch break at 11 and 1. Weekends, he is just off and on in the crate, once every couple hours for an hour maybe? Our reaction to what he is doing seems to set him off...a bad thing he might do is chew on the furniture and we say "no" then he gets all hyper and wild. He does like to play with balls and toys although when he gets in that state it is difficult for him to focus on it for more than a couple seconds of chasing it and he's off again. I think I need to learn more about the GW because when I wrote "heel" I really just meant walking. And when we're on a walk and he stops I always just say "heel" and he gets going again.

I would order this video: http://www.leerburg.com/302.htm

I agree that he needs to have little walks regularly. Everything you say sounds to me like frustrated energy.

I would order the video (which addresses every item you mentioned, including the potty accident on another thread; it's a fun motivational video with much more about having a new dog) and meanwhile follow Chris and Jay's advice.

Enjoy the fun of having your puppy! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I love the puppy witching hour, I don't correct my dogs for releasing their evening energy <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />