Why Your Puppy Bites at 7 pm: The Witching Hour Explained

How to get a puppy to stop biting in the evening starts with understanding the witching hour. Tired puppies get wild before they crash, and the burst of zoomies and hard biting usually lands in the early evening. The fix is not more exercise or louder rules. It is more sleep, planned earlier.

What is the puppy witching hour?

The witching hour is a burst of zoomies and hard biting, often in the early evening, around the time you are cooking dinner or want to relax. It looks like naughtiness. It is usually an overtired or overstimulated puppy who cannot switch off alone.

Puppies need 18 to 20 hours of sleep a day. Many owners find their puppy is getting far less, because there is always something exciting going on.

How do you know it is tiredness?

Tick the signs you see right now. Three or more means it is nap time, not training time:

• Biting harder and faster than usual
• Grabbing clothes, sleeves or hair
• Ignoring toys you offer
• Zoomies around the room
• Whining or barking at you
• Awake for more than an hour

Why not just tire the puppy out?

“I’ll tire them out with a long walk” backfires. More stimulation often means more biting. Puppies need a balance of short play, sniffing and lots of rest. A chew and a quiet pen help a wound-up puppy settle.

An example of fixing the timing

Picture a 10-week-old who bites hardest every evening between 6 and 7. The owner logs bites for 3 days and notices the puppy has been awake since 4:00. They move the frozen toy and the nap to 6:00, before the zoomies usually start. Within a week, the evening session is shorter and softer. Every puppy differs, and your own log shows your puppy’s timing.

How to get a puppy to stop biting in the evening: the routine

1. Log it. Note the time, the trigger and minutes since the last nap for a few days.
2. Move earlier. Plan the frozen stuffed toy and a nap before the usual start time.
3. Walk calmly. Lead your puppy to the pen without fuss or chasing.
4. Give a lick or chew. A lick mat or stuffed toy helps your puppy settle.
5. Dim and leave. Lower the lights, cover a wire crate if you use one, and walk away calmly.

What do the signs look like?

Playful	Overtired
Loose, wiggly body	Biting harder and faster
Easy to redirect to a toy	Ignores toys you offer
Comes back for more	Whining, barking, zoomies

What if it still happens?

If it starts anyway, skip training and go straight to the nap routine. Use the same calm response as always: freeze, swap for a toy, and say a flat “oops”. Never shout or hold the mouth shut. Hunger adds to irritability, and young puppies usually do better on several small meals a day.

Our free puppy nap schedule has a sample day for an 8 to 12 week puppy and a blank planner. If naps are in place and evenings are still hard, check the help box below.