Hello.
I have a super 6 month old Scottie pup, Peter..He has the greatest temperament but I may have spoiled him by giving him a lot of my attention..Evenings are play time, from 7 until 11, he constantly wants me to roll balls or play raggy with him. I would like just some of the evening to myself.. The older dogs are not interested in playing with him..He has a lot of toys but he wants me to play with him. I usually work on the computer and watch some tv, both are out of the question at the moment..
Any tips on how to keep my gorgeous boy amused?

He is a working breed and will need lots of interesting things to do but he should not be so active during the evening really, what do you do together during the day.

. Rather than playing balls which will hype him up, you should aim to relax him down. You could perhaps do half an hour obedience training (brain work) and then try him with a very high value chew, like an extra long bull's pizzle, which should take him a while to get through/ or smear something like peanut butter inside a large, hard kong. You'll also have to ignore him pestering you as this will be a change in his routine so will take a while for him to accept. However, you are giving him something else enjoyable to do.

Chewing is really important for dogs as it relaxes them and helps to calm them.

Agree he needs brain work but he also needs fun but not after dark when most dogs should be thinking of sleep they are diurnal and would normally be at their most active during the daylight hours.

I had the very same thing with my now 10 month old pup. I would play all evening to get her to sleep through, but I never had any time to myself. So now when my youngest child goes to bed at 8.30pm, pup gets put on her lead and she lies on the couch next to me until around 9.45 when it's wee time. Quite often now she will settle herself and so I dont need the lead.
Your pup needs to learn to settle when you need him to, like in the evening or when you have visitors.

And my pup loves the rice bones from PAH, 50p each. They last her 2 days or more.

And my pup loves the rice bones from PAH, 50p each. They last her 2 days or more.

LOL I wish... mine love them too but they last about 30 seconds !!

At great expense we bought antlers for our crew....no body touched them!

Suddenly our pup decides to spend a lot of time with one, chewing, flinging it up in the air, playing ice hockey with it on the kitchen floor and generally having a ball with it. Then he settles down for a long time giving it a long chew then falls asleep with it hanging from his lips.. :-)

Linc is always more active in the evenings, I find that if I do the last walk at between 4 and 6pm he settles better then and doesn't spend ages winding me and everyone else up.

Thanks, great to read this..That I won't be doing anything wrong by denying him all the activities he asks for is good to know:-)..
Funny about the antler bones, I bought a couple which were also ignored for a few months but which are regularly chewed now and used during play by being flung in the air!..He chews a lot, loves the large hide rings which usually end up re-hydrating in the garden, yuck!
Peter is far more active than my girl scotts were as pups, he is going to be a strong boy..He has two half hour walks with the girls each day and a longer one on his own..I love walking him it's such a lot of fun, his energy is pretty full on in a fun gentle way.

Again thanks for the tips
http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwflickrcomphotoslucylu/8266096545/

Peter is absolutely gorgeous!!

> He has two half hour walks with the girls each day and a longer one on his own.

This may be why he can't/won't settle at night.  Ideally his on lead walks should be "5 minutes per month of life"...

Crikey!..Am I walking him too much?..
Thanks.

It sounds like it to me - and it isn't just the damage you can do to his developing frame and joints,  but an over exercised puppy can get over tired and difficult to 'bring down' when you need him to sleep.

There are generally quite a lot of posts on this subject so it might be worth using the search button at the bottom of this page to see a range of views on the topic.  One here or you could start another if you'd like more specific advice about your exact circumstances

Thanks a lot for your help.