Well, we have just learnt that Loki's rumbuctious behaviour at this time of evening is definitely not due to him requiring more exercise. Took him for a half hour walk at 8am, a romp in the park on 28 feet lead for over an hour early afternoon, & husband walked him for another half an hour at 6pm ....as well as that he has had a couple of games of fetch in the garden, plus some clicker training. So over two hours of walking & running about the park, plus games & playing ....& right on cue .....8.30pm & its Showtime! I gave him a kong with his favourite filling. He worked on that & then when finished, decided he needed to go out into garden again ...had only come in from ten minutes in the garden a few mins before. Husband took him out. He did a pee then wanted to come back in. As soon as he entered the lounge, he started on Jontay. I put the papillon out into the hall. Loki then started leaping onto me. Tried to talk calmly to him & pat him, but he just wanted to lunge about nipping, so I stood up & ignored him. Then he turned his attention onto my husband, lunging & trying to nip at him. So now he is in the playpen & been barking non-stop for fifteen mins. Happens every night, no matter what we do to prevent it. And makes the evening very stressful for everyone. He is great during the day, so difficult to understand why this goes on around same time every evening. Will bring him back into lounge now, even though he is still barking, & hopefully he will have got it out of his system & be ready to settle down. It was 10pm last night before he settled. Almost 9 PM now.

Footnote: brought Loki back into the lounge & gave him a big cuddle ....like last night, he looked so contrite. I gave him a bowl of his kibble, in case he was still hungry, & he ate it all up, even though he had had a big bowl of Pro- Plan only 1.5 hours before. Guess dogs pig out when they are stressed too! Then he laid his head on the sofa & just stared at my husband, who then gave him a cuddle. I told him he was a good boy & we loved him. He then settled down on the floor & went to sleep at my feet. Exactly the same pattern as previous two nights.

Our Bella has her zoomies time in the evenings as well. She's 7 months.
My wife walks her around noon- 1:00 pm ish ,& I walk her between 5-6 pm for about 1/2 hr, about 1 km (2/3 mile) weekdays then dinner. Around 7:30-8:00 ish she gets rambunctious so we go out in the yard & play. 10-15 minutes or so , usually pausing for P & P & we come in & she'll settle down for the evening. Weekends are longer walks 2-3 km (1 1/2-2 miles). She loves lots exercise.

Mike D

Though I think this is 'part of the package' and peak activity times for dogs is morning and evening - so it is natural for him to have this energy boost about the same time each day.
A couple of suggestions. 'Go with it' -Take him outside, play with him, and let him 'run it off'. Keep in mind that a little 'down time' (nap) is all it takes for a puppy to 'recharge'.
OR: Instead of removing Jontay, put him in the hallway, or confine,as soon as he starts up, with a couple of toys, and ignore, until he settles down. When he does, reward him and release him to be with you.

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Until there are none, rescue one.

MacKenzie is three years old, and every night for the last three year years at around 9:00 pm she has the zoomies. She will grab her toy and squeak like crazy, and then zoom around. Two minute after her zoomies, she is fast asleep, and nothing wakes her up until morning. I can actually carry her into another room without waking her. It is her way of putting herself to sleep.

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Lola is 2 and she does this when we are out in the yard raking leaves etc... my husband asked what Lola was doing when she was running in circles over and over and over... I said ZOOMIES!

Max got the zoomies yesterday while playing with his buddy Keno. He literally ran circles around Keno, and then Keno started jumping over him. Wish I'd had the video camera! I love the zoomies, no matter where or when they happen.

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Bear gets the zoomies first thing in the morning and late at night. I'll take him out back and run him around for 30 mins (he'll be panting and tired afterwards) and I'll normally put him to bed around 8 pm. If we keep him up later or take him out of his crate after 8-9 pm but before 5 am he'll get all nippy and bratty. I think it's because he's too tired that he's wound himself up again. I just go with it. Our two cats get the zoomies too -- but they're typically around certain times during the month (i.e. full moon, etc)

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I'm sure I won't find it so amusing in 3 weeks when we bring our first puppy home, but right now, in the peace and quiet of my office, "zoomies" sounds like the most adorable thing on the darn planet.

We had this, too. We couldn't figure out why Casper was unable to just go to sleep when it was so clear he was completely exhausted! Oddly, neutering took the edge off of this. Could have been coincidental with turning 1 year old, but it was a pretty significant and sudden change. It's still an active time of day for him, but not so frenetic.

Thanks everyone. It isn't 't the rushing about, or the shaking of toys like crazy, that bothers us too much. It's the way he jumps on us, trying to nip at our arms, & if we firmly put him down, immediately he is back up again, barking like crazy & trying to nip. Unfortunately, my husband has has asthma since childhood & been on prednisone & his skin has thinned out now that he is sixty, so Loki's nipping & claws, have torn his skin & made him bleed several times. Thankfully Loki only zooms once a day! I walk him about in the morning about an hour after he has had his breakfast & that seems to satisfy him in the morning. Fifteen minutes timeout in his playpen in another room is working wonders ...he comes back very contrite, but I hate having to do this every evening. He is such a good boy for the rest of the day. Off for our morning walk now ...in the rain. Getting him a hard plastic pond to splash about in at the weekend. There is one at his puppy school & he loves getting into it, & sticking his head under the water ...a true water dog in the making.