By Carol Besler-Snell on 04/30/2014

FRAP: Frenetic Random Activity Periods

What does it mean when your sweet, cute, gentle little pup suddenly shoots off the furniture, runs in circles, attacks any toy in sight, barks like mad, and generally acts like a little kook?  It means your puppy is having a FRAP episode.  That stands for Frenetic Random Activity Periods.

As dog trainer and author Brian Kilcommons points out in his book, Good Owners, Great Dogs, FRAP episodes are normal for puppies—most have them 2 or more times a day while the pup is growing.  These little bursts help the pup burn energy and see what limits he can push (just as human toddlers experiment with their own autonomy).

While often adorable, it is important that owners don’t give too much positive attention to the pup for these FRAP episodes (such as laughing or playing with the pup as he charges by).  He could interpret this as praise for this unruly behavior.  The good news is that puppies DO grow out of FRAP in time!  But even adult dogs have FRAP episodes sometimes.  We can spur these on by giving the dog a quick “play bow” (bounce your arms down on the ground in front of him).  Most dogs also have FRAP episodes after bath time!

Check out this link to learn more about FRAP:

http://www.vetstreet.com/dr-marty-becker/why-does-my-dog-race-through-my-house

Or look at this fun video of a corgi FRAPing at the dog park!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPpM2UTX5TU

Do you have some fun FRAP moments to share?  We would love to hear about them!  Please add your comments below.