Puppy goes CRAZY at the end of daily walks

[Erica Andy & Khloé]

We have a 5 month old goldendoodle named Khloe that we take on two walks a day to keep her "crazies" under control. She stops and sniffs just about everything, but she's a puppy so that's understandable!! However, when we turn onto our street for the last leg of the walk, Khloe goes absolutely insane-- jumping on us, biting our coats, biting my scarf, trying to get her leash out of our hands, jumping crazily and high off the ground too!! It's nearly impossible to get her home. Sometimes we have to carry her the rest of the way home, and when we get to our house, she sprints away, leash in mouth! We have NO idea why she does this. Does anyone else have this problem? Please let us know!! Thank you so much :)

Edit 3/25/14: thank you so much everyone for the advice so far. We went on another walk today and I want to emphasize the severity of Khloe's craziness. She goes so crazy jumping and biting and hops all over. Tonight she was going so nuts that she wrestled out of her harness and was running free on the street! On the first half of walk she is great and accepts treats if we give them to her, but when she is in this state of "rage" she won't eat them.

I also tried just stopping and waiting for her to calm down. When I stand still she's fine, but the second I move an inch she flips a switch and goes crazy. She is borderline scary as she bites so hard and can put holes in our clothing.

Is this what you all experienced? Thank you!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Love that , Joanne!!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yep, Luna is 3.5 and still gets the "crazies" every once in a while :)  If I'm trying to get her back under control (if I have the stroller... it's a necessity) I just have her sit.  She also knows a "watch" command (as in look at my eyes) which gets her focused again too.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Thought I would add that Erica is a former student of my husband's and a newlywed--we had a great time at her wedding last summer--nothing like a puppy to get you started on the path of married life! So nice to see Erica on DK!

[Gail and Bailey]

Welcome to DK, Erica!  Your Khloe is a bundle of cuteness!  Enjoy her and be sure to join the Puppy Madness Group here on DK where you will find lots of folks going through the puppy stage too!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I think its just a puppy thing but would try and curtail the behavior.  If she is food driven I would try and work with treats that way.  If she is calm she gets a treat etc.   Also, if you are nervous and tense the dog will also feel that negative energy.  Try to remain calm and be in charge.  When I was training my doodles to walk nice, every time they would pull on the leash and get in front of me I would stop.  The first few weeks the walks took a really long time (LOL) but finally they got it... if they pull the walk stops.  All dogs are different and have their own version of the "crazies".  Be persistent, maybe contact a trainer and maybe look up some training tips on line for control of your dog on the walks etc.  Good luck with your new puppy - they can be challenging but very worth it :)

[Robin and Libby Louise]

She is adorable!  That's all I have to add!

[Sally S Miles]

She is a lovely little girl - and yes it happened here, now and then she falls back. In the beginning walks were shorter, bad mama made him keep her mileage down. They progressed little by little and little by little she got better and better.  Early on though she would come in like a galloping wild thing and go run like mad in the yard for some fetch and roll.

Hubby decided that if she wanted to get nuts when the got to the bottom of our hill, fine - stop - sit - wait - then they pass and walk a bit further. Turn around and do it again. Bottom of the hill again - stop - sit - wait - oh let me check the mail. Journey giving him that 'oh good grief' look.   Now she has no idea if the turn is actually the turn or not, no more dragging him up our hill, and sometimes she stops now on her own (meh).  A few times he turned halfway up the hill and that left her moving but looking backwards towards home.

He stops for 'sniff' only certain spots and only on command. Otherwise it's keep it moving.   He does not use treats - but she is a bonafide Daddy's girl - -

So he tosses in some twists and turns, keeps her focused - you know a man can confuse a woman with no effort at all. She looks at him like he's nuts, but it works.  They are up to three miles and I can say that at the end she just mosies up to the house grinning and flops down for a nice long nap.  Poor hubby does not get a nap

[Erica Andy & Khloé]

Edit 3/25/14: thank you so much everyone for the advice so far. We went on another walk today and I want to emphasize the severity of Khloe's craziness. She goes so crazy jumping and biting and hops all over. Tonight she was going so nuts that she wrestled out of her harness and was running free on the street! On the first half of walk she is great and accepts treats if we give them to her, but when she is in this state of "rage" she won't eat them.

I also tried just stopping and waiting for her to calm down. When I stand still she's fine, but the second I move an inch she flips a switch and goes crazy. She is borderline scary as she bites so hard and can put holes in our clothing.

Is this what you all experienced? Thank you!

[Jen & Hudson]

Hudson is almost 6 months and still does this at the end of walks. He needs to be "reset" and I do this by making him do a few sits or puppy pushups for treats. It usually does the trick...for a while. Then we do it again. Other times I use a stick instead of a treat as a reward. I find that he gets very focused when he's carrying a stick in his mouth and he forgets about whatever it is that is making him crazy.

 

Also note that this is prime teething time, so they are in pain and frustrated and they don't know how to self soothe. So anything you can do to distract or reset her will help her a lot and make this time more bearable.

[Sally S Miles]

I do understand the severity and your concern is warranted.Yes, it was almost that bad - no chomping clothes, but she's capable of knocking me over  and that is not good.

  I was just talking to my hubby about your post, just yesterday a coworker of his has just asked pretty much the same thing, his dog is wearing him out completely with the walking and dragging routine. Feel better knowing that his dog is two years old.   Do you play with her before a walk?  Take her out back and get her running, whether it's five minutes or twenty , toss a frisbee or ball and get it out of her system - the energy has to go somewhere.  Whether it is separate instances of activity or combined as play first, walk later.  We did have to do this with Journey before walks got longer, and yes she can still yank with the best of them if she has pent up energy.  

Small consolation here, my little guy is just now six months old and thinks the lead is absolute torture - he's ok with a harness, but they fit poorly as far as I am concerned.   So  I just ordered him the one that seems to be top fave here Easy Walk   http://easywalkdogharness.com/    since many sing it's praises here, and I see many in our area wearing them - I'm game.