About to lose my mind. Help

[Nikki & Charlie]

Charlie is now 6 months old. He is acting up so much at this very moment, I do not understand this behaviour?!!! I was so angry at him I put him in his crate. I know, I know, I shouldn't use it for punishment but right now I do not care I am too mad and he needs to calm down. 

We went for a 1 hour walk and usually afterwards he's tired and sleeps for a bit until lunch. He saw me go on the couch and all of a sudden was full of energy. Every toy I handed to him he got bored of after a few throws and then he began to purposely bite me. It got to a point where I pinned him down holding his head and legs so he can "calm down" while says "bad Charlie!" or "NO!" ... yeah right. As if that helped. 

Then I decided to bring him to the basement and he began to do the zoomies. I brought a bunch of toys thinking maybe a different environment would help. I even sat on the floor to play with him. Then he got crazy again and started barking at me and when I wouldn't pay attention he began to bite me, hard. 

I'm ready to smack him! Which I of course would never do, so I decided venting here would be much better. He's in his crate now for a time out. 

WHY is he doing this??! Is it boredom? What can I do to switch things up for him? He just got a bunch of new toys. ALSO, how do I correct this behaviour?

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Walking gives my girls the zombies and makes their energy level worse. My Sassparilla is always on the go wanting to play. If you can get outside and really let him run you'll wear him down. We can spend two-three hours at the dog park and after that short drive home she is ready to go again! I've positioned our couch so I can continue throwing the ball/toy for her throughout the evening. We just spent four days at the river and Sassy ran, chased the ball and swam from sun up to sun down! I need a vacation from my vacation! Lol. Luckily she's never been a biter although she does chew on Josie our other dog?? Lol. They do get better, like toddlers you set rules and then grin and bear it.

[Nikki & Charlie]

Thanks for the reply! I'm hoping some extra running will help him out, but sometimes it makes things worse haha

[DJ & Chance]

Pinning the dog down is not the best way to control the behavior.

1) Give him more vigorous exercise each day--running, chasing a ball, etc

2) Put him in a time out--just a minute or two is usually enough to calm a dog down. 

3) Remain calm--your calmness helps to calm down your dog

4) Do a little training after the dog calms down--practice with basic commands 

[Nikki & Charlie]

Thank you!! I will definitely take your advice

[Debbie & Gibbs]

I had to chuckle. Gibbs is now 13 months old and we have "episodes" of when he loses his mind and just acts like a crazed dog. He runs from room to room, grabs toys, pulls pillows off the beds, counter surfs and will steal whatever he can find, sneaks in the closest and steals shoes. He picks a brawl with the other dogs. It's just crazy behavior. When he is like that which isn't very often it's crate up bud because I need a time out from you. It will pass, it's just puppy crazies. Hang in there, this will pass.

[Nikki & Charlie]

Oh my gosh that sounds like Charlie haha except he runs on the couch thinking that no one can touch him when he's on there. Thanks so much!

[Kristen and Chewbacca (Chewy)]

Hi there, mine is 6 1/2 months and I've noticed his behavior is changing a bit. He is more mouthy during playtime, and with his adult teeth, it can hurt (I can't imagine ignoring that). Since he was very little, if he started to nip, we said "Off!" and it didn't take long for him to learn how to use his teeth gently around us. Lately, I've found I've had to say "Off!" or say "Hey!" while blocking him by putting my hand out like a stop sign to show that he can't cross my boundary (not touching him)--I learned that from Cesar Millan and it has worked like a charm. I also learned from him that you have to control when playtime is over. Dogs are very capable of entertaining themselves if you are done playing. Like others have mentioned, the crate can definitely be used for break time. And I am finding that Chewy definitely needs more exercise than he used to. Best wishes, I'm sure it will get better.

[Nikki & Charlie]

I will keep this in mind and try it out! Thank you

[Melissa & Harley]

Can't thank everyone enough for sharing in reply to this post. It's nice to know that Harley isn't any worse than the high energy, bitey, sneaky puppy he's supposed to be. Whew! When he gets the zoomies, late in the evening, we take it as the sign of an overtired toddler. He goes into to his crate and is snoozing within minutes. When he's snapping or stealing things to get our attention, we put him out to go potty and then into his crate...again, usually over tired. We throw a rope toy with a ball on the end in our backyard until he doesn't bring it back, and he's usually ready for a nap.

[Laura and Angus]

Our puppy is about 3 and a half months old, but in my reading about puppy stages of development, they do talk specifically about the "adolescent" age that happens around 6 months old. You may be experiencing this! It says that the puppy will likely challenge you at this stage and appear to forget all the training they've had up until that point...

Here's a discussion about this and possible strategies:

http://www.yourcaninecoach.com/dog-training-tips-for-surviving-your...

Hang in there! Doesn't sound like adolescence lasts very long at all.