# Need help with biting and jumping



## Sarah Weitz (Oct 28, 2019)

So I have an 8 month old boy named Teddy. He's a pretty energetic guy which is expected, he's having trouble on walks. It's like a weird demon switch goes off. He'll be doing really good the whole walk and then all of a sudden he'll look up at me and then jump up and start aggressively biting at my arm and going totally crazy. 

I've tried using treats but he doesnt seem to care when he goes into these tantrums. The only thing that keeps him at bay is if I step in his leash until he lays down and we stay there for a minute. Sometimes he stops the behavior and sometimes he starts all over again right when I let him up. I dont understand why he's doing it and I dont understand if I'm doing something wrong to make him do this. It seems like he just turns on me randomly. 
It makes me sad because I wanna be able to take him on walks.


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## banubanu (Sep 11, 2018)

I would find a good dog trainer near you to come and work with you privately. If your boy is energetic, and doesn't have room or a place to run around and expend some energy, he may be taking it out on walks because he is frustrated and pent up. He is just entering adolescence and this behavior will get worse if you do not actively address it. Can you schedule some playdates with other adolescent males several times a week in large fenced-in yards? Can you throw a ball for 20 minutes or so before you start your walk? 
If you decide to hire a trainer, take notes every time this happens before your appointment, so you can establish the trigger for the behavior. For example, does it start in front of his best dog buddy's house? Or when you turn around to go home? Or 10 minutes into the walk? Try to figure out patterns, so you can share this info with your trainer, and he/she can address it appropriately. 
The behavior itself is worrisome. A dog, male or female, should never be allowed to use it's teeth to influence his human's behavior. You need to deal with this right away and put a stop to it! Imagine if he pulled that stunt with a child!
As for using treats, the time to give him treats is when he is doing well on his walk, not once the "demon switch" goes off. Be careful with your timing. The technique you are using seems to work - but it sounds like you need to keep him in a down position until he fully relaxes, and can maintain the down on a loose leash without any pressure. Then you can reward with treats, or by letting him get up. If he starts over, then down he goes again. You absolutely have to have more patience than the dog, and maintain a calm, detached attitude throughout. It would be helpful if, before you start your walk, the dog has burned off all this energy through play and fetch.
Don't be sad about this. Get determined to fix it now! Good luck.


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## Montysmom (May 14, 2018)

*Puppy zoomies*

My dog had the same issue walking sometimes as a puppy. It’s really just the zoomies on a walk. It’s frightening but once you can see it coming on you can control it somewhat. Remain calm and ensure you have him held tight. Stepping on the leash is a great idea. Food treats do not work. Having a favorite tug toy in your back pocket may help. We always noticed this when Monty went on a walk after a bath. Free play in a fenced area is a great idea before the walk. For puppies it’s not really aggression rather it’s ex it emend and release of pent up energy. Monty still has the zoomies sometimes in the backyard. But no longer when on a walk. It’s ended at around 15 mos.


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## Kathi Ondus (Jul 11, 2019)

We have a 9 month old golden boy named Bailey. I had very similar problems. He would get the zoomies and jump at me and bite and nip at my arms and legs. He would only do this with me, not my husband. He did this from the time we got him at 2 months old up until 2 months ago. He’s been in obedience classes since 3 months and does well. At 6 months, I had had enough. We did private lessons with a trainer for behaviors. She was wonderful helping us understand some of the inherent traits of the breed, as Bailey is our first golden. Also, that some of his actions were related to being a “bratty adolescent.”. She gave us interventions and stressed consistency was key. The thing the worked for me was leaving the room. If he went to nip or jump, I would say “no bite, mama will leave,” and I would walk away for a minute or two and come right back. After a week, we saw a decrease in the behaviors and within a month, the behaviors changed almost overnight. Bailey no longer zooms at me, nips or bites. He’s the golden I had always dreamed of owning. Good luck!


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## Tony G (Oct 2, 2018)

When is he doing it on the walks as if it is toward the end of the walk he may know that its close to the end of walk time and he is acting up because he does not want the walk to end. Ollie used to do that to me as soon as we started the last 1/4 mile or so when we headed down the hill from the greenway trail as he knew we were heading home and he wanted to keep going. if you have different walk routes you can take to change up the routine it can help.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Sarah Weitz said:


> So I have an 8 month old boy named Teddy. He's a pretty energetic guy which is expected, he's having trouble on walks. It's like a weird demon switch goes off. He'll be doing really good the whole walk and then all of a sudden he'll look up at me and then jump up and start aggressively biting at my arm and going totally crazy.
> 
> I've tried using treats but he doesnt seem to care when he goes into these tantrums. The only thing that keeps him at bay is if I step in his leash until he lays down and we stay there for a minute. Sometimes he stops the behavior and sometimes he starts all over again right when I let him up. I dont understand why he's doing it and I dont understand if I'm doing something wrong to make him do this. It seems like he just turns on me randomly.
> It makes me sad because I wanna be able to take him on walks.



First: stop using treats when he does this. If you get the timing even slightly wrong, you may inadvertently be reinforcing the behaviour by rewarding him for throwing a tantrum.
Second: make the walk more interesting. Walk quickly, jog a few steps here and there, change direction (u-turns) often and reward him when he catches up to you. From time to time, stop and do a quick series of commands: sit-down-stand, down-stand-spin, sit-front-heel, etc., whatever he has learned. Reward him well after each series. Then start walking again without warning, and reward him when he catches up to you. The idea is to be unpredictable, and to make sure the walk tires him out. A combination of fast walking and activities that require him to think will do that. In fact, you should both be tired at the end of the walk!
Third: don't tolerate the biting. He's too old for that, and it's a sign of disrespect. If stepping on the leash works, keep doing that. If it doesn't work, I personally would carry a small muzzle and make him wear it for a few minutes every time he bit me. Goldens are intelligent. If you give him a consequence he really doesn't like, he'll quickly stop doing it.
Fourth: if you're not already taking obedience classes with him, you may want to consider doing so. Look for a good school that uses positive methods and teaches humans how to train dogs. Training changes the nature of your relationship with the dog by creating a system where the dog does what you want, instead of vice-versa. Behaviours such as the tantrums you describe will often disappear on their own, once you've established the right type of relationship with the dog.


Best of luck, hope you can get a handle on this! Let us know how it turns out.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Print up Ceegee's notes and keep them on your fridge. Stop with the treats and have a zero tolerance policy. He has reached the age where he simply cannot be allowed to put teeth on human skin. Use a tug toy on the walk but be sure that it is only used to reward good behavior, just like the treats, you have to be careful you don't accidentally reward crazy. 

This is very normal teenager stuff but it's a sign that he needs more training, more work and definitely more exercise. Unfortunately, leash walks are not sufficient exercise for a healthy young retriever. He needs DAILY aerobic exercise that leaves him tired and panting. It can be very difficult to get that kind hard work in for young, untrained dog. Puppy playdates, formal retrieving and swimming are some good ways to do this. 

If you do the kind of training and engaging on the walk with the dog that Ceegee mentioned, it will help but if you're not accustomed to working with a dog like that, it takes practice and a good training class can help you with it. I can't emphasize enough how much the pieces of the puzzle work together to solve problems like this - exercise, training and obedience work - it's a big commitment but it works.

I can remember when my collie was about the same age, 8-10 months - it was cold and I'd just spent an hour walking him at a brisk pace around my hilly neighborhood - a good 3 miles - I couldn't wait to drop on my couch and rest. We were close to home and I saw my dad (who lives in my neighborhood) out walking his Lab - well, Mack the collieboy went bananas. He was jumping as high as my head, flying like a kite on the end of the leash because he was just so overjoyed to see my dad and the Lab. I hadn't even put a dent in his energy level. It was a good reminder for me that these dogs were built to go all day long, working at a job and our current suburban lifestyles are not a challenge.


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## Brodys Rockies (Jan 8, 2019)

*You have already received helpful suggestions.*...The only thing I would reiterate is that a tired dog is a good dog. :smile2: It has often been said that GR's are working dogs. They need lots of activity to burn up all of their pent up energy after being inside or crated for any length of time. Our brody is now 10 months old. If he doesn't get a good walk in each day that includes high activity running when off lead, well, he is a totally different dog by evening when we're wanting to slow our pace down at home. If he gets a good walk/run in before evening, Brody will enjoy a peaceful evening with him usually snuggling our feet as he sleeps.


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