# Random, crazy, puppy aggression



## Dogdays (Nov 14, 2012)

Hi,

I posted earlier about my 14 week Airedale pup constantly mouthing/nipping, and since then we have been working on The Bite Stops here and it has been going beautifully. He is doing so much better!

My question is this: every so often, when we are playing outside, he will get what I think is the "zoomies", where he runs around like a crazy lunatic and barks at everything and just acts crazy for a few minutes. It only happens when we are outside, and it doesn't happen too often. When he gets in these moods, he takes on a whole new look. Seriously, the look in his eyes looks legitimately crazy/scary, and when he sees me standing there, he will run towards me and bite at my legs, all while growling and barking. 

I've tried ignoring but it doesn't seem to deter him, and I feel like any bite inhibition progress we've made goes out the window because his bites HURT when he is in these weird moods. I know it sounds dumb, but I am sometimes a little bit frightened of my sweet puppy when he gets like this. 

I usually just tell him to sit and sometimes that breaks him out of his trance, but sometimes it doesn't and he refuses to sit. And sometimes, after sitting, he will get up and run towards me again with the same intent to bite at my legs, all while growling and barking at me.

If I happen to have a toy in my hand, I can throw that and he will chase after it and go crazy attacking it and not me, but I don't always have a toy at the ready, and I don't think that is the right answer.

It's the weirdest thing. I feel like in these instances I have zero control over my dog.

So I've tried ignoring, I've tried walking away (but he just follows me excitedly...maybe moving is bringing out his prey drive?), and after I'm finally able to get control of him, I put him in a place by himself to settle down, but I wonder if that is confusing him since by the time I put him away he is settled and out of his crazy behavior, so maybe he can't make the connection between his biting and my putting him away for a while. 

Finally, I know it's not real aggression, just him being excited and playful and crazy, but I don't know how to make him stop. Any advice would be so much appreciated.


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## bennyd (Nov 20, 2012)

I have the exact same problem with our 13 week old lab mix. Only she does it inside and out. We also have been working on "The Bite Stops Here," which seemed to be working for awhile. But she has really regressed, and we seem to be back at the beginning. She is snapping, nipping, mouthing, chasing........and I am finding it hard to keep cool with her.

I apologize, I don't have advice for you, and I don't mean to hijack your thread. I am interested to read the responses that you get.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

That's zoomies for you. In adult dogs with full bite inhibition, it's restrained to running around and barking like a lunatic. It's hilarious if you're not being bitten. My advice to you would be to always keep a toy handy and let him drag a short leash. (never, ever unattended. he could hang himself.) That way, you can distract him with the toy and take him inside for some quiet time and use the leash to keep him off your legs. Keep it up with the bite inhibition training. There's this thing called "extinction burst" where a behavior gets much, much worse right before it's totally fixed. This could be an issue as well.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

This is common with puppy zoomies. I don't think there's anything you can do other than redirect with toys and be consistent - they grow out of it.

My boy, who is very very good about nibbling lightly and not biting hard (at least for the last month or so) has been known to latch onto my hand and growl, thinking it's a chew toy, while in the craze of zoomies (it's clearly play and not aggression, but it sure hurts!). They just kind of lose it for a bit when they get like that, but as long as they're attacking a toy and not your body parts it's pretty funny.

Putting him away for a bit to calm down is fine. He's probably doesn't associate being put away with the biting, but it gives you a moment of sanity while he's out of your hair.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

... There is something you can try, if you have the energy ... Chase the dog!!! He wants to play and burn off energy. I will bark at my dog, growl at him, raise my hands like a ghost and chase him ... He loves it. However, he doesn't run as quickly as a terrier. If you don't have a toy and if chasing doesn't work, then get out of the way. The dog is playing but he still may do a number of drive by slashes.

@bennyd - You have an even worse situation, b/c Labs will not only go into a drive by slash rampage, but they'll also run into you, clip you, and I think, purposely try to knock you down. My 6 mos Lab mix could take down a 200lb man!

I stopped my dog from clipping me by strategically changing gravity so that I could drop 4 feet through the air onto my back, landing on top of him, after he knocked my legs out from under me. After I could start breathing again and recovered, I think he decided that having me land on top of him was not fun.
I don't think that ya'll want to try this method


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## Jenness (May 7, 2012)

Yes I def remember having this problem not long ago when Bella was a pup. It's kind of like this switch that goes off and they just go nuts. It will fade with time.

The best way to deal with it is to not interact with the dog when they go into the crazy mode. What I would do, if possible would to ignore the puppy and go inside when this happens. Just walk away calmly. Wait it out until she snaps out of it and shows some signs of relaxing. It prob should not be more than a minute or two. I'm assuming you have a fenced in yard for this to work.

Keep working on the bite inhibition but NOT when she's having the zoomies. You don't want her to be biting you, and your not going to be able to train her in the excited state, so it's better to just let her be alone and get it out of her system. Bella used to lay on her side and throw tantrums like a two year old child. Barking, crying, just laying there going nuts. I would just ignore her and eventually she grew out of it. Hope that helps!


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## carvy (Dec 1, 2012)

To both the OP and bennyd, thank you for posting! My 11-week-old sweetie pie husky mix Juneau has been doing exactly this the last week— a leetle bit scary, but mostly just frustrating, especially since the puppycrazy has coincided with the arrival of the first serious winter storms in the area (making outside exercise unpleasant for dog and the implicated humans alike) AND Juneau's ability to climb out of his indoor exercise pen. He's hard to ignore when he gets crazy like this, let alone to train, so I'm just praying that flooding won't delay the arrival of the extra-tall, no-horizontal-barred baby gates I've ordered to restrict him from the carpeted half of the downstairs.

And re: this:



bennyd said:


> We also have been working on "The Bite Stops Here," which seemed to be working for awhile. But she has really regressed, and we seem to be back at the beginning.


I was just advised by a family friend who is a vet that spontaneous regression is pretty common with puppies under a year and a half old. I have no experience training puppies myself— this little guy is my first— but I couldn't help passing along the tip, in case it gives you peace of mind.


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