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My Puppy Goes Crazy Sometimes! What Do I Do?

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Guess what? My puppy goes crazy sometimes too. Does this sound familiar:

Puppy springs across the room, runs into the wall, jumps up on you, bites your hand, pulls on and tears your pant leg, dives under the couch, sprints back, and runs into the screen door…repeat for 30 minutes.

Yep! Those are our pup’s exact actions this morning!

QUICK ACCESS: If you’re having puppy training problems then you should join our Puppy Training Tips email list and get instant access to our New Puppy Owner Checklist PDF. To get started CLICK HERE.

My Puppy Goes Crazy Sometimes. What Do I Do? Puppy Zoomies!
My Puppy Goes Crazy Sometimes. What Do I Do? Puppy Zoomies!

Not to worry folks, you’re not alone.

Every puppy we’ve raised has had these momentary lapses of craziness before reverting back to that calm, sleepy puppy lying on the doggy bed.

A sleeping puppy is a good puppy.  🙂

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Speaking of dog beds one of our favorites is this Portable Dog Bed by Carlson. It’s raised off the floor and great for travel and outdoors especially if you like taking your dog camping.

My Puppy Goes Crazy Sometimes!?

We recently got an email from a reader asking us if we thought her puppy might be the spawn of Satan…

…I wanted to ask you if there could be a serious issue with my puppy.

I think she is the spawn of Satan or at the very least possessed. When she is being corrected or is extremely tired she turns into a vicious out for blood puppy.

She is 9 weeks old…she will not submit for over half an hour till I give up.

Then she passes out (not without one last lunge at the face). She makes god awful noises also during this time…is this normal?

I’ve been praying to God more the last few weeks than I have in my whole life!!!! –J.C

Spawn of Satan…Vicious puppy…Out for blood…

Our assessment? She could be:

  1. Vampire – after all puppies do have little dagger-like teeth.
  2. Zombie – the zombies that sprint like in Zombieland. Not the slow Walking Dead zombies.
  3. Spawn of Satan – according to the Omen that would make her puppy Damien. UPDATE: Do you watch American Horror Story: Michael Langdon Puppy.
  4. Puppy – with a case of the zoomies.

Yep, she’s just a puppy, not the Spawn of Satan.

Since I started raising puppies for Guide Dogs of America way back in 2006 I’ve only had one puppy that may have been the spawn of satan…not naming names, but it was quite the Journey…

The problem is what do you do when your puppy goes crazy?

We have a few answers that might help save your favorite pair of jeans as well as help you avoid a few puncture wounds to the hands, legs, and feet.

What Do I Do When My Puppy Goes Crazy?

Crazy Puppy...It's called ZOOMIES!
Crazy Puppy…It’s called ZOOMIES!

So what do you do when your puppy goes crazy?

  1. Give Your Puppy His Favorite Chew Toy – A favorite chew toy can get a puppy’s attention off of craziness long enough to calm him down. Plus we’ve heard the chewing motion helps to relax a puppy. We usually leash our pups and let them sit by our legs with a favorite toy. Some of our favorite chews for puppies are
    • Beef Collagen Sticks – One of our favorites and it takes a puppy a while to gnaw on these things.
    • Hide-Squirrel Toy – One of our favorite plush toys. It entertains puppies a little longer because they are busy removing squirrels from the stump.
    • Deer Antlers – we only use these with our pups and not the older dogs because we’ve heard many stories of cracked teeth.
    • Nylabone Double Action Chew Toy – Adelle’s favorite toy! Be careful if your pup drops this on your foot it’ll leave a mark.
    • Classic KONG Toy – Some dogs love them (Dublin). Some dogs can care less (Linus). We love its simplicity and durability plus you can fill it up with peanut butter and freeze it to keep your puppy busy for a while.
  2. Cradle Your Puppy – We had the luxury of raising our Golden Retriever, Bear and his siblings since birth and started cradling these little guys when they were one week old. One thing we do when Bear gets the extreme puppy zoomies is cradle him between our legs for a good 5 minutes. This calms him down and usually, when we release him from the cradle he wanders over to his doggy bed for a little nap.
  3. Channel Your Puppy’s Energy In A Positive Way – Instead of letting your puppy go nuts running around the house uncontrollably try engaging in a game on your terms by teaching your puppy to fetch. Our little Bear is a Golden Retriever so fetching his toys comes naturally and he enjoys playing the game.  Even if your puppy already knows the game of fetch we’d suggest using a leash or long line to make sure your puppy always comes back to you. This could also be a good time to work on your puppy’s recall and teach him his name. Getting your puppy’s mind on track can often time break him of the crazies.
  4. Manage Your Puppy With A Tie Down – Tie downs are a great tool to manage your puppy. When our pups are showing a little bit of their satanic side we will sometimes put them on tie-down (always supervised) with a toy. This is very similar to #1, but instead of keeping our puppy near us, we have them on tie-down away from us. QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Our tie-down is essentially a wire cable similar to this one: Tie Out Cable except ours is only 4 feet long. You can use a leash instead of a cable which we have, but we have had puppies gnaw right through the leash if you’re not paying close attention.
  5. Let Your Puppy Take A Break In His Crate – As J.C. mentioned her puppy goes crazy sometimes when he is “extremely tired.”  If this is the case we will sometimes use our crate to calm down our puppy, but be careful because you don’t want your puppy to have a negative association with his crate. When our puppy is extremely tired and doing the “crazy thing” he will go right to sleep in less than 60 seconds after being put in the crate. Our trick is we will usually lure him to and into the crate with his favorite treat then once inside the crate we’ll give him a couple of treats and in under a minute our puppy is snoring away.
  6. Stimulate Your Pup’s Mind With Interactive Puzzle Toys – There are several dog toys that will stimulate your pup’s mind rather than their zoomie bodies. Here are a few we’ve tried and liked:
    • KONG Wobbler – Stetson loved the KONG Wobbler when he finally figured out how to get the treats out of it. Check out our video of Stetson playing with his Wobbler.
    • Dog Brick Puzzle Toy – I’ve been working with dogs at a boarding facility which has given me access to tons of puzzle toys. This one is one of our favorites for working our dog’s brain.

And that folks is how we solve the puppy crazies.

Every puppy is different so one of these methods will undoubtedly work better than the others.

So, if you try cradling your puppy and it doesn’t work too well to calm your puppy may be a good chew toy, or a supervised tie-down will work best for your little guy.

QUICK RECOMMENDATION: As we previously mentioned we sometimes use the crate to help calm our crazy puppy. We love and recommend the MidWest Life Stages Double Door Crate w/ Divider. We still use the first MidWest crate we bought for Linus over 13 years ago. Can you say durable!

Now back at you. If you’ve ever raised a puppy what do you do when your puppy goes crazy?

Tell us about your experiences in the comment section below.

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My puppy goes crazy sometimes! What do I do? We liked to call it the puppy zoomies. One minute your puppy is normal the next he’s bouncing off the walls, not listening and running like a mad puppy. Yep, it’s a case of the zoomies. Here are some things you can do that will help you puppy came down. #puppyzoomies #crazypuppy #puppyrunningaway #puppygoescrazy #puppyinattackmode #puppytraining #puppybiting
When My Puppy Goes Crazy What Do I Do?

Top Picks For Our Puppies

  1. BEST DOG CHEW
    We Like: Beef Collagen Sticks - All of our pups love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Collagen Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors.
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    We Like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ Heartbeat and Heat Packs - Perfect for new puppies. Helps ease anxiety in their new home.
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    We Like: Crazy Dog Train-Me Treats - We use these as our high-value treats for our guide dog puppies.
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81 Comments

  1. I have a yellow lab, 9 weeks old. This a terrible situation with her. Twice a day and I have repetitively tried all of the above mentioned solutions except for putting her in the crate. It is super bad, she is destructive , bites constantly, pees everywhere etc.I really have to find an answer….

  2. Our bichon frise puppy loves to chase us and for us to chase him in our backyard in the morning, evening, or both. Rest of the time he’s resting in his playpen. He incorporates tricking us by quickly zooming between our legs or around us quicker than we can turn around without falling and also by taking random routes to attempt to lose us. He’s been very fun to be with.

  3. We have a 3 month old akita inu, which goes crazy at times. The only thing that helps is giving him a treat to chew on, which calms him down. But man, going to find that treat can be hard at times, with him biting at my ankles. Cant wait until those vampire teeth fall out and grow into the less pointy teeth. 😅

  4. Congratulations on your new puppy!

    1. We keep our puppy on leash most of the day so she doesn’t bother our older dog.
    2. We teach our puppies to sit and wait for their food. It takes patience, but you can try not putting her bowl on the ground until she sits and waits. You can also try standing on her leash to keep her from jumping up. If she eats too fast you can try a slow feeder dog bowl.
    3. We let our puppy play with the older dog, but only in short, monitored play sessions. If either dog gets over stimulated I’ll first put the puppy on leash and if the older dog is too worked up then I’ll put her on leash as well.

    Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your training!

  5. We have a new puppy that came from the shelter. She is about 5 mths old and they say she is a terroir mix. We have a few issues that we need help with.

    1: She is a very sweet puppy but in the morning she is a monster. She gets very excited, pees and franticly licks the face of our 5 year old GWP. Our older dog really does great with it but she is out of control until we feed her.

    2: Feeding is also crazy. She jumps at us and eats super fast. We have to feed her away from our older dog only because she will get in his bowl which he is really good about.

    3: The last issue is she plays very rough with the older dog and this get him worked up as well. They are contently chasing each other and biting at each others necks. My older dog is getting over stimulated and I am afraid he will hurt the puppy.

  6. Also, you can use a leash instead of a cable, but if you’re not paying attention your puppy will gnaw right through the leash. We’ve had this happen a couple times.

  7. We use a 4 foot wire cable similar to this Tie Out Cable (except ours is 4 feet instead of 10). We then attach the cable to the couch or wall (we put an eye screw in a stud in the wall). We then attach the tie down to our puppy. It gives our puppy room to move around, but they can’t venture out more than 4 feet away.

  8. If you and your family don’t feel safe I think it’s fine to surrender the pup. Biting that causes blood is much too serious.

  9. Did you find something that worked? This is my life! 5 adults in the house but this dog wants to be with me all the time and goes ballistic on my half the time. He’s a pit mix and I’m really worried. He’s 12 weeks old.

  10. I do hope you didn’t do anything drastic. He’s just being a puppy.
    Like a toddler – they get over exited & just can’t slow down. All wound up & have to release the excess energy. Use toys to distract him from your hands etc.

  11. You might consider having a certified professional dog trainer come out to evaluate your puppy. It’s tough to tell if your puppy is being aggressive or just being a puppy based on what you’ve written. Good luck with your puppy. Here are a few resources for finding trainers:

    https://www.ccpdt.org/dog-owners/certified-dog-trainer-directory/
    https://karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer/?source=kpctnavbar#!directory/map

    Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your puppy.

  12. My puppy is 10 weeks old and goes crazy for around 5-8 minutes at a time at least twice a day. She often launches into the crazy mode when she gets excited, during interactive play, chasing after a ball, or seeing a bird or other animal. It always starts unexpectedly. Once into the crazed state she runs around almost aimlessly, often running into trees, brick walls, and tripping over herself, sometimes doing several flips or tumbles before regaining her footing. But, never stopping for a second until she is tuckered out. The real problem I have with this is she often becomes aggressive, growling, barking, and lashing out at people and objects when in this mode.

    As a result, my wife and I have both been victim to her biting, often just at the beginning of her crazy fit when it isn’t expected. The dog is also a jumper, quite capable of leaping a into the air several feet and for a yard or more in distance, which she does repeatedly when in this crazed state. As she runs past she often flies through the air taking a nip at at hand or object, often sinking her teeth into whatever she grabs. Unfortunately, it usually seems to be a persons hand and it often ends badly with a lot of blood, because she locks on while flying through the air. Tonight she sliced through my finger which was holding a ball. She came up from behind silently and I didn’t see her coming. It was a long deep gash and took almost an hour to get the bleeding to stop. This will be one of several scars that I have endured over the last week from her while in this state.

    My wife wants to put the puppy down, because she feels the dog is dangerous and might seriously hurt one of the children. I am not sure what to do. It would be nice to know how long this will last or if there is anything that can be done to prevent it from happening. I prefer not to keep her crated all day, because she seems to need the physical release.

  13. We just got a Mini Golden Doodle 3 weeks ago. He is 12 weeks old now. Id like to say he is somewhat potty trained in that he will quietly go to the door and sit…. I put the leash on him and he does his thing. He does pretty good on a leash in the house… but when I take him for a walk he goes completly crazy.. he pulls and jerks, flips so hard he chokes himself and starts coughing. I can pick him up and calm him down, but when I put him down.. he’s possessed again so I end up picking him up and taking him back home. I’ve tried to distract him with his favorite treats, and toy…. nothing works.. its like he’s possessed. What can I do?

    I probably should add that he does this when he sees another dog, or children, or people.

  14. We just got a Mini Golden Doodle 3 weeks ago. He is 12 weeks old now. Id like to say he is somewhat potty trained in that he will quietly go to the door and sit…. I put the leash on him and he does his thing. He does pretty good on a leash in the house… but when I take him for a walk he goes completly crazy.. he pulls and jerks, flips so hard he chokes himself and starts coughing. I can pick him up and calm him down, but when I put him down.. he’s possessed again so I end up picking him up and taking him back home. I’ve tried to distract him with his favorite treats, and toy…. nothing works.. its like he’s possessed. What can I do?

  15. My puppy only goes psycho on me. The only way he will calm down is if I leave the room. I give it like 10 min thinking he will be my sweet baby, but nope he jumps on me and WILL not stop attacking me. He only wants to be by me which is cute and all but I’m about ready to have a nervous break down.

  16. Congratulations on your new puppy! That crazy puppy behavior is very common and we see it in pretty much all of our puppies when they are young. Funny you brought up not always having something in your pocket. Since I’ve pretty much had a puppy at the house almost constantly for the past 15 years I always have a toy and poop bag in my pocket. I feel lost if I don’t 🙂 Good luck with your puppy!

  17. We have a 10 1/2 week old Brittany. Overall, he is doing great- goes out to do his business, can follow “sit” very well, “ come”, well working on it! 95% of the time aok, then, he looks up at me and goes balistic😖 He jumps, barks and tries to grab and/or bite whatever he can. Ruined a couple of shirts already. I’ve tried the say”ouch” real loud and just stand there- doesn’t stop him. As others have stated, I think it is related to being over stimulated and tired. I know pups need a lot of sleep. The unfortunate thing is, that a lot of the time I don’t have a chew toy or something to distract him- hard to remember to carry something all the time! Hoping to figure it out and get him to stop as I really love him but want a good pup!

  18. My 12 week old puppy runs around the garden knocking things over and crashing into things he then turns his attention on me and lunges at the back of my legs if I pick him up to try and calm him he attacks my fingers arms and face.I put him in a room and ignore him for 10 mins.and when I look he’s fast asleep

  19. My 6 month old puppy goes NUTS without provocation, usually at night, right before bed. Realizing it may be related to her being overly tired makes sense. The snapping, biting, and wild behavior is so puzzling. Good to know I don’t have a demon dog, just a puppy with a temporary attitude.

  20. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I truly and afraid that our puppy of 6 months is going to get worse and hurt someone. she just “snaps” and starts biting us and barking and lounging at us.. over and over. Its quite painful by the time we get her back in her crate or restrain her. Last night my daughter and I took her for a bath at the local pet shop. She was fine in the car up there and on the way back, she first started jumping around trying to play with a water bottle… then all of a sudden she was attacking and biting me in the front seat. This was very scary…

  21. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Puppies take patience, persistence, consistency, and like you said time. Puppies are adorable, but they are a ton of work. I have a 5 year old and a 12 year old in my house and they are great dogs, but they were once crazy little puppies.

  22. Congratulations on your new puppy! 9 weeks old is still very young. Puppy’s definitely mature over time. One thing to note is some puppies will get crazy zoomies because they are overly tired just like a child (my 2 year old daughter) who is overly tired acts crazier then normal and refuses to sleep.

  23. I really do feel for you. I’ve been there, exactly the same, and it feels like it will never end. It will end though…hang in there! It is really common for there to be an evening ‘speedy zombie’ time. Interrupt the pattern and do something else with him just before 8pm…explore the house/garden with him, or do a bit of reward-based training. It will stop, and in its place you will have a gorgeous friend for life, which will be well worth the effort you put in now. I posted on here in complete desperation when my labradoodle pup was 8 weeks, and again when she was improving at 12-14 weeks, and now at 10 months she mostly – after a good bit of play and a short but of training – settles down in the evening with an antler/ coffeewood chew and we put our feet up! A few months of perseverance and teeth-gritting now will result in 15 or so years of being glad that you did. Good luck 😊

  24. I have a 9 week old heeler.

    He has really really ferocious zoomies at around 8pm daily. He bounces off the walls, runs really fast, and is a holy terror. He bites me during this time.

    I feel sad. How can I truly keep him? How do I know he’ll get better as he ages? I give him as much exercise as he wants.

  25. Thank you, Rose! So glad you added this follow-up note. I just brought home an 8-week-old Australian labradoodle who is going through the same craziness, and it’s a relief to hear that things got better with your labradoodle and to get ideas on how to deal with it!

  26. I have a 6 month old boxer who is a holy terror. He has been to training for 10 days and was doing great until they brought him home. When entering his old environment, he regressed rapidly to jumping on me, nipping or biting my arms and ankles, disobeying commands and running around the yard like a wild Indian with an arrow in his butt. My wife is at the end of her patience and I must find some way to bring this dog under control. We even had the trainer come for a in home session and while he transformed immediately to a calm, obedient dog, when she left it was back to business as usual although we tried to impose the same rules and commands that she did. Help!

  27. We got a 3month old Mini Doxie. Have had him a month!!! The little stinker still wants to go in the house. Any advice as to what steps we should be taking??? Take him to same place to go potty. Always feed at same time. But he is so good at night. Goes to bed about 8pm and wakes up about 7am. So we know he can hold his water!!! Little stinker even pees in his kennel!!! Any advice would be appreciated!!

  28. I just want to give you all some hope! I posted on here a few months ago, when things were really difficult, and things have changed for us. OK, puppy is still doing the mad vampire/speedy zombie thing, but it has reduced enormously. I can now (usually!) walk through the room and out the other side with limbs and clothing intact, and she is spending more time on calm play with us and amusing herself with chews etc.. How we did this… First, I increased her exercise to wear her out. She is 13 weeks and now has three 15-20 min walks per day, and at least 3 training sessions per day of 5-10 mins each. Secondly, I put her in her crate for a sleep every 1.5 hours, so she doesn’t get overtired, which seems to rigger the behaviour. She doesn’t always appreciate this, but it does help! Thirdly, when it does occur, I stop talking to her or interacting with her entirely, or giving her any eye contact at all, but instead pick her up really slowly and calmly (yes, it does mean risking bites!) and pop her very slowly and calmly into the kitchen (when empty), or a crate we put up as a sin bin, and continue then to completely ignore her until she has calmed herself – usually only a few minutes believe it or not. The I let her out slowly with no talking at all, and give her a toy to chew. Initially I had to repeat this pretty much all evening long for several weeks, but then I started seeing results, and now I only have to do it once or twice before she stops and returns to normal. I don’t know if this will work for anyone else, but it is working for us, and our puppy is happier too! I do think the key is to lower your own energy to almost asleep/bored levels, rather than matching the puppy’s mad vampire zombie energy. There is hope – good luck everyone!!

  29. Our puppy is 7 months old and does the same thing. She also gets the psycho eyes (like she’s possessed). The only thing that works is to wrangle her into her day crate and leave her to chill out. We’d like to be able to trust her to be free in the house in the evenings when we’re home, but I’m scared she’ll go into her zoomie brain and hurt the cat, herself or one of us. Any idea on when she should outgrow this?

  30. All of this sounds very relatable, except all of these are for LITTLE puppies…my puppy does this and is 9 MONTHS old…she bites, barks, lunges and runs circles around me. I feel like she is playing but I don’t have a way for her to know when it is play and when it is not. She barks in my face when I tell her no, or command her to sit. I can turn her over and grab her muzzle and say no bite and as soon as I let go she is trying to bite again. I don’t feel like it’s aggressive but I’m afraid she is learning terrible habits!!! Is this normal for a 9 month old???

  31. My 9 week old boxer has her wild moments too, but is a sweet girl overall. We start puppy training next week, so I’m looking forward to us both learning some new things. I haven’t had a puppy since 17 years ago, and I am quite sure this will be the last one, they are too much work!! (Totally worth it of course) Good luck everyone, they will be grown up in no time!

  32. My 9 week old labradoodle loses the plot every morning and evening. She bites, zooms, lunges, tears at clothing, barks at nothing, and cannot be distracted whatever we do. During the day she chews things (to be expected, and mostly toys) but is a different puppy entirely – interactive, happy, relaxed, trainable. I cannot work out what the trigger is for her vampire/zombie spells. I have a routine – first painful nip or tear at clothing, I yelp and stop interacting for a minute. Second nip, a firm no and stop playing or move away. Third nip (and if it has escalated to a third nip, she will be completely wild by now) I just put her in her ‘sin bin’ which is a crate in the living room, and ignore her until she is calm. Sometimes I take her to her large playpen in the garden and sit outside it while she goes bonkers safely and without my need to respond or pay any attention. I’m so relieved we are not the only ones! Who said puppies were cute???!

  33. omg thank you so much! we thought we were the only ones! gives me hope he will grow out of it! :p

  34. I just got a Shih Tzu puppy, and she´s a sweetheart, but she goes nuts all the time. I find that after sleeping, meeting or visiting new people or people she already knows, and especially after going to the bathroom. After going pee she´s fine, but after going poop she goes absolutely crazy. She turned 11 weeks today and I know she´ll eventually grow out of it, but why do specific things trigger it?

  35. So it’s NOT good to just let them do that? I thought it was just part of puppy-hood! I had Alaskan Huskies (the Thoroughbred of huskies) for a while (ran a dog sled team) and they would do this in fast forward! They love to run… for ages. So when I had other breeds I thought it was normal/necessary and only varied in time and intensity LOL
    Ok so about those crates, they are clanky because they are metal and don’t look like a den at all. Do you use a cover?

  36. Our 10 week English Springer Spaniel puppy is also Denomic! I got a Bark Worthies Big Cheese Chew from Petsmart last night & it finally helps deter his chewing on furniture legs & under the sofa/dining chairs. This is after playing & fetch time & he is just looking to chew. When I correct his behavior he turns into the biting Devil Dog!
    Is it also him trying to be the Alpha in the house? When I walk him outside & he doesn’t want to walk or go inside, whatever, he refuses to move & lay down? Do I need to be firm with my request or just pick him up? I’m worried if I don’t correct this behavior now, he will not behave when he is too big to pick up & still trying to bite me? Suggestions Please!

  37. The first thing that i do to my pup every time he goes crazy is i’ll pick him and hug him while scratching his head gently it makes him calm actually a very effective remedy.

  38. I’ve got a four week old puppy that when you pick her up she starts spazing out she whines real bad and goes crazy shits on herself I’m worried about her please let me know what to do.

  39. I have the same issue with my lab/cane corso mix. He turns vicious out of no where with a nasty snarl, growl and jumps at me and tries to bite. We just had an episode and he is in his crate. I think he is over tired, but as he grows and gets bigger and stronger, I hope this behaviour stops. We have scheduled therapy sessions to help assess some other aggressive behaviour also. I appreciate this board makes me feel like I’m not alone.

  40. My 10 month old 75 pound puppy does this for at least 30 minutes between 8and 9 pm every evening. He is so big and I’ve tried redirected his energy to no avail. This evening he clip me and knocked me down into a table. When I finally got back up I did the only thing that appears to work. I put him in time out in his kennel.

  41. Really? Mine too. I just thought he’s going crazy so I decided to have some precautions instead if ever he gets out of sight. I would attach a tracker to him just to feel assured that he won’t get lost.

  42. I think it would be helpful to attach a tracker on your pet in case he or she gets lost.

  43. This is a perfect instructional article for me and my Damien. It exactly describes what I’ve been going through. lol My pup is 4 months old. We love him dearly but sometimes he gets possessed. Do you think an exorcism would work on my pup? lol Thanks for your 5 advises.

  44. hello,

    we rescued a lab mix puppy three months ago. She has the episodes that we can only call “cujo like.” All of a sudden, she gets all crazy-eyed and has a biting fit that lasts about 5 minutes. then she snaps out of it. today she ripped my husband’s shirt on a walk. Gracie has been taken to 6 weeks of training at Petco, gets walked for at least 90 minutes today, receives plenty of love and attention and playtime. is this normal? (our last dog did not do this. he had puppy fits where he would run around crazily, but never bit).

  45. Foxxy is now 9 months old, love her dearly, but there were several months i thought i must have taken leave of my senses for adopting a puppy, and a.pom at that

  46. Thank You dooo much for this post! My adoreable 8 week old black lab/blue healer was acting the same! She’s super smart but just didn’t get the biting thing. I tried the whistle and it worked! She normally so sweet. I gave her two names. Gracie is the sweet girl and Spooky is the out of control thing.. The whistle was the key!

  47. I have all bullys and everything trainers and people tell me to use but nothing seems to work until I play pen her and have a nice chat.
    She loves when I get on floor but I have more bites in me from her than I care to have so floor time is short.

  48. Same here. 15 weeks and she turns wild and I try to cuddle her, helps for short time then bites me. I put her down and she will run like a cheetah.
    Put her in playpen just so I can talk to her. Tell her she can come out when she is ready and no biting. Pretty smart girl cause she comes out calm and goes to her pile of toys she loves. Tough💕

  49. My Golden is almost 18 months and when I take him to the forest preserves to take a walk I put him on a long lead to get him a good walk/workout. It’s inevitable he will at some point turn and jump on me, nipping at my mittens, etc. I try to grab his collar as fast as possible and shorten up the leash but, he sometimes paws back at me…thinks I’m playing with him. He is training to be a Therapy Dog and is amazing in class and most of the time on walks but, this has to stop! I try to anticipate it but, sometimes he’s just too quick. Hire a trainer? Thanks for any suggestions!

  50. Dude same! I have a now 7 month old black lab/Australian shepherd. I can definitely relate. She is now starting to have episodes less and less. I will strongly recommend Doggy Dan. Theonlinedogtrainer. The info on that website is absolutely priceless!!! Anyway the method used there is all positive and very refreshing! Some people don’t really believe when people say you need to be the “pack leader” and maybe because they think that that involves pain and intimidation. I was sceptical to. I got to try three days for 1 dollar. Could not possibly be more grateful and happy and relieved!!! The website I have put under the website bar is doggy dan’s

  51. So happy to hear my 14 week old pom isn’t completely berserk, my arms are a mess, she’s been nipping at the backs of my legs and also peeing all over. Then she’ll be so sweet and loving. I’ve wondered if I would have to give her up but I love her too much! I really was wondering about mental health.

  52. Ella is my 12 week old Golden Retriever. Although I have had dogs my entire life of 61 years, Ella has a lot more spirit than many of my other dogs. She has a lot of energy. My only salvation from the constant biting and nipping is exercise (lots of it) and substitute chew toys to focus on besides my feet, shoelaces, hands and yoga pants. Yes, I have holes in them all. I have found the CET hides extremely helpful. When she gets bored with them, I rub a very tiny bit of peanut butter or regular butter on them. Then, her interest is renewed and they are the things chewed, not me! When she gets a little perky and even barks at me, I become the dog I have always wanted. I bark louder, and growl louder at her shocked little face. Voila, she comes to me and actually licks me. I am, after all, the pack leader. I could never hit or punish her. Tonight, I have found having her retrieve her favorite toys up and down my carpeted stairs was an amazing work out for her. She LOVED it! I know from the gym that stair climbing is exhausting. So, right now, she is passed out on top of my feet as I write this. Ever read the book by the Monks of Skete? I have found it to be the best dog training book ever. But I get a lot of guidance from all you folks on line as well. Aren’t we lucky to have so much love in our hearts we have surplus for our fine furry friends? Enjoy your doggies. Hope all goes well. Each day is an adventure, isn’t it?

  53. I am having the same problem also. Our puppy is almost 6 months – black lab/collie mix. We have had him since he was 2 months old. He only behaves like this with myself or my daughter – almost like a switch goes off in his head. One minute we are playing fetch with a toy and the next minute we become the focus of his attention. We have tried the calm and assertive approach. We have tried telling him to sit, down, leave it (which are all commands he knows). Nothing works. We try to turn around and ignore him and it makes it worse. We walk away and it gets worse. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

  54. I’m having the EXACT same problem. Gets worse the more we tell her NO. She’s a 3 month old black lab/mix. We’ve had her for 3 weeks. My hands look like they’ve been through a war zone! We’ve tried redirecting, she no longer cares how loud I yelp, walking away from her causes her to chase us more. Putting her in the crate helps calm her down sometimes, but only temporarily. Colby help!

  55. I have an 11 week old yorkie male that sometimes I believe can also be a spawn of Satan, but then I think is bi-polar because after he attacks and bites me I pick him up and he licks my face. But tonight was a different story my 7 year old son didn’t have a shirt on and he came into the living room to pet the dog and he attacked him biting his side and back very bad my husband had to jump up and get him off of him. He has a crate and we punished him in there and yelled bad boy. I’m really starting to get nervous, no one can walk into the living room with out him biting our feet, toes, pants, socks. We say NO every minute of the day and he nips at you ten times more. My husband is ready to give him back, we’ve had him for 3 weeks and the biting is getting worse, any advice ?

  56. I believe this article was about our puppy, Bear. The puppy we raised before Bear was Archer and he sometimes went by Archie 🙂

    Something you can try is shortening up your leash and just stand on it until the zoomies end. Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your puppy!

  57. Hi Colby! I actually almost named my Bernard pup that but went with Archie. Any advice for when you have a giant puppy outside on the leash doing zoomies? He was lunging for my knees with his teeth, got me a few times, and I struggled to keep him controlled on the leash (well, let’s face it, he was out of control!) – spinning, yipping, things I’d never seen this mild mannered 25 lb puppy do. I finally picked him up to carry him inside but I won’t be able to do that much longer! I can handle him and zoomies in the house but outside on leash is rough! Thanks for sharing your expertise. The website is amazing!
    -Bex

  58. I’ve definitely experienced the puppy madness as well. Another method we would try was getting up and walking away to reinforce that it is bad behavior. Great tips, thanks for sharing!

  59. Never reprimand your pet physically or force it to follow your commands, as this may lead to fear and aggression.

  60. Gosh! I thought I was alone when it comes to dogs going crazy on me. Indeed, it often perplexed me why my dog is acting strangely all the time. This is good information for me. I will sit on it and contemplate on the next course of action. Thank you once again!

  61. My dog only does this to me and will immeadiately listen to my husband. I started arming myself with toys and it worked at first but now he throws them on the floor and comes back at me .

  62. I am so glad to read this, we just got our first puppy and he has started to get crazy when we tell him no when he starts nipping at us. It seems he bites more and starts barking and biting harder the more we tell him no. We were concerned our new little companion may be crazy, but it sounds like it’s not uncommon for this to occur. We have tried everything it feels like, such as ignoring him but when we do this and try to walk away he begins to bite our legs and ankles quite hard. We will be going to puppy classes in the near future.

  63. Over the years I’ve had many puppies and so far they’ve all out grown the crazy puppy behavior. If you think your puppy is having some special behavior problems then you might want to contact a certified professional dog trainer for an in home evaluation.

  64. My puppy is a chihuahua and he goes crazy every night around the the same time. He bites, lunges at me, runs around like crazy and growls. Overall acts like he is demented, I am afraid he will be like this forever. I have never had a dog like this before, I have had smugglers, never a devil dog. I rehomed him from a lady that got him way too young( 6 weeks old) so I am afraid he never got sibling play . Do you think he can out grow this behavior? He is at times a sweet puppy but my hands are turning in to bloody stumps. Help!!!

  65. Thanks for stopping by! Yes, we are used to the vampire teeth. Luckily Bear is not too bad although he does have his crazy bitey moments.

  66. Loved the terms you used like “vampire” and “zombie” cause it looks exactly like that ! My puppy not so puppy anymore still has those little episodes every now and again. I take advantage and try to play ball with her and it seems to help a bit 🙂

    Great blog !

  67. Thanks for sharing your story. Some dogs stay puppies for a long time. I remember our Border Collie mix still acted like a puppy at 15 years old! Hopefully some of these tips help with your puppy and calming him down.

  68. Very good read! Thank you so much for sharing! My pup does the same when anyone tries to leave the house. We thought maybe he would stop but he’s about to be 2 years old and still does it, even more aggressively now.
    Keep up the awesome posts!
    Henry

  69. I’m glad you were able to figure out the solution to your puppy’s zoomies. Yes, the crate can be very useful when your puppy goes crazy. As I mentioned my current puppy, Bear usually knocks right out as soon as I lure him to his crate and then 10 minutes later he comes out as calm as cucumber or is it cool as a cucumber ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thanks for sharing your story!

  70. Our black lab/greyhound mix would get the zoomies all the time. I finally figured out that I could call him to his crate, give him a treat and shut the door. When I let him out a bit later, he was always calm. I wish I had read this post back then when he was a puppy. This would have been very useful.

  71. This afternoon Bear was bouncing off the walls and I knew he was tired because he had been up and around for nearly an hour (an eternity in puppy time). I was about ready to give all the dogs and our lil Bear some downtime so I walked him over to his crate and plopped him down. He immediately laid down and looked up at me as if to say thank you for putting me to bed. You’re right, puppies are like kids. Even though I don’t have kids (yet) I was watching my friends whose kid, like Bear was bouncing off the walls. They had to leave and almost immediately after she went into her car seat she fell asleep.

  72. All you have to do is shave your head like me 🙂 I think a few of these would work great for an adult dog like giving him a chew toy and channeling his energy in a positive way, but unless you’ve worked on some of the others like crate training, tie downs, and cradling then it may take some extra time and training beforehand especially with a larger dog.

  73. Oh yes, I remember the puppy zoomies when I raised Missy & Buzz from 8 weeks on, lol. I heavily relied on chews (bully sticks and antlers) and exercising them – even if it was just putting on a leash and walking around our apartment complex grounds for 10-15 minutes. I do remember that every now & then they would act up more when they were really tired. Kinda like kids who say they don’t want to go to bed yet, but end up falling asleep almost immediately after having been put in there. I would take the same approach with the puppies and put them in their crates – calmly, but firmly. They always snoozed off very quickly!

  74. I totally understand this reader’s frustration! When my dog was a puppy & he had his zoomies, he would bite my hair and pull. It hurt so bad. I wish I had these tips then. Do you think this would work for a young adult dog? My dog now is almost 2 years old and still has the zoomies.

  75. Yep, thinking your puppy is crazy is fairly common. We’ve been raising and training guide and service dog puppies for over 10 years now and we see this craziness all to often. Our current 9 week old puppy, Bear acts crazy on a regular basis. As your puppy gets older she won’t have the puppy zoomies quite as often.

  76. Omg! I thought I was the only one that thought my puppy was the spawn of Satan. I felt so bad feeling that way because she can be sweet but sometimes she goes completely nuts and attacks me when I tell her not to do something. I thought she hated me but there are moments when I know she likes me. Thank you for this and I’ll try out the tips and see what happens.

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