is this the terrible teens?

[lainiekazan]

6-month old golden retriever dog has always been a bit of a handful, but recently he's really turned a corner: no nipping, walking nicely, sleeping well etc.

Then - out of nowhere, he's started madly pulling on the lead (I've done hours of "loose lead" training) so hard I can barely control him. This morning he started leaping about when out for his walk and trying to grab the lead out of my hand. And then he lay down for ten whole minutes (it seemed like an hour) and refused to move. I just didn't know what to do. I had treats - he couldn't care less. I did super-friendly voice - cared even less. Angry voice - I could almost see him shrugging his shoulders.

He has also started Extreme Stealing. If I open the fridge door he is there right beside me ready to leap in the hope of grabbing something. He has eaten a tonne of unsuitable items this week. The vigilance is wearing me out!

Is this a temporary deterioration or do I need a new strategy?

Have you a crate you can put him in for a bit of calm time? while you get a drink

He sounds like a normal golden retriever pup. Like labs, they're hard work for the first 2 yrs, then eventually all the training kicks in and they turn into perfect family pets. You've been lucky to have had a respite period.
My lab used to sit down and refuse to move when he realised we were coming to the end of a walk, treats didn't work. I eventually discovered that if I said "Do you want a bonio when we get home?" he'd look at me, appear to be thinking it over then get to his feet and walk home nicely, much to the amusement of onlookers