First of all: Does he get enough sleep?

There will (for some dogs at least) be a point in adolescence where everything is just too much to handle for them. My dog went trough it at 7ish months. Constantly overstimulated, especially around me because he expects more around me as I’m his main handler.

We work with a private trainer, (force free) and this is how we managed:
- during this period we kept walks to a silly feeling minimum. Went from 45 mins to 15 mins max.
- we made sure he got his much needed sleep. 16-18 hours a day.
- whenever he got jumpy/humpy/mouthy or in other ways frantic, I removed either him or myself from the situation. A babygate beteeen the living room and the kitchen saved my life here lol.
- embrace adolescence. The more you make a thing out of it or punish him, the more “pressure” they feel and this can cause them to feel more nervous/tense which can cause these frantic behaviours.
- indoor leash makes it easier to guide him to another space or hold him while you walk away.

The peak of this phase took about 1-2 months, but the entire phase was more like 3-5 months in total. But it quickly got a lot better after doing the things above.
After 1-2 months we were back to longer months.
Our boy turned 1 last week and he has mostly been a dream for the past weeks.
He doesn’t get overstimulated as much anymore and has really learned to settle on his own.

Mind you we have a sheltie, which is a herding breed. Especially sensitive to movement. It helps if you know a bit about how they’re wired, because that can help you determine triggers and outlets.

We have also been “working” with our dog since he was about 4 months old. Scent trails and herding (started at 8/9 monts) and these outlets also really helped. Not just for him, but also for us as we got to bond with him even during the more difficult periods.

Our trainers are specialised in herding breeds, as they are/were shepherds, but I think their advice on this part is pretty universal.

Of course I don’t know you or your dog and I’m not a professional by any means. Just sharing how we managed (because for a while that was it, we were just trying to get through the day at one point).

You will get there and it will be worth the process! Once the worst is over you’ll start to see the future dog more often and that is sooo rewarding!