Hey Everyone,

It's been awhile since I've posted but I've a problem that I need to ask about:

Moses, my 10 month old male, has recently been acting up a lot.

In the forms of:

1. Chewing shoes when he has about a million other things to chew on.

2. Tugging and Pulling when walking to smell things that he usually couldn't care less about.

3. Ignoring my recall command to run up on people and bark at them.

In the past, I usually have never had to keep him on leash for our walks because he wouldn't dare leave my side to investigate somthing else unless I told him it was okay.

Now, other the last month or so, he has been showing more signs of aggression towards people.  Best example is listed above.  If he sees a woman watering her lawn, or a guy jogging down the sidewalk, he now botls away from me, not ever looking back, runs up to about 5' from them and barks like crazy. 

So, I figured I'd solve the above by simply putting him back onto a leash like when he was younger.  Only thing is now he'll just pull like crazy to try to go over and bark at someone. 

Can this all just be puberty?  He is the nicest pup ever, exposed to pretty much every situation I can think of.  Dog parks daily, sporting events, kids of all ages and races, hunting dove, frisbee, dock jumping...EVERYTHING!

Any suggestions?

I agree with Pixie.  Moses is at the age where I always say the dog gets the "Puppy Stupids."  It is like they forget everything they have learned.  They don't really, you just need to keep working obedience and reinforce it with them.  Don't let him get away with misbehaving.  As Pixie says, try to anticipate.  Just be consistent and patient, and this to shall pass. You will get your nice dog back eventually.

I just can't figure out where this barking thing has come from.  He has been so exposed to so many people in so many different types of situations that it is hard for me to understand why, all of a sudden, he would show this need to run up to people and bark at them like crazy.

Three weeks ago, if he saw someone else across the street, he would do one of two things.

1. Stop what he was doing and look up at me to make sure I've noticed the person.  Then I usually allow him to jog over to them for a pet or some form of interaction.  His approach is always a slow, semi-submissive engagement  with lots of licking.

2. Stop, look at the person, then just ignore them. 

Then, over night, he just sees them, runs like crazy at them, and barks his @ss off at them until I get there to pull him away. 

Since I don't plan to breed him, could this be a sign that it's time for the snip?

Thanks for everyone responding.  As my first dog that is mine and only mine, I feel like I've done a great job.  He has literally been such a good puppy.  These acting out spells have just caught me off guard.

I'll take y'alls advice and work on it until it's fixed.  Thanks again.