Our 6 month old Boxer on the whole is great, but she has one major issue we can’t resolve. We can be playing with her in the evening, and then just randomly she turns mad and starts biting the sofa in a very frenzied way. Trying to distract her doesn’t work, shouting doesn’t work etc etc.

Sometimes we actually worry she will bite us when we try to move her off. Eventually we manage to get her by the collar and put her in her cage for 10 mins or so until she calms down.

Get the Hoover out, she’ll run to her crate/bed/home.
Well my GSP pup would.

I’m not a fan of boxers for that reason, very boisterous and scratchy and bitey.

Nuke from orbit.

Have you tried using water in a spray bottle , a couple of friends have rescue dogs with behavioural problems, the re homing centre recommend using the spray bottle.

Socialise it with other dogs that will put it in its place. Other than that, 6 month pups can still be pretty mouthy. Is her tail up when she’s doing it? Or does her tail go down when you try to remove him? Did he have a soft mouth when mouthing you as a pup?

I had a boxer before my current ridgeback, a brilliant breed mad as a box of frogs and known to have ‘zoomies’. The only reason I didn’t get another is that it felt like I would be trying to replace her and I’d always compare the next boxer to her. Sounds to me like you’re doing the right thing in insisting on a time out in that situation. Seeing as you know when it happens could you clip on a long leash so when it happens you only need to pick that up and lead her into the time out?

(My boxer was certainly never scratchy or bitey unless you count her holding on to her tug toys or picking up her favourite balls but I’m sure you met A LOT of boxers before you decided on that informed judgement about the breed in general)

I had a boxer before my current ridgeback, a brilliant breed mad as a box of frogs and known to have ‘zoomies’.

We had a boxer when I was a kid. It would be lying there sleeping then just all of a sudden get up and run about charging into things head first for no reason, then go lie back down and go to sleep again.

Ah Boxers, my favourite dog breed.  Just full of character and incredibly loving dogs.  God bless our old girl we lost a couple of years ago now.  She was bouncy, enjoyed “boxing” but was never, ever a biter or a scratcher.

as others have said they are prone to ‘mad moments’ and never really grow out of it.  You are doing the right thing giving it some time out. Normally a loud sudden noise is enough to break their focus.  Like a big hand clap or a yelp.

Silly question but is she trying to tell you something?

Our 9 month old saluki x greyhound gets a bit frantic (digging and biting) before she needs the toilet if she’s inside.

As soon as she starts then we clip the lead on and take her outside, she’ll do her business (eventually) then we come back in. It can be a pain but she’s getting the message now.

Time out in the cage can be counter productive if the puppy feels it’s being punished they might not like going in there.

You could get a behaviourist to come over for a one to one session, don’t be too despondent though as my parents poodle had mad fits till she was almost one – and then their brains start to mature a bit a they get better at impulse control.

As per Ray, get an expert in to help you manage the issue, better to get ontop of the issue early, than let it become ingrained

Work out what they are after or prevent it before it happens. May be that you need to actually play more with it to teach self control and listen to you when you say stop or leave. Make sure the reward for the good behaviour is instant and it knows what it’s being rewarded for. Reward could be playing with an amazing toy or a really special treat.
Be prepared for when the mad moments happen and distract them before they start so it doesn’t become habit by teaching them how to be rewarded. Scaring or startling isn’t going to help behaviour as it’s causing a reactive response.

May be worth seeking some professional training though.

Sounds like she’s getting over stimulated by the play. Her stress bucket is overflowing.

Socialisation will help, as will impulse control training/exercises.

Remember, your dog isn’t giving you a hard time, she’s having a hard time.

OP – could be linked to the fact that you forgot the STW rules and failed to post pics of the new pup within 24 hrs of taking delivery…..

We can be playing with her in the evening, and then just randomly she turns mad and starts biting the sofa in a very frenzied way.

Change the pattern – play in a different room, take her up the park. Doing all the same things and expecting a different outcome is not going to work.

Dogs seem to get trapped into patterns of behaviour – you need to not do the things that trigger the behaviour you want to avoid rather than try and manage the behaviour when it occurs.

Have you tried using water in a spray bottle

This

I had a collie/pointer X that would go mental and bite my front wheel for about half a minute when we went to the woods, a squirt of cold water from a washing up liquid bottle cured it in a week.

My current nutcase rescue goes mad at other dogs when he’s on the lead (off lead he’s fine), again, just getting the bottle out of my pocket is enough to stop him carrying on.

Much better than shouting as that just seems to ramp up the excitement.

Professional dog trainer/behaviour expert. Just in case. Work out what’s triggered it. Find it a bity thing to play with (rope).

My colleague is devastated as they’ve had to have their less than 12 month old pup collie put down. As you’d expect it was a energetic dog, but sometimes would be a little snappy. They tried professional help with behaviour etc. A couple of weekends ago, the dog was lively, knocked her husbands glasses off. As he went down to get them it savaged him badly on the arm. Colleague pulled dog off her husband, and the dog was back to it’s normal friendly self. Her husband is a big fella, and needed plastic surgery for three bad wounds. The dog seemed to have forgotten what it had done. They don’t know if it had mental issues. Their teen son was already wary of it. Seemed to be more snappy with the men in the house (male dog).

Do get it sorted out, as the last thing you want is it snapping and you having to do something like my colleague did.