6mo. old Golden regressing with everything

Question
My 6 month old golden is absolutely driving me crazy.  I have raised two other goldens, one female and one male.  This little
girl is beautiful.  She pottied outside for months and ran to the door whinning when she had to go.  This behavior is Gone. She doesn't cry to go out.  She will come in the living room and squat right in front of me or my son, like nothing could be better. And does that with the bowel movements also..  
Next is the biting, she really has never quit biting, I have scars on my hands and arms, and I am not kidding, some people ask if I have been cutting myself.  We say No biting with athority and it is totally ignored.  She was started on a leash at about 3 months and did really well. Now, she pulls me so hard that she is choking herself and breathing really hard throughout the walk or should i say Drag...  We took her out of her crate at 5 mo.. and give her a blanket and let her sleep in the hall with the wood floor.  We thought that would help.  Like I said my other golden's were a dream compared to her..  I am not one to get rid of dogs, but this one definately is pushing the limits..
I want to Love and Praise her, but when I take her outside and want to throw the ball, all she does is jump on me. Constantly jumping , If you can give me any help I would certainly appreciate it.. Thank you so much... sad in minnesota
minnesota

Answer
Those are all tough problems.  You may need to give her better leadership.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/

You need to try to learn her schedule, so you can anticipate when she will reliever herself in the house.  Interrupt her with an ''Ut, ut, ut!'' and take her out.  

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

Consistently is very important in correcting jumping and other problems. Quickly correcting him each and every time he jumps on somebody is very important. He must never get the affection he wants. A number of things have been used. One of the most gentle is to grab his front paws and hold him up. The traditional knee to the chest or step on his paws are fading from use. As part of the the trend away from negative methods, just step backwards leaving his front feet to fall to the floor. After a few tries, the dog may just stand there looking confused.

Easier dogs will give up their pulling with a few good snaps of the leash combined with a stern "Bad dog!". You can work up to forceful corrections with the leash doubled up in both hands and your whole body behind it. But you don't want to use any more force than you need. One gentle technique I like is to just stop when he pulls. He wants to go. If you move forward when the leash is slack, and stop when he pulls, he should quickly figure out the only way to get to go, is not to pull. This is about teaching him not to pull, not getting somewhere. The man that taught it to me said "If in a half hour you haven't made it out to the front walk, fine, you have taught him a lesson. Pulling the dog backwards is a good technique too.

Still, you may want to switch to a head collar. The leading brands are Promise, Haltie, and Gentle Leader. They have a strap going around the dogs nose looking something like a muzzle. They work by pulling the dogs head around. No other way gives you such great control with so little force. The prong collar is now a dangerous relic of value only for its macho looks. Do not consider using one without hands on instruction from somebody with plenty of experience with them.