Golden Retriever Freak Out

Question
My golden retriever has a weired penchant for freaking out when we are outside playing catch. It doesn't happen every time we are outside and I can't figure out what the trigger might be.

Basically, out of the blue he'll begin biting at the cuffs of my pants and my ankles and running manically around me and the yard in circles as fast as he possibly can, breaking from the circles occasionally to lunge up and bite at my hands. He seems completely hysterical and generally unresponsive.

The only thing that I've found will calm him down is if I pin him to the ground and wait for him to calm down. While he is on the ground he pants very quickly for a while and then finally gives a deep breath and snaps out of it. I'll let him up and he just looks around as if he's ready to play normally.

The dog is a one year old neutered male who gets plenty of exercise. I rescued him when he was 6 months and we spend most days together. It's really bizzare behavior for him and I can't figure it out. I was wondering if this is perhaps some kind of normal adollescent behavior that he will grow out of with time.

One other thing that has worked is distracting him with food and making him go through a series of commands before he gets too manic. Often though, when this interrupts his fit, he will have a freak out a little later.

Answer
I would talk it over with the vet.  Don't let the vet feel pressured into medicating him if the vet doesn't see a problem.  He does understand you are the leader?  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/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Actually, that isn't too far out of the normal behavior pattern for higher energy dogs.  You can hope he eventually outgrows it.