Golden Lab - Are short freak out periods normal?

Question
Hi,

I gave a 5 month old, female golden lab. She is actually pretty normal, well house trained, well tempered and she's starting to do better at her training etc. The one things that has been bothering me though is she has these brief periods where she runs around frantically, almost like something is chasing her, she looks scared or panicked when it happens. It only lasts for about a couple minutes, then she goes back to normal. It doesn't happen every day. It most often happens after we get back from taking her for a walk, or in the evening around 8pm. Our vet said that this is common and she referred to it as the "witching hour" and said she would grow out of it.

I tried to grab her tonight to calm her down when she was doing it, and she actually growled at me a bit for the first time so I let her go and she calmed down a minute later.

I don't know if this is normal behaviour or not, but its really freaky so I was just hoping for some advice.

Answer
Unfortunately, behaviors like this are hard to guess at when you haven't seen them in person.  It's very possible she has heard something or caught something out of the corner of her eye that has scared her.  They do go through a 2nd fear stage, and this is probably it for your dog.  It's not a big deal and you can get her through it.  Just make sure you set up good experiences for her.  http://www.dogsincanada.com/fear-stages

Though I am not sure what you vet is talking about.  Sounds a little hokey to me.  

I wouldn't grab the dog, but rather ignore the behavior.  When you coddle or comfort a dog, whether when it's afraid or when it's being aggressive, the touch and soothing voice conveys to the dog that it did something right.  You don't want her to think you are condone that behavior.  

Keep some cookies in your pocket or her favorite toy close by and redirect her attention when she starts to stress.