jumping and biting - 1 y.o. female staffy

Hi all! I've been reading a lot on this nice forum. Now is the time to start posting

Hoping for some guidance.

Our female staffy just turned 1 and in general things are going well, however during walks (and only during walks) she sometimes snaps, gets a certain look in her eyes and starts jumping and biting towards me or my girlfriend (the one who walks with her at that moment).

It's sometimes nearly impossible to identify the trigger. Sometimes it's very obvious: after a too long walk she could be stressed, after a too short walk (she can do it when she doesn't want to go back home yet), after not being able to play with a dog excessively. But sometimes also out of the complete blue, atleast it feels that way.

She also does the biting thing when she wants to tell us something. Like when I ride the bicycle with her it's her way to say after a while: I don't want this anymore. I then get off the bike and start walking with her. In such moments she stops. At home when she has an unfulfilled need and I'm for example working for 2 hours behind the laptop, eventually she comes to me and grabs my hand telling me 'I need some stimulation/play'. I try give it to her before that happens but I'm not perfect either, also have other things to do. It's like a 12/7 job sometimes (she sleeps well thank god)

Often we can snap her out of it with delicious food spreading in the grass or street, sometimes giving her a command, but often she's just completely out of reach and to protect ourselves we have to hold her in such a way during the episode that we get least hurt. This doesn't stop the behavior at all though. Walking away is not an option, turning your back she just runs around, standing on the line she bites in the ankle. There always comes a time, after a minute or two when she gets distracted and then we can resume the walk again like normal. The biting isn't like full holding on but she can grab you pretty nasty, often leads to bruises or when she grabs a piece of skin it can hurt.

Girlfriend starts to become very scared for her behavior.

During such an episode it's like nothing works. And we don't know what to do. No clue how to protect ourselves either cause theres no way to hold her being unable to bite us.

We try to give her all she needs during the day. Chewing stuff, playing with her, lots of cuddling and love, a big walk with playing ability with other dogs atleast 3 times a week and some bicycle riding on the other days to release energy. We do searching games every day. But there's only so plenty we can do... she's on extremely expensive Acana biological food with high % meat.

My fear is the behavior won't stop, would get worse, will remain forever etc...

Any tips or insight or encouraging words? Or are my fears true?

I'm so sorry, I've only just seen this! Welcome to the forum!

Have you managed to get to the bottom of it yet?

It could be her age (has she come in to season yet?), she's around that awful adolescent phase and, like some teenagers, they demand to be heard!

I know that ignoring it is easier said than done, but it often works. Mind you, it can take quite a while. The other thing is distraction. Does she have a favourite toy or treat you can 'bribe' her with?

Is she crate trained?