Hunter will eat (almost) anything and everything

[HunterXHunter]

Hi,

Lately I've been a bit stressed with things and Hunter - who is now 8.5 months old - is, I guess, going through the "rebelious teenager" stage and has been a pretty bad boy (and a little more aggressive too I think). There is NEVER a walk in the past week and a half that he hasn't pulled out/bitten off flowers from people's lawns and tried to eat it (with the soil and everything). Couple days ago, he also ripped a big hole in the sleeve of my jacket, and last night he jumped up at the sink and quickly lapped up some dish-washing liquid/water while I was washing the dishes. This was the last straw and it really angered me. I yelled at him and even hit him (on the butt a couple of times, but it was hard...). I realized what I had done afterwards, and felt bad for hitting him, but...ARGH!!!...how do I keep him from trying to eat everything!?!?!

He has been to obedience school and he will sit and stay even if there's a treat in front of him and he won't eat it unless I say it's ok. But if you're not paying attention to him, he can and will stealthly sneak up on you and steal your food.