Toby is going on 9 months old, I bought him a stuffed dog toy, he does the same thing.. Here's an idea: play fetch with him! I throw the toy down the stairs, Toby runs down, and comes back up with the toy in his mouth, and I give him a treat for being such a good boy!

If Toby is scratching the carpet, I just clap my hands loud or yell "NO!" if he does something bad, try that. Toby knows now that clapping hands means toby was bad!