Thanks it's good to hear someone else had the same experience with a past dog and had a great experience with their golden. Today I have been feeling better and more confident. She has done very well and I am sure now that with time it will get a ton better. Thanks for your encouragement. I will try the feeding thing for sure with the kids great idea.


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I'm glad you are feeling a little better about things. The classes will really help you learn how to handle her. Before class starts you might ask about an in home session or two to help you handle things you are not sure about right now. But please stop pinning her by the scruff, it is a very outdated method and will only teach her to fear you and that she needs to fight back. One good method for just about every problem you face with puppies is to put a toy in their mouth instead of your skin, something they shouldn't have, before you pick her up, giving her a toy redirects her to something and away from whatever you don't want her to do.

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Yes the instructor actually talked a good almost 1/2 hour with me on the phone to give me tips and she mentioned the redirection. She also sent me a pamphlet via email on some obedience tips. It was great information that will be used for sure. Just with the few changes we have made since Friday we have noticed a huge improvement. She is beginning to sit in her own at her feeding area when she knows we are ready to put her food down. Although she still lunges for it , I don't let her get to if until she has day and waited. I wait for her to break eye contact with her bowl then I tell her to go and she does. I also have been putting my hand in her bowl while she eats and I occasionally stop her from eating and have her sit and wait again. Not all the time but once and a while. We have not been too concerned about her going like mad eating everything in sight outside but I do wonder how much dirt can one dog eat?? Worse thing is ours is clay !! I was joking lady night saying I could probably put her poops on a kiln and make great bowls out of them so that is where I am now in a better place. I think we may see if our neighbours dog wants to come for a play today, its had all its shots so I have read it should be fine , any opinions on that ??? Thanks again for all the support its been very well received


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Golden retriever puppies can be very trying for certain personalities. I had a really hard time with Flora as a puppy. I am a planner; I like to plan things way ahead and I get very upset if they don't go the way I had planned. Well... having a golden puppy did NOT go the way I had planned and I had some very long, hard months with Flora until I was able to settle down.

Hopefully you can read enough people's experiences with golden puppies to know that it WILL get better, it just takes a (long ) time. I'm fairly confident now that if I got another golden puppy I would be way more relaxed with him/her than I was with Flora. You've just gotta roll with the punches and try to enjoy the ride. Best of luck!

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Wow that explains me perfectly , I am a huge planner and its exactly like you said , so I need to give up some of that control and go with the flow.


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I was also quite upset and scared when I got my puppy that she was the world's only aggressive Golden (a feeling many other new Golden puppy owners here have experienced). I didn't understand what was going on. This was 3 days in. Then my breeder said, "She is a puppy. She doesn't know anything except how to be a puppy. You have to teach her how to be a well behaved dog."

A lightbulb went on for me when he said that - and it totally changed how I approached her. I read a book then gave some insight into how puppies learn and everything changed. She learned really quickly, but it wasn't all sunshine and butterflies. She went through the predictable teen stage, and I remember standing on the sidewalk mortified while she had a full-on tantrum at about 7-8 months old.

But with consistency, and all positive reinforcement, no submission tactics, she grew into the best dog in the world. Hang in there. It is a LOT of work - but so worth it.

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Tesia
"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

Sept. 21, 2000 ~ Feb. 5, 2013
My sweet, joyful, beloved heart.

One thing I learned from this forum is not to mess with their food when they are eating. I would not like someone sticking their hand in my food. I found that just making her wait for her food and then giving the ok worked well. Just one little nugget I thought I would share.

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Elizabeth

When I brought home my golden bundle of joy, I had no idea what I was in for. For the first 5 months my arms looked like I climbed through a barbed wire fence. He beat up on me all the time. Now at 7 months he is so much better. He suddenly stopped biting me all the time at 5 1/2 months and started to seem like he understood what I had been training him for when seemed it wasn't working in the past. Hang in there and be patient a consistent. Sometimes you have to give them a time out for your own sanity and for them to calm down. Start counting the days until the baby teeth come out.


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Jodi

For both Bear and now Kenzie, the whole put a toy in their mouth when they bite you never really worked. They both pretty much spit out the toy and went after my hand again. Someone told me to blow in their face. For me that did work, at least it breaks Kenzie's intense focus on my hand long enough for me to redirect her, either by giving her a command (sit/down) or get her interested in something else.

Also, I've also been told to not mess with their food (& I admit, it would irritate me if someone did that!), what I will do is to hand feed them their fish oil or liver flavored glucosamine tabs while they are eating. Those are especially good treats that they will turn away from their food to take the treat from my hand, then go back to eating. That teaches that human hands bring good things!

Also, the whole dominance way of training is outdated and the wolf studies it was based on have been proven inaccurate. Here is a good article about it.

Dominance and Dog Training

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Bear 6/2000-5/27/2012

Roxxi did and does the lip back snarl look sometimes. At first I thought OMGosh! She is going to be mean and aggressive, well, actually she is just playing, because if I leave my hand near her she doesn't actually bite, she bumps me with her muzzle.

She is almost 6 months old and all of a sudden the nipping has almost stopped. I think a big part of that is that she has lost all her baby teeth...YEAH!

Eating junk outside, now that is a different story! She actually finds rocks to bring me to "trade"

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