When Bridget first came to our home, it sure was a rough go...biting me jumping on my, grabbing me........full of energy! AND that was AFTER she was exercised twice a day!
I also read the posts on this forum and thought "My golly, what have I gotten myself into? I though Goldens were such docile creatures..." silly me..

I even had a personal trainer come to our home at $90 a crack...youch.
NOW I know better.
It takes some Goldens a LONG time to settle, and get with the program.
BUT, classes, giving them work to do, following through, etc. makes a huge difference.

I now can "see" the lady that Bridget is going to be, and I am so proud of how she is maturing and coming along.

I've had labs and English Setters in the past which were good dogs, but this one, I think, is a brainiac! So smart!

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My dog will be 2 in March. We went through some rough puppy stages with him chewing anything and everything! Even chewed right through our wall. We also learned a lot about him through out that stage. But he is a wonderful dog! That stage has subsided and he is such a sweet heart. He is still a ball of energy, but he is so well behaved and such a good big brother (we have a 7 year old and 8 month old). He literally is one of my children. Like any dog, the puppy stage is usually the worst! You just need to stay on the pup and keep up with the training! If we would not have kept up on everything with Bronson he would be a nut!

I'm here to tell you that I FELT THE EXACT SAME WAY! If you go back and look at my posts from a little over a year ago, you'll see. When Wrigley was a pup, I had a nervous breakdown from his puppiness (nipping, whizzing, general bad behavior), my kids abandoned me because of the puppiness and my husband works all day ... I went into my doctors office and completely lost it and he put me on valium because I couldn't sleep and my stomach was in knots so bad, I dropped almost 20 pounds because I couldn't eat. Now, dog owners, don't judge ... seriously ... I've never had a dog in my life. I'm a cat person. I'm also not a type A at all. It would have been easy for me to send Wrigley back, but I was determined and now he's still a goofy dog, but thanks for THE MOST WONDERFUL TRAINER and a dog daycare, he is still with us a year and a half later. My trainer was a constant support for me and dog daycare GAVE ME DAYS OFF when I needed them. I would put him in about one day a month and now I only use it if I have school activities for the day. If it weren't for those 2 things, we wouldn't have a dog.

My advice ... get a trainer, use the crate and if you have a dog daycare in your area, use it. Dog daycare made Wrigley so tired that when we got home, I could give him the loving affection that he needed without the stupid puppy behavior. The only way Wrigley figured out he liked to be petted and loved on was when he was exhausted.

He still acts stupid sometimes, but now, I can take him to a big field and let him run loose and he won't bolt off into the great unknown. He always looks for me and now, I have to admit ... I kinda like him now. He does tricks, he comes when he's called. I figured out he is food motivated. He sleeps like a trooper and loves his crate. This took MONTHS!

My only issue I have at this point is our cats. It's not working out with one of them at all. Our young, almost 3 year old cat, male, sprays ... it's sad. We tried to socialize them and when Wrigley was a puppy, Teddy would bat his nose and it would be done. But now Wrigley is an 80+ pound dog and Teddy is still about 10 pounds and scared to death of him. Wrigley doesn't even try to slowly approach. He sees Teddy, he goes into a frenzy to chase him. I don't know if it's playing, but I think Wrigley remembers getting boxed and now he's doing a "HA, I'M BIGGER THAN YOU, BOX ME NOW!" thing. In fact, this morning, Wrigley had him cornered and Teddy sprayed all over the place ... when that happened, Wrigley backed off and Teddy was able to escape into the basement ... where he sprayed some more. We are at our wits end on that one. Advice?

I have two of the best dogs in the world!

Brady was very trying in the first few months, so different from previous puppies I had raised. Those first few months I was exhausted, probably more so than when my children were newborns.

Once he reached that 8 month mark, I almost took him to the vets for a physical. It was like over night something clicked, and he is awesome. He is so great that two and half years later, we went out and rescued another one! You will notice that happens a lot, you just can't have one!

MacKenzie was a great puppy, we got her a little older and she had been a rescue that was being fostered. She was a breeze to raise.

At this point, I actually would not mind getting a third.....

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I think Golden Retrievers are the best dogs of all. I agree with Mooselips. Obedience class. Go faithfully and listen. Why would a nice loose leash walk have anything to do with eating the walls? Admittedly, it doesn't seem make a good connection. But trust me, obedience classes. Go!

When we brought Ben home, as a 3 year old totally untrained rescue, we went through a very hard time at first. He jumped and bit and lost control completely. He seemed to turn into demon dog without warning. I was ready to take him back a couple of times, except that I had made a commitment and I intended to keep it if at all possible. We gave him lots of exercise, lots of attention, and lots of training, and 2 years later he is a happy mellow dog who is a joy to live with. We still have occasional stressful moments, but they are rare and I have absolutely no regrets about bringing him home. 99% of the time he is a great dog. Just occasionally he gets super-excited and stops listening, but we can live with that, especially since the problem is largely our laziness in not continuing with the training. Even in the beginning, when he was the most badly behaved, he always made us laugh. And now he frequently makes us proud, as he greets strangers politely and gets hugged and petted by groups of children without misbehaving. He has come so far!

Ben is my first GR, and not at all the way I expected a golden to act, but I wouldn't trade him for anything. And I'm sure that my next dog will also be a golden.

I do think a golden can be a tough first dog, and a tough dog to combine with tiny kids as a first dog. It is a tough choice for a couch potato type person, as this is a sporting dog. A cavalier( with great heart clearances) is an easy first dog, or a pug (that can breathe) in my experience.

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No, every Golden is not a problem dog. Overall, I think Golden Retrievers are the best. We have had three over the years. Our second one, Chewy, was a bit difficult with housebreaking. However, overall she was a great dog--we had her for over 14 years.

Max has been really easy. He slept on our bed the first night, when he was 11 weeks old. He has had one accident in the house, the first week, and has been perfect ever since.

He did chew some drywall when he was teething, and I had many bite marks on my hands those first few months. But really, even as a puppy, he has been great.

He is calm, friendly and trustworthy with kid, adults, and other dogs. He is smart and even lets himself in and out of the house. He spends some time at an assisted living facility where my wife's mother lives, and is truly amazing with the residents. Only negative I can think of, is he has dug some really big holes in the backyard.

I think an important factor in the behavior of any Golden puppy/dog, is their breeding and early life as a puppy. Our second Golden, Chewy, was from a puppy mill/pet store. I think her background had a lot to do with her issues, such as housebreaking. Max came from a small breeder who raised the pups in the house. This stable beginning helped Max develop his perfect "Golden" temperament. But given a chance, with training and patience, virtually any Golden can become a great family pet.

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Dave

The Princess is our second chosen dog. And like the first she is a rescue. We adopted her at 18 months. Except for sofa pillow eating, and butt sniff/greet behaviour she has been a great dog. She is only distructive when our health problems interfere with her exercise needs. She has not been the chewee monster that the first rescue was. Ivory chewed EVERYTHING from the time we adopted her at 8 weeks until about 14 months.

Seriously, I would never own anything other than a sporting dog, NSDTR or thereabouts in size. I have had my fill of lap dogs and house dogs and finicky barkee neurotic yappee dogs.

Princess Daisy only barks when she perceives a real threat to my wife. She does not bite or nibble people. She does not pee or poop in the house or the quilt shop, where she works 4 days per week.

Get a Chuck-it and several of the glow in the dark balls and spend time every evening before dinner flinging the ball for fetch. This is great exercise for the both of you. You will be surprised what a difference this makes in your dogs behaviour.

Also, please understand that this forum is usually discovered by people with a Golden Retriever that have a need that requires feedback from other owners. There are 20,800 members here. AKC says that G.R.'s are about 6% of the registered dogs on their database. 2008 numbers are about 65,000 G.R. dogs registered with AKC. I would speculate that actual G.R.'s registered with AKC is about 25% of G.R's owned. So, about 10% of G.R's have had "problems" enough that their owners seek help? Thats a small number, considering. All this to conclude, you have a great dog. Just give him time to grow into a great dog. Exercise, proper training, and patience are the keys.

"Stop that, oh you bad dog, don't chew the rug", is bad behaviour on your part.
"NO!" is good behaviour on your part.

The trainer, if a good one, will help you as much as they will help your dog. Seriously, time and money well spent once you find the right one. Ask for referrels here, and then interview them. Does not necessarly mean a lot of money either.


Max

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I am completely surprised to hear you feel most posts are about problem Goldens (what forums do you usually pick to read from?)
Did you ever have any human children? A Golden is a piece of cake by comparison!