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My Golden Retriever Puppy is an Absolute Menace

7K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  GoldenGiant 
#1 ·
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
Vertebrate Felidae Carnivore Pet supply Mammal


The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤
 

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#5 ·
you are a fantastic writer and just had me in tears laughing at my desk so thank you for that.. lol..

How much off lead play time does he get in a day? Sounds like he needs to be able to burn some serious energy off. Leash walking will do none of that..
Rusty makes me laugh cry every day without fail!

You are so right about the energy and off leash being the only real way to meet his needs there. I let him play off leash 2x per day.

He is off leash outside in the yard for 30 mins after breakfast. We finish up his eating with training outside then he does fetch and zoomies/ rolling around and sprinting and tumbling for 30. In the afternoon we walk to a nearby baseball field and do 45- 1 hour (dependent on how much grass he’s eating up, if he’s truly running around and playing we stay 1 hour+ out there).

I keep him on leash once it’s dark when we are outside, just given his proclivity to lunge at me more at night. Do you think I should try to get more off leash time in? Open to any suggestions. He's my first golden.
 
#7 ·
Rusty is a lucky guy with an owner determined to stick it out through the puppy days. Puppies are fun and I'm always relieved when they're not puppies anymore.

I'd suggest dropping $100 on Connie Cleveland's Performance Puppy Primer, even if you don't plan to do any kind of performance events with your puppy. It has tons of great age-appropriate training activities, with a big focus on developing retrieving skills. Your puppy needs more than those little puzzles. He needs brain and body exercise. Building a retrieving foundation will give you a way to exercise him even if you don't have access to a big open area where you can let him run off leash everyday.

Also, be ultra-vigilant about the socks and underwear. If he goes beyond shredding and starts swallowing, you could be looking at thousands of dollars in vet bills for a blockage and possibly a dead puppy. I own one of those swallowers and spent more than $7k in vet bills before he was a year old.

Looking forward to updates.
 
#8 ·
Rusty is a lucky guy with an owner determined to stick it out through the puppy days. Puppies are fun and I'm always relieved when they're not puppies anymore.

I'd suggest dropping $100 on Connie Cleveland's Performance Puppy Primer, even if you don't plan to do any kind of performance events with your puppy. It has tons of great age-appropriate training activities, with a big focus on developing retrieving skills. Your puppy needs more than those little puzzles. He needs brain and body exercise. Building a retrieving foundation will give you a way to exercise him even if you don't have access to a big open area where you can let him run off leash everyday.

Also, be ultra-vigilant about the socks and underwear. If he goes beyond shredding and starts swallowing, you could be looking at thousands of dollars in vet bills for a blockage and possibly a dead puppy. I own one of those swallowers and spent more than $7k in vet bills before he was a year old.

Looking forward to updates.
Heard loud and clear on the socks / underwear. He’s getting very good with the “leave it” command. He’s a fast learner (I didn’t focus enough on all his great qualities in the post!) But it’s also on me right now to make sure I keep spaces puppy proofed (including my bedroom). $7k in vet bills. Woof. These dogs empty bank accounts.

Excuse me while I rush to buy your recommendation. Rusty is about to wake up from a nap and he is expecting me to pick up my activity / training game asap.
 
#9 ·
Ohmygod - that is NOT where I thought your post was going to go. I felt ill when I read "my puppy is a menace" and I am so glad I kept reading! Puppies are definitely a lot of work - hard work - and it can be really tiring at times (when you wrote, "I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now," I was like, welcome to puppyhood!) - but it is also SO rewarding, as I think you are experiencing, too. It sounds like you are doing great and approaching all the challenges and joys of a new puppy with the right mindset. Here's what I have learned with having raised just two puppies... it just gets better and better every day. And going through it all and figuring it out together makes your bond so strong. :)
 
#13 ·
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
View attachment 899415

The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤
Seven words: Your puppy needs to learn impulse control!

Study Sheila Judd's YouTube channel Dreamgaits. You will be amazed by the results of her dog training skills!

And please, do not believe the lie that your puppy will "get better with time". Take the time to educate yourself so you know what work you need to put in.





Positive reinforcement only advocates, before you badmouth a balanced dog trainer, please consider: "Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance. " - Albert Einstein

I'm not talking about investigation by reading what this and that scientist or behaviorist has to say; I'm talking about investigating by testing the methods of a balanced dog trainer for yourself and determining what works for you and your dog. In my opinion, the proof is in Sheila's videos. No amount of "scientific evidence" for positive reinforcement only is going to convince me if what I'm seeing is completely different. There are plenty of people that try to sound brilliant while explaining away the obvious.
 
#14 ·
Study Sheila Judd's YouTube channel Dreamgaits. You will be amazed by the results of her dog training skills!
I was uncomfortable watching the body language of the dog on the table in the first video. IMHO that is not the kind of outcome someone should want from their training, and if this trainer views it as a training "success", it would put me off her methods somewhat. I also had a look at her YouTube channel as you suggested and she lost me completely with the video stating that choke chains are the "only" way to teach a dog not to pull on leash. That is, to be kind, hogwash. It, and her many references to "hierarchy", are based on long-debunked theories of dog training. IMHO her approach isn't "balanced" because it doesn't seem to take the dog into account very much, if at all.

Whatever method you use, training shouldn't undermine the dog. There are countless ways to teach a dog how to do stuff, and how to achieve impulse control, without bullying it.

I don't know if you read the OP's post through to the end, but it seems to me that she's doing a great job.
 
#18 ·
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
View attachment 899415

The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤
I had one just like that and he ended up being the most amazing dog ever. Hang in there 💕
 
#19 ·
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
View attachment 899415

The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
View attachment 899415

The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤

I am living this right now with my 11 week old Cowboy, and needed to hear this! How is Rusty doing these days?!
Dog Dog breed Carnivore Companion dog Fawn
 
#20 ·
Hi all, I’m new here. I’ve spent many a late night hour deep diving into posts and advice on this forum, so thank you to all you strangers who share here. You have brought me a lot of solace, and a lot of laughs (and tips).

Rusty came home three weeks ago, and he is 11 weeks old.

Rusty is a menace.

Rusty is a big boy, and he has trouble controlling his body when he runs around indoors. His paws need constant stimulation, and that often results in large scratch marks across my entire body.

Rusty chews up everything in sight (yard and house were heading towards total destruction status after week 1) and is a kleptomaniac with socks and underwear. Yesterday, while on a walk, I found a piece of my underwear torn up in a yard 10 houses down from mine. He must have carried it hidden in his mouth during another walk and secretly dropped it there(?!). Poor neighbor probably thought something very not okay happened in the night on their lawn.

Rusty eats extremely fast, I didn’t have time to sit down for my own breakfast our first week with him. I don’t have much time for anything non-Rusty right now.

Socially, Rusty is… interesting. With humans who are strangers, he lunges and playfully nips at their body. With other dogs, he hides under my legs and whimpers. With me, he can’t be left to do anything independently.

About 5-10 times a day, Rusty looks up at me as if he possessed and lunges forward and latches onto my clothing or body and clamps his shark teeth down. I fight back tears and try hard not to scream out and rile him up further. I spent the first week and a half reasoning with my boyfriend that Rusty will surely “grow out of it” and that “positive affirmation is the only way to handle biting”. I had a long hard (crying) look in the mirror day 10 - after a particularly bad night walk where Rusty bit me three times and I was bleeding -and in a bout of self pity, I decided I was a failure as a mother and crumbled into the bath to nurse my wounds.

Rusty doesn’t crash, he would continue running around 24 hours if left to his own devices. Cute late night cuddling on the couch with my little fluff ball son? Yeah right.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably shaking your head right about now. If you’re not, you should be.

Rusty is a puppy. And puppies are often menaces.

Yeah, he’s a big boy. Rusty has the cutest big bear paws. He loves using them to scratch at new surfaces and hold down toys or sticks. It’s my responsibility to help guide him and his big paws towards the right places and things, and away from the wrong. He’s an inquisitive baby boy learning how to move, he’s incredibly athletic, and it’s amazing watching him figure out how to climb and jump (he falls a lot, I panic that he’s hurt, but he gets right up with his tail wagging and on to the next adventure).

I have now designated a comfy and open “place” in the house that’s his. I am gently yet assuredly moving him back to there whenever he needs it while inside. Sometimes meaning 50 times a day. Yeah, I don’t take my eyes off of him now when he’s out of the crate. He always gets a treat when he lands in his place. Lil baby boy gets a small treat whenever he so much as lays down by himself calmly.

To prevent major destruction, and to help him figure out boundaries, I now have him on a leash at all times (inside too, even when he’s just sitting with a Kong or walking around on his own - the leash drags behind him). He hated it for a day, he forgot the leash existed the next day. Now he loves when I put it on when he gets out of his crate, because he sits as I do it and he gets a treat. Oh how toddler brains work.

On that note, it seems that with Rusty’s bigger than average body, comes a bigger than average brain. Yes, he chews, he steals, he hides things. But none of this is malicious. Goldens are so smart, it’s actually insanely cool to be around when they’re puppies.

He knows how to open my clothing drawers, sort through them with his nose to locate my socks and underwear, and then hide them elsewhere. For now, this just means I have a puppy who loves puzzles and needs challenges to replicate that kind of excitement. Daily. Which is a great thing.

Forget the 20 little squeaky and cute fluffy puppy toys I ordered for him before his arrival. I’ve now replaced them with a variety of puzzle toys that require him to problem solve to find food and treats. He loves kong-type chew toys, and I’m upping daily training a lot to replace some of the unstructured roaming time (he gets bored fast). Bring on hide and seek and anything that requires him to use his nose or fetch. I can’t wait to see him in action retrieving as a bigger dog.

Yeah, Rusty could set the world record for fastest eater. The boy likes his food! Can’t blame him. However, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rusty now has to earn his food.

He likes it better this way, and I like it better this way.

He spends 10 minutes (argh, now it’s more like 5 since he figured the puzzle feeder out so fast) getting half his meal from a puzzle. Then the other half comes from focused training and our walks together. A bonus perk is that the second I put the puzzle down, I can sprint to the kitchen and scarf down some food and a coffee so I’m not as grouchy as I was his first week here.

Yeah, Rusty needs my help socially. Just as I sure as h*** needed help socially during my adolescence. It’s my job to read his body language, react appropriately, and adjust socialization time to make sure I am exposing him to the right people / sounds/ places / other dogs, at the right times, and with the right approach. Will I do this perfectly? No way. But I know he will work with me and help me to help him. He’s such a loving and friendly pup, he needs my focused attention and patience as he explores the world.

As for the shark teeth. Ah, the infamous baby shark teeth. They are not fun. No skirting around that. After my self-pity bath, I put some ointment on the bites and reminded myself that I should NOT feel scared or out of control of Rusty, and that I am not a terrible mother. He deserves an upbringing full of love. I want nothing more than to give him that. But I can’t give him that if I’m allowing him to lunge and bite at me, and not teaching him that such behavior is absolutely unacceptable.

Personally, it’s now a hard no for me. No replacing a skin bite with a toy, no turning my back only to feel the teeth dig into my calf, no cowering in pure terror when it’s dark out and he has zoomies at 9pm and decides to come barreling, no putting my hands gently on his snout only to release and get bit again (he sees that as a game, not his fault!). It’s now - and will moving forward continue to be - a stern but calm “NO BITE” and immediate 20-30 second time out where I leave his sight.

When he’s calm and out from that break, we quickly transition to a command he knows well (sit) and of course an immediate treat celebrating his calmness and positive behavior. I am already sensing a shift in his behavior on this front. And no, he does not act scared of me after his time out, he wags his tail and seems excited to do a command that he feels confident in.

I am not a dog trainer, nor an expert. But personally I have to lay down some hard lines in the sand with Rusty. No biting is one of them. I do this not to punish him, but to guide him and set us on course for a healthy, loving and functioning relationship as a dog and dog owner.


Finally, it appears I have a golden baby that can’t self soothe yet. Is that his fault? Of course not. Is that even a fault!? No! Selfishly, of course we all dream of laying on the couch after a day of nonstop training and feeding and walking and cleaning (and repeating) only to have our worn out sleepy nugget curl into sleep on our chest.

Some of you jerks get that, and yeah I’m very jealous (just kidding, about the jerk part). Some get a puppy with a smaller bladder, meaning you’re up multiple times in the night as a zombie heading out to the yard. I got a dog that from night one could sleep in the crate from 11pm to 6:30am and has a total of 3 indoor accidents (my fault). I count my blessings there. Sleep deprived golden puppy parents, please call me a jerk right now in your heads. We all need an outlet 😂.

Yeah, so my Rusty doesn’t self soothe. I have to adjust to that appropriately. I have a new set nap schedule every day. He doesn’t seem tired, but I put him down and hope for the best.

Call me crazy, but I caved and got a little $30 camera I put looking down at his crate. I watched it for the first time the other night.

My worry dissipated immediately.

He collapsed into sleep right after the lights were turned off, nuzzling into his little bear toy I thought he hated and curling into an adorable fluff ball with his tongue half out. I sat on the couch and watched it as he turned onto his back, his paws sticking up, and I teared up. I have such a sweet, cuddly boy. He just isn’t ready yet to be like that with me. I know one day he will be.

Here is Rusty sleeping like a baby and my boyfriend probably yelling at me around midnight last night to go to bed and stop crying watching the puppy camera:
View attachment 899415

The moral of the story here? There are solutions to every challenge my little rascal throws at me. He’s not actually throwing anything at me (other than his body), he’s just being a puppy. Many of the solutions are exhausting, require compromise and adjustments, and are going to take a lot of diligence and repetition to actually stick. What an exciting adventure.

My golden puppy is an absolute menace. And I love him. I wish you all the very very best with your own pups ❤
Thanks so much for the post. We have been through almost exactly the same thing with our beautiful, joyful, spirited little pain in the *** Rose. At nine months we are still working on the mouthiness and a hard NO has been the only solution so far. Rose is independent and fearless and the best response to her shenanigans has been an aggressive, but firmly loving one, with absolute zero tolerance. It is the only thing that has gotten through so far. It has required flexibility and adapatability on our parts but with a good, solid daily routine we have been able to isolate and contain (somewhat) some of Rose's most frustrating behaviour, those being jumping and nipping/biting. We are making slow progress but OMG it's taking a LOT of work. None of her mouthiness is malicious or aggressive, at nine months she still just has so much puppy energy that she doesn't seem to know what to do with. At her best she is utterly adorable and it make us wonder how she can shift from such sweetness to such frustration for us. I often feel that we could have done better in curbing her problem behaviors but we have tried so many things that it leaves me scratching my head. Our other two goldens were not like her. But we love her dearly and she obviously loves us too. It's all one big crazy package that we're all wrapped up in. And I know it will only get better.

Best of luck with your Rusty little Menace!
 
#21 ·
I wish I had seen this thread when it first posted, as my own little heathen was about 5 months old at the time and I was exhausted and frustrated and a little worried about what I had gotten myself into. It would have helped to hear the thoughts of someone experiencing similar challenges at the time! Chill is now almost 15 months old and doing SO much better, BUT he is still far more challenging than any dog I've had before him. I swear we did nothing but yell "CHILL!!" for the first year (to the point where my sensitive middle dog has had a surge of anxiety symptoms). We still have baby gates up everywhere, the only room he can be trusted in unsupervised for even a few minutes is the kitchen (as long as we haven't left anything on the counters, because he still does sometimes counter surf), and we are still correcting some mouthiness. He is obsessed with fabric (we have holes and chunks taken out of towels, and dog beds, and sheets, and soft toys... and yes, he'll swallow what he tears off), we have to keep things like remote controls and glasses where he can't get at them, and he is a major pain in the butt to my older dog (always pulling on his legs, scruff or tail trying to get him to play). My holistic vet has found structural alignment issues in both of my older dogs from Chill's play style and has recommended that my oldest not be allowed to be loose in the yard with him for fear he'll T-bone or hump her. In the yard he either barks his head off at nothing, or he digs up and eats huge clumps of grass and dirt. He's the first dog I've seriously considered putting a ecollar on, and I have ordered a anti-scavenge muzzle for him to try to avoid the inevitable trip to the emergency vet if he keeps eating all that dirt!

On the up side... he's become much more snuggly, which I despaired of seeing when he was a puppy and didn't even seem to like us very much. He's become much more responsive to verbal correction and there is a LOT less yelling going on in our house. For the most part, he and the cats have reached detente (although he's still a PIA with them when he's bored - at least they're back to joining us and not hiding in another room). His demand barking (which was the biggest source of stress when he was a puppy) has almost completely resolved. He is now fabulous in his crate at night - going in willingly for a handful of kibble and sleeping till we get up in the morning (even if I'm up in the night and turn on the TV). And, oh boy, is he smart and fun to train! He's been in training classes pretty much continually since January and somehow managed to earn his CGC this summer. We have started his agility foundations class and he's doing wonderfully there and showing a lot of potential. He's even getting better on the leash! I'm still looking forward to the day when he doesn't need constant supervision and our household can get back to "normal" but at least I feel more hopeful that that day will come than I did back in January when this thread was started!

Anyway, @RustysMomma, if you are still ever on the Forum, I would LOVE to hear how your boy is doing now!
 
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