Aggressive Doodle

[Emily]

Hi all, 

I'm new here on the forum but have read a few threads about aggressive doodles and hoping I can get some help with/advice for our W. 

We brought home our F1b Goldendoodle pup in early August, and he is smart, spirited, and friendly. He's now about 4 1/2 months.

He's super trainable and great 95% of the time, but the other 5% he becomes almost a completely different dog. When he goes on walks or finds something we don't give him (trash, napkins, socks, etc.), he gets super possessive of the item and aggressive. He's bit my sister approximately 10 times, as well a friend and our building super. These are attack bites vs puppy bites. 

We've worked with a dog behaviorist and W's been to puppy kindergarten but it's still a recurring issue. The behaviorist thinks it's a temperament issue so could be something W struggles with the rest of his life. We're working on "re-conditioning" him so he forgets he ever bit people but he's continued to bite. 

Has anyone else experienced a similar issue with their pup? We're trying to figure out if we can continue training him and if it's solvable. It's a very sad decision but we're also trying to determine if another home outside of the city would help so he has more room for exercise and less stimulants (we live in NYC). 

My sister and I don't have kids yet but both want to eventually so that's why we're especially concerned. 

Any similar experiences you can share would be very helpful or experiences re-homing a dog who has shows this type of behavior. We haven't heard of this type of behavior and are hoping to hear some happy ending stories. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is excellent advice and wonderful references.