Did you ever question your decision to get a puppy?

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

   Many of you will probably hate me for saying this.Today was a day where I
questioned my decision to bring a puppy into our lives. Mind you, this
was not an impulsive decision. I thought it out for almost 2 years,
waited for my kids to be old enough and read and researched as much as I
could before deciding on the breed and the breeder. After that I waited
about 5 months on a wait list. After all this, today I have been
questioning the sanity of my decision.
   Ollie was a complete tyrant today.Biting, nipping, growling and pretty much acting like a complete
maniac. I give him plenty of stimulation through training and play, as
well as plenty of quiet time, but he was getting so wound up today that
it was out of control. He pretty much terrorized my loving and gentle
daughters. I was almost in tears with frustration. He was lunging and
growling for seemingly no reason. He also latches on to my shoes or
clothes and will not let go no matter how firmly I say "NO". When I try
to remove him physically, he goes completely berserk. I gave him short time outs but as soon as he was out he would repeat the whole process. 
   The growling and lunging to bite is a big concern to me. I got the number of a trainer
who does in-home sessions and I will be calling him tomorrow. Just so
frustrated today!!
I wonder if there is any chance that he will turn into the lovable, sweet doodle like the one I was dreaming of.

[Melissa & Porter]

I had a little post-puppy depression with Porter. Never had it with my kids. But I wanted him so bad, and read and researched so much, but found myself a bit horrified by the whole housetraining process and puppy wildness. My weird mental state (of Oh, what have I done!) went away after a couple weeks, thank God!
I quickly learned to crate him in the evenings while bathing and getting my kids ready for bed. Otherwise he would race around like a maniac hopped up on their energy, and usually he drop a load of poop on an rug somewhere too.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Haha! PPD does get a whole new meaning doesn't it? I guess Postpartum depression and post puppy depression aren't that different :-) Thank you.

[Jodi and Stella]

Stella had me in tears 3 days after she came home. I was convinced she was the spawn of Satan, lots of nipping, growling and what I perceived as aggressive behavior. She is 16 weeks now and soooo much better. Yeah she still has her bratty moments, but the good times outweigh the bad for sure. I think Ollie is still getting used to his new family as are you getting used to him. One piece of advice-don't take it personally, he is just a rambunctious puppy.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Thank you. Spawn of Satan is a great way to describe Ollie yesterday too. I'm hoping for a better day today. :-)

[Sandy]

Ha, ha - Toby was a spawn of Satan too. Should we add this to the list of doodle characteristics? :)

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

I know I am repeating myself, but I have no idea what I would do without all of you on doodle kisses. I was feeling so down and guilty yesterday. Reading all your posts has been a great help to me and my husband. It is my first ever dog and my husband grew up with a dog but his parents were the ones who took care of all that stuff so it is all pretty much new to him too.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

DK got me through the teeny puppy stages. Seriously. The Puppy Madness Group made me feel like I might not lose my mind.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Our Ditzi Mitzy is appropriately named. She has been a handful since we got her at 6 months of age. She just turned 3 years old in October and is finally beginning to show a much calmer, more eager to please attitude. She still does "mouthing" on occassion, however, she is not "biting". This is her way of reassuring herself that we are there. This happens when we are out shopping and come home. I was told by someone who was familiar with retreivers that they mature between 3 and five years of age. We were more familiar with Standard Poodles and they (at least the ones we had) were pretty calm by one year of age. Good Luck, and don't give up, he will get better. The trainer should be a big help. We weren't waiting 3 years for her to calm down, she did have training which helped a lot!

[Paul & Michele]

When we got both of our dogs I felt like this at different points Molly growled (kinda a low leave me alone growl) twice at our daughter and I called the breeder for advice and she told me to roll up a newspaper and everytime she attempted to growl at her to whack her (Molly) on the nose with it and tell her no very sternly. Soooo we did it once and that was all it took I think her feelings got hurt but she realized that she wasn't going to be able to get away with that. Now chewing on our new birch trees out back is a whole different story. I ended up buying 3 new ones of those. Now Bailee she is just 8 months old and she had issues with jumping on you again I called the breeder she told us to grab ahold of the end of her nose and squeeze it if she does it again squeeze it harder..this has also seemed to help..Don't worry it will get better just alot of patience...

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I have never questioned my decision. I was soooo ready for my Gracie. But...same problems. We got her at 6 weeks and by 8 or 10 weeks we had a private trainer in our home training US! Well worth it but you have to follow through...everyone in hour house has to be on the same page or it won't work!!! I have been so blessed with my big floppy,beautiful, smart, silly loving girl!!

[Jessica & Lucie]

I only questioned it from months 4-8...:)
Time continued to pass however and now that we are about 12 months past that the memories of "Lucie Monster" are fading, and a cute cuddly puppy almost seems like a good idea again....well maybe not quite yet.
It has been completely worth it though, and one day I will do it again. I am sure when Ollie is 1.5 you will be in a much different mindset than you are now. During the Lucie Monster days I definitely said "never again" quite frequently, but it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Just think, you are also learning and growing yourself by dealing with the challenges of a puppy.
And he WILL turn into a loveable sweet doodle (I swore mine was "different" from the other doodles too and somedays I still do), just give him a few months, lots of love and training :)

[Anna and Achilles]

HE will return, It is all about the exercise and consistent training. Take a deep breath and know it will get better.