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.

[Holly Doodle]

We definitely had some "buyers remorse" a few times after we got Holly. I swore she was possessed by something evil for a short time. There was one night where I took her for a walk wearing a cream colored coat. The whole way up the block she jumped and barked and growled and bit at my coat until finally I picked her up and carried her home. My dh said when I walked in the house my coat was torn and covered in bloody teeth marks (she was teething) and dirt. He said I looked as if I'd been attacked by a wild animal. After a day or so I forgave her, but one thing I learned from the experience is not to take it personal! There were many more incidents similar to this one and if we took all of her biting and growling personal we would have gotten rid of her. We learned that she responded MUCH better to positive reinforcement vs negative corrections. We crate trained her to prevent as much of this behavior as we could until the puppy stage passed, and we gave her lots of exercise and training.

She is now 1 1/2 years old and the most adorable lovable dog you'll ever meet. She never bites or growls, she just wants to cuddle and play. It will pass, so stay strong and keep a positive attitude. Good luck!

[Sandy]

YES - oh my word, yes. There were times I would have opened the door and given him to any person that walked past, no questions asked. Read some of my previous posts - it was rough. But now - Toby is loving, obedient, and just an all round excellent dog. It takes time, patience and perseverence. Toby is 2 1/2, and I am so glad I didn't give up. My son just said to me this morning "Why do you think there are so many 1 year old dogs in the pound? Because people won't stick it out and put in the time." He's right. Hang in there - this too shall pass.....even though it may feel like it won't. We've all been there. :)

[Carol and Banjo]

It's been raining here all day....that means Banjo's been "cooped up inside" all day except for potty breaks. THAT means he's off the wall crazy! I laughed reading your response because DH just threatened to open the door and "let him go"! Tomorrow I'm going to try him on the treadmill. There'll be lots of miserable days ahead of us and this may be a way for him to release some puppy energy!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Oh boy..... I know I've responded to this in a positive and I know they grow out of this stage. ....

Hmmmm... I was just cuddling with Lucca this morning who is now 2 and thinking...we get another puppy in 3 weeks. Our mornings won't be this quiet anymore for quite awhile. We'll have a puppy jumping all over us and nipping and going crazy with the zoomies and everything else that goes along with puppy madness, as well as the cute kisses and puppy breath and cuddles of course (when they're not Satan:)).

Then I think...it's so short term and they turn into these incredibly wonderful lovable goofy adult dogs. Yes!!!!!! it's worth it. Hang in there!!!

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Since I read this post I have been bothered by the suggestion to "roll up a newspaper and whack him on the nose" or grab his nose and squeeze it hard when he misbehaves. I really believe there are better ways to train a dog without making
him afraid of paper and / or hands coming near him, which both these outdated methods may do.

My trainer suggested folding our arms and turning our back to our dog when she would try to "mouth" us. Even a high pitched yelp from us, to let her know she was hurting us would be better than whacking her on the nose. Hope your training session went well, and please keep us informed as to his progress. I find it hard to believe all the trouble our Mitzi got into when I see how beautifully behaved she is (knock on wood) today. She seems to understand all her commands and is cooperating every time I request something. We also only use positive reinforcement with treats for good behavior.

Again, Good Luck and Good Wishes for a calmer pup. (and, yes, Bitter Apple helped a lot!)

[Robin Evenson]

I also disagree with the newspaper thing. A puppy at this age will respond better to the type of socialization its mother would have done when he miss behaved, with a growl or a yelp or picking him up by the neck.

[Carrie B and Maggie Goldendoodle]

I have had Maggie since mid August, she is now 21 weeks and has almost "graduated" puppy classes and I still wonder at some point almosr daily why exactly was I so consumed with adding more on my plate (I also have kids 16, 7, 4 and 2 and a husband in the Army) then to boot the over all cost...
Atleast once a day Maggie wears me down with front paws on the couch or mouthing the kids. All and all she is a well behaived pup but a pup none the less. My trainer has been wonderful and I wuld have never thought it but she didn't think Maggie was taking enough naps and we had one long walk at the end of the day. We reworked some things so she goes on 2 walks and I try and make more down time for her. We crate her and go upstairs to play for awhile etc..
All and all I think with the right tools and time it will improve.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Ollie is my cuddlebug again :-) (I know it will be an 'on again off again' thing for a while)
Thanks to all of your suggestions and reading a bunch of stuff online, I realized that he Ollie has a "witching hour" like one of you suggested. One at around 5:30 in the evening and one more when my husband gets home from work at around 8PM. Last 2 days I've acted calm and assertive and just distracted him with toys and then sent him to his crate for a nap by luring him with a treat. That seems to be working like a charm (knock on wood). He is still going mad nipping from time to time, but I am slowly learning not to take it as aggression but just puppy madness. That has made a huge difference in my frame of mind. Ollie is much calmer when I am calm and in charge. He hasn't even growled yesterday and today (except at his toys when he is attacking them). I'm yet to call the trainer. If things continue as they are now, I'll just take him to puppy training after his 3rd round of shots like originally planned. The private in-home sessions are quite expensive, so we figured we will wait for a week and see how things go with our new approach. I will keep you all posted. I am learning just as much as he is or maybe more through this experience.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Puppy kindergarten did wonders for Darwin, I hope Ollie has equal success in it. Keep us posted on his progress, and I'm glad you are feeling better. :-)

[Melissa & Porter]

I am so happy that you are finding Ollie more predictable and manageable now. Yay!
LOL at him growling at his toys :-) Porter also was (and is) very vocal. He growls and rumbles when he runs around with other dogs, growls at desirable food on the kitchen counter, growls at his toys trapped under furniture. I sometimes over-explain myself to quiet-dog owners if they cannot see that he does not intimidate their dogs (the dogs can tell he is a playful mush).
He is almost two and he still wants to play at my kids' bedtime, but is thankfully *mostly* content to chew on a bone or play fetch with a stuffy while I read to them (multitasking is a mom's special skill, right?). Also the play is short, like 10 min and then he flops to rest.

[Betsy Laban]

Our Bodhi is 11 months old, just short of 90 pounds... and...yes...I will say it out loud....I picked up the phone several times to see if the breeder would take him back. My sweet husband never knew about this but I too felt so guilty bringing this Hell Dog home that I just wanted my old life back.
I cried for months...MONTHS....from emotional and physical exhaustion. I thought I was going to loose my mind and because he is so big I was afraid of the way he was going to act in public.
On our walks he still looses it. He gets over stimulated and attacks me. I step on the leash and tell him he is on a time out and turn my back on him. Oh by the way....on a leash even if you step on it...he can still reach feet and ankles.
Our "Puppy Socializer" made all the difference in the world. I was bruised and bleeding for months. Again let me repeat...MONTHS! Our trainer came in, showed us how a more positive attitude helps. We found out that our boy was very very sensitive so any agressive behavior on our part he would pick up on and throw it back at us. That meant lots of time outs, lots of sounds of disgust and turning our backs on him...although not completely because he loved to run up behind me when I would turn my back and bite me either on the butt or in the center of my back.
He still does this on occasion but time outs either tethered or forced nap time in his crate makes alot of difference.
I am hoping by the time he is two, as so many of you stated, he will be much better. And I will say every day is better than the last.
Every morning he wakes up, wants to cuddle and he gives so much love. I cherish the mornings, they are what reminds me that there is a good boy in there somewhere...behind the crazy eyes, growling, baring teeth and nipping.
NOW that being said, I know that my attitude makes all the difference in the world. Calmly putting him up for a nap, or making sure I pick up on things that need Time Outs before they get out of control, have made a huge difference in my sanity.
I swear, I never saw any of these behavior issues when I was researching our little man...and I am pretty sure I would have still brought him home...but at least I would have been prepared for the adventure ahead of me.
Good luck...take it slow...be gentle with yourself.

[Robin Evenson]

You've done the right thing to get a trainer that can come to your home environment and work with you on the training. Don't give up! I had a dog that went through a pretty difficult stage and we got past it and she was the best dog for many years after that. Fortunately the learning curve with Bella, my doodle, was much smaller, she doesn't have as many issues, but all dogs do, you just have to work through them and let them know their place in the family. Good luck!