# Crazy puppy - help!



## sarahmc (Aug 7, 2017)

Hi everyone, I grew up with a golden and she was the ideal dog - easy puppy and perfect companion. I have been dying to get a golden my whole adult life, and finally did 4 weeks ago. But she's a terror. She bites ankles and hands and has actually drawn blood, tears clothes (she's ruined four of my shirts), and barks non-stop. We are doing puppy classes at Pet Smart and she knows sit, down, and leave it, but it doesn't matter when she's hyper. It all goes out the window. She's 13 weeks old, and I don't know how much more I can take. We spent $2K on her, and she's essentially holding us prisoner in our own home. My whole family is virtually living upstairs while she stays downstairs. My kids, 7 and 9, are afraid of her sometimes, and my husband hates her. We can no longer watch tv in our living room because she won't stop jumping on us and biting us, and dinner is horrible with her incessant barking. We've tried kongs, chewers, antlers, and bully sticks, but nothing occupies her more than 10 minutes if that. Any ideas or support would be appreciated.


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## LdyTlfrd (Jan 11, 2017)

Welcome to the forums & congratulations on your new family addition. 

We lived through a similar time last summer when we brought Luna, who's almost 16 mos old, home. She bit me, hubby & our 3 kids (then aged 17, 19 & 27). She chewed anything & everything she could get her mouth on. When we brought our jack russell terrier 7 years before at age 4 mos, he was house trained within a week. He never chewed anything that wasn't his i.e. socks, shoes, wood trim. 

Then came Luna ... she bit everyone of us, she chewed up too many blankets to count, she even chewed up my jack's toys he had since he was a puppy. She ripped apart her bed. 

Hubby & my older children worked, my youngest in high school, I felt like a prisoner at home. I had moments when I wanted to get rid of her. 

What worked for us may not work for you, but we did find that tiring her out seemed to help with the biting & chewing. We also kept a training lead on her so she couldn't get too far from any one of us. When we couldn't keep an eye on her, she was crated. 

When she nipped at any of us, play was stopped & she was ignored. 

Goldens are people dogs, Luna loved being near us so we used that to our advantage. We had her lay down under the table at dinnertime. It is now automatic for her to get under the table and fall asleep during our meals. She loved having her head patted, so when she does overly aggressive we ask her if she wants "pats", she will sit & wait for pats. 

Is there a treat she especially likes? Use that when she behaves (Luna loves cucumbers, carrots & sweet potatoes). 

It does get better. There will be good days & not so good. 

Best of luck


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

Penny was a little hell hound too. The first month was the worst!! It very very slowly got better. Keep training, keep working with her. Soon you will see glimmers of the good dog hiding in there. 
Penny is 18 mo old now. She can still be a pain but when she is good she is SO good. 
Have the kids work with the puppy on leash as much as possible. Have them take her for walks. Train commands etc. It'll help build the bond and give them a way to interact until things calm down a little. My now 12yo is training Penny for obedience and rally through our local 4-H program. If you have a local 4-H club it might be worth looking into


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Congratulations you have a 100% normal Golden Retriever puppy!

Take a look through the Puppy to 1 year section of this board, you will find hundreds of threads just like yours with new puppies, and lots of invaluable advise for how to deal with these little landsharks we call Golden puppies. 

My first suggestion is to get a crate and/or a puppy pen, and put her in it when you need to sit down and eat, or just sit down and relax a little bit. It's the same concept as a play pen for a human baby, they are safe and you can take your eyes off them for a bit.

Also, take her outside and do a lot of running, playing fetch, chasing a dragging toy, things that will run out her energy a little. Start working on basic obedience commands like sit, down, and even shake. Mental stimulation wears them out too.


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## Jrey (Jun 13, 2017)

This is so normal! Go read some of the posts I've made--- we had a lot of the same issues. That was us two months ago. Our puppy was quite the terror originally. She's got so much energy, is constantly on the go! She is also a demand barker--- so if she's bored, she barks at us. We had the "oh my god, what did we get ourselves into" moments for the first 3 weeks. 

Crate training has been amazing. We learned that she was worst (biting on us, zooming about) when she was tired and really needed a nap. We'd put her in her crate when she got out of control, and 45 mins later she'd come out a refreshed happy puppy!

She's now nearing 5 months, and although she is not perfect, needs supervision constantly, she's SO much better. We can't imagine life without her now! Frozen Kongs have been a lifesaver. We put peanut butter, kibble, and plain yogurt in the kong, and freeze it. It keeps her occupied while we watch our favorite show, while we shower, whatever we need to do. Sometimes she'll get two or three a day (she's harder to keep weight on right now, growing like a weed, so vet says this is fine). 

Obedience classes tire her out like no other! Do a training session with her (15 mins?) and she'll pass out. Make her brain work


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## sarahmc (Aug 7, 2017)

Thanks, everyone. It's reassuring to hear this is normal! Just have to get through these next couple months I guess! I will check out the puppy forum and try some of your suggestions.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

The good thing is - at about 4 or 5 months, she's going to start losing those razor sharp teeth, and the biting will get better. You can start by training "no bite". We did this by smearing a bit of peanut butter on the back of our hand and saying "good kisses!" while Noah licked it off. Then that morphed to "no bite, kisses". 

At 2.5 years old, the "bad days" are pretty much forgotten, it's been so long ago. 

Here's a good link you might want to check out from the stickies in the puppy forum: 

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...y-up-1-year/380986-its-puppy-not-problem.html


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## Stacy Kilday Duke (Aug 9, 2017)

I'm in the same boat, my 13 week old only thinks of me as a chew toy. I can't get him to play fetch or play with toys. I feel bad locking him up but it's the only way I can get a few minutes without getting torn up. 

He gets especially "aggressive?" When I stop him from trying to eat rocks and eat them or dig. GOES CRAZY!! i've trained several dogs I'm very consistent I worked on sit, stay, come, shake and lay down. 

He doesn't like taking walks just lays there. He won't play fetch. HELP


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## RK13 (Oct 16, 2020)

Stacy Kilday Duke said:


> I'm in the same boat, my 13 week old only thinks of me as a chew toy. I can't get him to play fetch or play with toys. I feel bad locking him up but it's the only way I can get a few minutes without getting torn up.
> 
> He gets especially "aggressive?" When I stop him from trying to eat rocks and eat them or dig. GOES CRAZY!! i've trained several dogs I'm very consistent I worked on sit, stay, come, shake and lay down.
> 
> He doesn't like taking walks just lays there. He won't play fetch. HELP


Hi Stacy, 
Your post is from a while ago, but I wondered whether you manage to deal with this behaviour? Am having the very same problem with my 9wk old pup.. any advice would be much appreciated! thanks.


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