Have I shared this with you before? We have a little over a year old golden. She is the biggest nuisance. We have done doggy training, we have made a huge effort to spend big amounts of time with her, we have bought her toys etc. But she won't quit tearing up stuff. We had a campout friday nite, sat nite my other two wanted to sleep in the tent. Well it started raining, and did not stop until today, so the tent has remained up. Also the dog has remained inside except for supervised potty breaks. Well this am, one of the kids let her out, I had to run and errand and didn't think about she had not been put back in. So I come home 1 hour later my very expensive family tent is now in shreds. We have really diligently tried to keep stuff away from the dog, but we have lost the use of our backyard because of this dog, she has torn up the swings, the volley ball net. We used to keep her inside constantly but we just can't function with her in the house, she is just a wild child, she is fine until the kids get home then she goes nuts. I am at my wits end and am ready to part with the dog. However I cannot convince my children that we would be happier without her. We lost our dear beloved dog almost 2 years ago, she was such a good dog and was easily trained, I miss her! I loved being a dog owner, but this dog brings me NO joy, just lots and lots of frustration. There is no real answer to this, I just needed to vent! My choices are suck up it up with the dog, she has to get better or break my kids hearts and part with her. We have had so many people losses in my family I hate to do that to them. UGH!

By Colette on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 04:18 pm:

can you put in a run for her or a pen and keep her in one section of the yard? Sounds like she has a lot of energy that she needs to burn off.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 05:03 pm:

Golden's really dont grow up until they are about 3. I would spay her if you havent already, I would also kennel her when you can not supervise her. We have a 14 yo golden, and he is the 3rd that I have had in my life. There are certain truths about them. They always have a bigger heart than their brains, they always need a tennis ball, and they love the heck out of kids. Thats why we put up w/ the crazy puppy stage, the perpetual shedding, and the bad skin. I would however not blame you if you decided to find another home for the dog. It is very hard to train a dog along with kids and the daily needs of the family. I personally would give the dog another 6 mths however, they do start to mellow out by a year and a half give or take. If you can stand getting them past the puppy stage they really are good dogs.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 05:07 pm:

What you described is our new dog to a T!!!! I cant stand her but DH loves her to death. We've cleared our backyard of everything but dog-friendly stuff including toys and stuff. They are out from 7 until right after dinner then the dogs are in all night. When we walk with her it seems to calm her down a bit, but we have to walk about 3 miles. Our dog is just young and has energy so I dont want to have her bouncing from home to home because nobody can control her. We just decided we will deal with it since my personal decision is that if we get an animal its for life.

Good Luck to you and I guess my point was to let you know you're not the only one is this situation.

By Kaye on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 05:22 pm:

I guess that is my dilema, when we decided to get a dog we decided for life. Well we got one froma rescue place that was aggressive and we have to get rid of it (it attacked my son's face, while I was holding her). So that was hard, but we KNEW we could not keep that dog, we were thankful that it didn't scar him BADLY. So we got this dog in june (born in april), we have been trying so hard to calm her down, she has hip issues so we can't go for long walks. We were taking her out regularly, but I am the only one she will go with and that isn't my thing. We do have a kennel in the house that we use, so she doesn't tear up stuff in here. Ultimately i think she needs to be the "only baby" in the house and she just isn't here. I feel like we really just don't do anything without having to stress about the dog. It is one thing to have a dog included, we always took our dog with us, etc, BUT we can't do that with her, she can't handle being in the car, the kennel is too big to fit in it and she won't stay put when she is tied up (we have a seatbelt thing she gets out of). Since she is a golden when we have her in the pen in the back (which we built to try to have kids over), she just goes nuts. So she spends more time caged up than she wants, but I can't trust her with the kids alone anymore, she tackles them and teeths them. It just isn't a win win situation for either of us and I just wonder if she would be happier elsewhere!

By Missmudd on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 06:25 pm:

I understand, your kids are pretty young to have a hyper 80 pound dog that eats everything. She probably would do better with a family with older children that would have a better chance of controlling her and being able to go on walks with her w/out having them getting dragged down the block. I am one of those folks that hate to give up however . See if you have a golden rescue in your area, they may be able to help you find a more suitable home for her and you would also know that she was going somewhere that she would get the things she needed. You may even be able to have an open adoption where you would know where she went. Also if you decide to keep your golden they probably have alot of good advice on how to get her to mind.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 06:54 pm:

Kaye, I just wanted to point out that when I said "ITs for life" I was talking about my situation. I know everyone is different, if this dog I have ever were to bite DD or show aggression in a way that threatened DD she would go quicker than you could imagine. Just do what is best for your family. And the Golden is still fairly young to adjust to another home fairly quickly. And this might sound bad to some but do you really want to keep and become attached to a dog that could cost you thousands down the line with hip problems that are showing up this early in life?

By Shellyg on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 08:25 pm:

Goldens are a handful! I have seen one too many hyper Goldens cross my rescue path, and even aggressive ones. Here is advice from our trainer who trains all my rescues. Put that dog on a treadmill! She has way too much energy to burn. Also, is she spayed and does she ever come inside the house? I'll be more than happy to take her and train her if you want to send her to California.

By Kathym on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 08:51 pm:

We adopted a lab mix from the pound six months ago and it sounds just like our situation. He has been neutered and dh took him to obedience school but he is a pain in the rear! Chews constantly, jumps, barks, etc, etc., I have been an animal lover my whole life and hate to give up on this dog but he is driving me crazy!!! Everyone says " what a great dog"..just wait until he settles down! However, I will be in the happy haven rest home when that happens

By Kaye on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 10:34 pm:

LOL Kathy, I hear that same thing. Hmmm shelly, I do have enough frequent flyer miles for a one way ticket, I should send the dog. She is indoors on and off. She is happiest inside so if I am hope she is in with me, those times she is a GREAT dog. But when the kids get home from school I can make it about half an hour and I have to kennel her. I tried kennelling her when they got home, then letting her out after they calmed down, well, it was a good theory, but it made the calm down period last closer to an hour and a half before I would just give up. So basically now she is either outside or crated in the house when the kids are home. We haven't completely decided what to do. We would definitly give her to the rescue, she is a pure bred with papers (although we did have her spayed ASAP), which is when they found her hip problems.

By Nicosmom on Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 01:39 am:

We groom a lot of Goldens. Their owners love them but agree that they can be trouble. Actually I groom one named Gabby and her owner nicknamed her Trouble. Is more training an option? It sounds like she needs lots of land to run and play on.

By Kittycat_26 on Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 08:24 am:

I don't have a golden but you could easily be talking about our boxer. She's 10 months old and she may not live to be a year.

I love her to death but most times I'm feeling like she needs to die. She's either jumping up on Timmy and knocking him down or leaning on him so he can't move. There is also the ripping up of our yard and chewing on Timmy's toys.

She is just a nightmare and I'm not sure what to do with her. Yes, I made a mistake getting a puppy with a toddler. I just keep telling myself that we will survive this. It will get better. Eventually Timmy will outweigh the dog and then the odds will be in our favor.

By Anonymous on Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 03:48 pm:

We went through the same thing. My son wanted a dog and we finally adopted one. Beautiful dog but a pain! Very good with the kids, just pesty.
In one m oment, out the next, then wants back in!
Waking us up on weekends to go out 6:15. Plus we like to travel and it gets expensive putting him in kennel, shots, etc. When he started digging his way out of the yard that was the last straw.
My husband brought him to the pound after having him 3 years. I did check back with them and found out he was adopted after 10 days so I felt much better. I think he was better off w/a family that was really into dogs. they are a lot of work thats for sure!