Grief is a good word. Our first dog was a Golden. We got her at 9 months from a friend and shortly thereafter sent her to train with a reputable trainer. He took extra long to return her because she was so hyper and he wanted her to master his basics. She was retuned Christmas Eve after 3.5 months away. I wasn’t worried; but the original owner felt for the dog being gone so long.

That first evening home she showed her teeth to my grandchildren by the Christmas tree. And it was heartbreaking. They knew her and had played with her before. They were so sad. I asked the trainer about it. He said he hadn’t seen this behavior and said “something about children is making her anxious.”

It led to her being an outside dog. My daughter was five. We had little ones over all the time. I have a lot of guilt about it, because I chose the trainer on a friend’s recommendation.

We eventually got three more dogs- all have great temperaments but we have all suffered due to the dysfunction she has caused, like when one child in the family is off-the-charts difficult.

She’s about ten now with bad arthritis. A few days ago she ate some insulation, and I took her to emergency. At the time I didn’t know that she had eaten something toxic, and it appeared she was just dying from respiratory illness. The vet advised to put her to sleep and made me sign a waiver that I was taking her home against their advice.

Thankfully she recovered. ( She is up to date on vaccines).

We have been spoiling her and letting her enjoy being an inside dog. But sadly she just showed a lot of aggression toward me, showing her teeth and snarling several times when I tried to tell her to go outside. She won basically.

Our little pug mutt gets angry and tries to tell her she was out of place . . .

So we continue to love her and adjust to what appears to have been brain damage PTSD perhaps with a bad trainer or program that was just too strenuous for her. She is usually beautiful, hyper, and sweet.

Hi Kathy,
I have the same issues with my nine month old golden. I have bruises and punctures on my arms. I have tried wrestling him to the ground, using an E collar with no improvement. I have tried to hold his two front paws up in the air after he jumps and that has slowed him down some.
I’m hopeful we can get some professional response to this.
I am also 70 and concerned that I have taken on more than I can handle.
Susan

I am so concerned. I am afraid this hyper bad behavior is going to get worse. I have read in other comments about jumping and grabbing at owner’s arm. Is this common? People tell me that he is just being a puppy. I never had this issue with my other two retrievers. I am almost 71 and need a dog who won’t push me over and bite. Help!

I’m not simply complaining about her, just sharing our experience for others to know it gets better with time. But this is probably not the best “1st dog” breed. I’d go with something more laid back unless you want an energy ball that yanks you everywhere on the leash the 1st couple years.