PLEASE HELP - About to give up...

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

I know having a dog is a lifetime committment to the animal, not something to be entered into lightly.

 
Which is all the more reason for positive reinforcement.  Let's take it to task to help, not hinder.  It is an immense responsibility to raise a pup.  I didn't know about this forum when I was raising mine for the first year, but I could very well have asked alot of the same questions and shown the same exasperation.  If that was met with hostility, I wouldn't have come back.  There's a huge difference between a message with a negative tone or that same message with a positive tone.  The OP isn't saying that wants to beat his dog, he's saying he wants suggestions as to how to help his pup.  Let's give a little and I'm sure the OP will gain alot from it.  Especially from your experience Firestorm...Raising a Rottie in these days with BSL, I'm sure you had to put in alot of overtime to keep his behavior exemplerary.

Fair, enough Xerxes.  Unfortunately,  I only got to have my Rottie for 8 years and let me tell you that was too short for me. 
Now my new dog is pretty much a good lil guy four months later but he was two in Feb.  So that was a different situation then raising a rott from pup to adult dog.

Sorry to hijack for a moment, but the only puppy I've had as an adult was my Samoyed.  I wanted one so bad, but when I got her I felt like we'd made a huge mistake.  We just weren't prepared for the trials and tribulations.  We took her for her first vet visit and the vet listened to her heart and said "I think I hear a heart murmur.  Did you get a contract so you could return her?"  In that very moment, my heart sank and I realized how much I had fallen in love with her.  I knew there was no way I was giving her back.  It really was a defining moment and fortunately, she didn't have a heart murmur and lived a long, happy life with us.

Gbork...that is one adorable guy.  He looks like an intense dog too.  I can see the focus and the wheels turning just in those pics.  He looks pretty fearless, and like he's just trying to figure out what's going on all the time. 
 
Keep posting pics, and keep us updated how things are going.

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

8 hours of hell?  I am a stay at home mom and raised my Rottie an it was 24/7 and there was good and bad.  Try dealing with a pup all the time. 
You need to get some patients, work hard, seek a behaviorist if need be and enroll this dog in some private obedience classes.  Then continue training at home.
Pups are frustrating so is life and work and people...we can't just throw our hands up in the air and walk away just because things aren't a fairytale.
In order to make it through you got to suck it up.  You and your wife decided to take this puppy thing on and it is not the pup's fault.  You chose to get him . He didn't choose you.  So you need to take and put alot of time in and be prepared for the long road.  Accept the pup for doing puppy things but teach him how to be a good dog in the process.   If you need help go seek a professional.  All the things that bug you that he does are all puppy behaviors.  If you are not trying your hardest to work with the pup its not good enough.  
you are old enough to have some idea that this was going to be a project and a half and a dog's lifetime of hard work to get the dog you want.  Now is the time to stop with the negativeness and selfishness.

Doesn't sound like you are reading my responses.

8 hours of hell refers to the 8 hours he is not sleeping and out of his 'area'.  I would think that 8 hours of biting, chasing cats, barking, general chaos is not unreasonable to complain about. 

And for you to tell me I'm not working hard enough is not fair.  If you were my wife, I could take that critism.  You not only don't know the pup, but you dont know me.  I give 100% to everything I do.

I appreciate your responses, but like before, I;m looking for more positive responses than people telling me I need help, to stop being selfish, and stop being negative. 

I'm here looking for help and advice as to how to raise my little man, not be berated.

Thanks to everyone for your time and effort and help.  I take this to heart and my dog is my #1 priority here.

GSB
 

As far as your 8 hours of hell what are you doing to remedy your situation?  Are you doing home training? professional training?  NILIF? 
If you are having difficulty training him alone then maybe you need to seek a trainer or behaviorist to come and help with private sessions.  Tire the pup out.  I agree with one of the other posters if he can be trusted out of his area as in won't do his business in the rest of the house it is better that he have more access to you and then he will be less likely to act up.  Definately do the NILIF program.  Good Luck you have a long hard but in the end rewarding trip.  I hope that you find this post more to your liking. []

GSB--you're doing fine and still posting. This is a good sign.
 
Hey, if it's any consolation, I don't think I'll ever do a puppy again. I mean it. I meant it when I said that she broke my heart so many times. It was so incredibly hard. It was fun, too. I've always had dogs around, so I did have fun, but my current dog was a PUPPY when I got her and she was so flipping hard.
 
Like I said, everyday my mantra was this: "You're another day older. Oh yeah!"
 
PS--your puppy is darn cute. Love those hound-y ears. He looks a little mischevious, though. []

I know I said earlier that I will never have a puppy again either. However, there is a benefit to having a puppy--you get to be in charge of socializing it and you can head off a lot of behavioral problems at the pass by early intervention. I have a shy 18 month old who I have had for 4 months. Her behavior is wonderful for the most part but I am nervous with her around kids b/c she is afraid of most children. If I would have had her as a puppy I probably could have prevented this. When you adopt an older dog you enter a crap shoot--you don't know how they might have been affected in puppyhood. Anyway, just wanted to mention one good thing to having a puppy and surviving puppyhood! It sounds like you are doing a great job coping and working with the dog. Keep up the good work.

GSB, some people are going to pick apart everything you say and turn it into what "they" heard... Im sorry for any negative feedback you are getting because I personally dont think you deserve it. You love your dog and are trying and its obvious from you posts.  I would ignore it. 
 
Im glad to hear your last post about not giving him up... with consistency, patience and time you will have the companion you are looking for.  Puppys are hard and like little babies... enjoy it.  Before you know youll be missing the puppy days[].  (I think I know what you thinking about that last sentence lol)

I hate to say this, but after adopting a almost one year old shelter pooch who has a whole host of behavioral problems, including aggression with other dogs and people - I'd give my eye teeth for a raging puppy - why?  because you get to be in charge of socialization and if Gandolf had actually had some, he'd be a high drive agility maniac with focus and manners, instead of the well trained bully that he is.  Mind you, he's still a great dog, and I won't part with him, but managing his aggression can be exhausting. 
 
So, if it's any consolation, keep plugging with your guy - I can tell from the pix that he's got a mischevious streak, but he's going to be a truly fabulous guy (and is probably showing you more of that fabulousness every day, I hope!)

I just wanted to add to the support for you
I think you're doing a great job.. you needed help and you came here to vent/get suggestions! that's awesome...
He looks JUST like my little devil Oliver ... he was NONSTOP biting and chasing the other dog and cats for at least 9 months. he's one now and a bit calmer. Keep your guy tuckered out.... give him a million things to chew, kongs filled ith yummy stuff and frozen, that ball that was suggested with holes, an Orbee ball with veggies/fruit in it, bully sticks, etc, he won't have time to chew on your face
Here's a pic of my guys when he was about the age of yours...
http://www.imagestation.com/6753143/4043228092

I just read through this entire thread and all I want to say is that I completely understand. I hope that you find more support here than negativity because the people here all care for dogs and there is so much experience to go around.
 
With Ash, who is only 16 months old and is an Australian Cattle Dog, the biggest thing is exercise. Ash needs to RUN. There is not one other single activity that can burn Ash out like running. When she does run, you can't even see her. She looks like a streak of blue lightning (Hey! Don't we have someone on this forum with that name?) My baby sprints and it's just fascinating to watch. She'll go lay down for a minute and you'll think she couldn't possibly go any longer, but up and away she goes again. I quickly learned that I can never underestimate how much exercise she needs. Ash is also on a routine and this combined with the exercise makes Ash a great dog. Ash is very mouthy, meaning she likes to nip at heels and she likes to use her mouth when playing with me. I still have to train her to not use her teeth because it's just not o.k. It's ongoing training when it comes to that. 
 
Also, I enrolled Ash into agility courses and she was the most disruptive dog there. It was embarrassing seeing as that she had gone through training and she was hands down the smartest dog there. You wouldn't know it though by the way she was running around and dragging me everywhere. It was like having a misbehaving child. It made me not want to go back, but I had to get over that. I had to stop comparing Ash to other dogs. It does no good. You have no idea what these dogs are like elsewhere and really, who cares? These dogs are not yours and don't live with you. You don't need to be concentrating on how these dogs behave compared to your own.
 
When I first jumped on this forum, Ash was only 8 weeks old too. I came on here with every problem I had with her (and still do) and was told that if I trained her right, put in 2-3 years of laying a strong training foundation, that I would have a stellar dog afterwards. I was told she would calm down eventually, even though it may seem like an eternity from now. I scoffed at these people, but knew it was true. Now, over a year later, I see they were right. A puppy is so much work, but very much worth the payoff. I'm so glad I've had the experience of raising a puppy before I have a child! Lol!
 
Good luck and keep posting. I loved the last pic you posted of him. He's adorable and looks like a feisty one.

He's just gorgeous - and my husband & I can relate.  We adopted a supposed lab/great dane mix that I have been convinced since day 1 has some sort of scenthound in him (being in North Carolina and a mutt it wouldn't be a shock).  We got him when he was about the same age as  yours is now,  minus the face biting & barking he was the same, just bigger (about 38 lbs).  He's VERY smart, extremely high energy, and draining on us.  He's about a year old now and he's easier but still a handful at times.
All that worked for us was tiring him out.  We have crated him from the beginning, for him and for us.  He generally is now only in there when we go out and at night but in the early days it was the only way you could know what he was up to and have a break.  If he wasn't visible he was up to no good.
Only a month ago did we decide that it would be OK to install an invisible fence because how insane he got for rabbits, birds, bugs, squirrels, leaves (really anything that moved) and above all cats.  Even still he has been zapped 5 times, 4 for a rabbit & 1 for his golden retriever friend.  We can in no way let him outside and not have an eye on him.  His drive is too strong, he is constantly looking for something, and has yet to discover laying in the grass and chilling.
So I do not have advice other than be patient, exercise him as much as possible, get some kong toys, keep training him, (although others might say otherwise) tug a rope with him or find another dog he can play with. If he's not a toy destroyer get some toys for him (ours destroys toys in seconds so not very helpful) We walk our guy daily (2-4 miles) and we still say it just takes the edge off. we now have a backpack for him.

And as for your frustration and feeling like your life has been taken over - my husband (age 51) feels the same about ours from time to time now but constantly when he was your guy's age.  I used to try and keep him away from him.  For the next 9-12 months in many ways he has taken over your life.  You will see him calm down though. Month by month they get better and better.  One day they just stop a irritating behavior (then of course 6 weeks later they try it again)

Be sure to walk him close to you and sort of work him there by that I mean only a 'heel' walk and practice his name etc.  Ours would still need to pick up a stick to carry or pounce on a leaf or so but we try to make his walk a discipline.

Good luck - it gets better!
BTW unless ours is out cold you still can't cuddle him

ORIGINAL: ashland

I just read through this entire thread and all I want to say is that I completely understand. I hope that you find more support here than negativity because the people here all care for dogs and there is so much experience to go around.

With Ash, who is only 16 months old and is an Australian Cattle Dog, the biggest thing is exercise.

For Sally too.  She is 2 years old and there is a significant difference in her behavior when she ges enough exercise.  It's really amazing.
 
Hang in there!!  You sound like you are doing a good job.  Just keep repeating--"this too will pass, this too will pass."

I've already posted but just wanted to say stick with him.  You'll see, in the end you and your wife will be so glad you did.  It takes a lot of time, it took Willow months and months before she settled in to a routine and calmed down and actually understood we were her family now.  At first, your right, it's all crazy and there isn't a strong bond.  But, it will happen.  But, it will take some work as you know, they don't come out of a box like Lassie. 

The other thing I've been thinking about and wanted to point out is that Labs (and I hope no one takes this the wrong way because my Goddog is a lab) are very "doggie" acting dogs.  They chew, they play rough, they make a big mess, they have accidents, etc. They do a lot of things that some other breeds don't do.  I see a huge difference between Willow and my friends lab.  I'm not saying this like they are bad, just they take awhile to mature and it does take some patience.