A visitor to this site wrote about a problem she is having with her 11 month old English golden. Unfortunately, I deleted her email address by mistake so I hope she comes back to check here.
Here's my response:
I have an almost 10 month old standard poodle and she is showing some of the same unwanted behaviors as your dog. As soon as I saw the first of them, I knew I had to make some changes to her environment. The first realization was that she was bored. Yes, bored. Even though I played with her and she had our other dogs to play with, she was still bored and looked for her own fun (always a bad idea for a dog).
I changed her toys. You may have heard this old idea before but it works. Take yours dogs' toys, clean them up, and put them away except for two or three. Then get her started playing with them. The important words are play with her. When the dog becomes bored with the toys, make changes one at a time. For your furniture, if these tips don;'t work, you may have to resort to purchasing a "green" item sold in all pet stores that you spray on the furniture and it tastes extremely sour to the dog. If you have young children, it is not harmful to them or your pets.
Exercise is extremely vital to goldens. They will definitely get into trouble if they are not exercised regularly, if you can't do it every day. Exercise means outside with a human being, not sent outside in the backyard by herself. It can be a quick game of catch or a walk around the block. Run or walk off just a little of her energy and you'll see a big difference.
What many of us forget is that when a dog is a year old, she is technically not yet an adult. She is still a puppy. Maybe you could call her a "tween". She still has baby attributes even though she also acts more mature at times. Sound familiar? Treat your one year old like a puppy. And especially golden retrievers!! They are infamous for their slow maturing. Other breeds reach mental maturity much sooner than goldens. They usually take up to three years and you have to be prepared for that when you get a puppy.
The woman who wrote to me sounds like she's on top of things but may be a little frustrated. Regression with housebreaking is not unusual. You'll hate to hear this, but start over. Let her alone for only a little bit of time, take her out every half hour, feed her only three times a day (she could be down to two times by now) and take her out right afterwards. It sounds like so much trouble but she will quickly (you'll be surprised) re-learn what she so conveniently forgot.
Attention! Yes, she needs lots of love and attention. Think you already give more than enough? Her behavior is telling you something different.
Don't get discouraged. Give her time. She'll get over this stage. She'll be the pride of your life.
And one last thought: were changes made to her environment? A new baby? a pet? someone going back to work? a student home from college? Have you been on a recent vacation and let her behind? Any of these events may cause her to regress. Try these suggestions. Write if you have more questions. I will not delete your email address this time, I promise!
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