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I'm so glad I found this site- the forum has been so helpful to read, but I thought I'd share something I haven't read on here yet (and that could just be because I don't have the energy to scroll through all the pages to find it). I have a 7 month old mixed breed. I love her so much...but right now only when she's asleep and not getting into trouble. I've heard that this age is tough for a lot of owners, but I don't think I could have prepared for how mentally and emotionally draining it would really be. Even with private lessons and tirelessly trying my best to be consistent, I probably cry once a week just praying for her to grow up already. I've felt so guilty, like the only way this feeling would make sense is if I was just a terrible owner. Then I read this article and it helped me realize this feeling is normal. I thought I'd share it here incase you want to check it out. I'm not sure if sharing the link is against the forum rules, so the name of the article is "A truth no one tells you: you will hate your dog sometimes (and it's okay)" on pawsitvelygenius. Does anybody else relate or have a story to share? We'll get through this nightmare together!

Hello and welcome to your forum, I hear you. It does get frustrating at times and we may have moments of feeling helpless and emotionally drained. We do need take breaks every now and then-we are only human. This is also why we have a forum, to offer support to each other and find ways to make our lives easier. I have gone through this multiple times. I sometimes must admit, I looked for it-when offering to volunteer for a shelter I often asked to foster dogs that were a "challenge" and deemed difficult to adopt. I ended up having no life-sleeping on the couch because the dog couldn't be crated nor left unsupervised until trained, going through bruises and scratches due to over nippy dogs, having to separate my dogs and almost totally ignore them for weeks on end (luckily my hubby took care of them!) as the problem dog absorbed every bit of energy I had. It can get very tiring. Although I wanted to help in fostering as much as I could, I had to take breaks from it after some time due to the emotional toll and the accumulation of compassion fatigue. We do our best and what we can. It's not easy and my heart goes out to all of those going through these challenges. Thank you for bringing up this important subject.