I think the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that I survived the first year with my pup and have a social and relatively calm dog. Bear was a very hard puppy and the landshark phase lasted about 10 months.
My last dog was DA and it was not fun to have to work around that, so having a dog that is socially adjusted is like a breath of fresh air.
I know it's not like getting IPO or BH etc... but I can only go up from here