I have a one year old beautiful lab that is generally doing very well with training however he can let himself down on walks by getting too excitable! In places we go to often he is very good, stays close and checks in often (which I always reward), comes back when called and doesn't pull when on the lead. I work on doing the about turn walk on these walks to keep him close and recalling with high value treats to try and re-enforce it. However once we go somewhere new, or busy he just gets too excited and completely loses it. He runs ahead too far, he never checks in, he would ran after every dog if I let him. I tend to keep him on the lead in these situations cause i don't want him to self reward and any attempts to call him back tend to fall on deaf ears! I'm just wondered what your young labs are like and whether this is pretty standard and he will calm down or whether I've desperately missed something in his training! And also any tips and tricks to try and tighten this problem up! As always, thanks so much for your brilliant advice!
Sounds a perfectly normal adolescent dog .One of the things to remember with all dogs is that when we take them to a new location/environment our training goes back, at the very best,to a basic level. It's really more a case that a dog hasn't been taken to enough new places to help him cope with all the new sights, sounds and smells. So just go back a few steps in your training - keep him on lead, reward for checkins, use a longline and harness if possible in new environments so more room to roam but with a safety net that he can't ignore your recall and of course, practice, practice and practice some more. The more new places that a dog visits the less excitable their behaviour and more reliable their recall It's also good to keep some extra special treats for these occasions.
Yes, Harley was the same around that age and still is very occasionally, and she’s 4 and a half years old! Jojo gives good advice above re using a long lead and harness.
