I have a 5mo lab puppy. We go for a walk each day just around the block. He's great he walks at heel and sits at intersections, ignores all the dogs behind the fences barking and running the fence lines. Doesn't pull for anything but people. If we cross paths with a person he tries to run crazy toward them, if he gets to them he jumps and goes nuts. Nothing I can do distracts him. I stand on the lead to the side with amazing night treats but I can't get his attention when it's a person, when he's restrained then he barks a little aswell. He continues to be well socialised with so many people visiting the house, puppy school, dog parks, shops, cafes, schools, fun runs. I am just looking for what I should be doing in the instant when we cross paths with someone. I've read lots of things online but none of it addresses this and/or helps! Is standing on the lead distracting him with great treats the way to go or is there something else I should be doing in that moment?
Ah, don't worry, you will get there, it's a really common problem with young Labradors so keen to say hello. You have the right idea - just keep trying to distract him, it will work. Ideally, though, you want him to offer to look at you (or sit, or do something instead) and reward that rather than just feeding a stream of treats - although keep feeding at first if that's really the only thing you can do. A couple of things: it's best he doesn't get to the person to jump on them, because then he is getting rewarded for all the fuss before that. Ideally, don't let him near the people at all, or have them stand out of reach until he is calm. If he doesn't become calm, then no hello. This is important. Standing on the lead works very well for me and my dog, but all dogs are different. You could try increasing the distance from the person, or keep going. Remember though - no calm, no hello. You could also rope in friends to help you - do some "set ups" - training him to walk by people without stopping - with people that are co-operating with you. If he makes a fuss, get the person to walk away from him. If he is calm, the person (or he) can approach.
Thanks very much. Good to get some feedback just to make sure I'm doing the right thing. We did that this morning and it was far more enjoyable. I stopped about 10m before we were going to cross paths and the people today just ignored him and kept on walking which was good. How he can ignore a cyclist riding past but not a person walking is beyond me! I'll keep persisting with this every day and hopefully one day he will walk nicely for me. I do have a course for loose lead walking I've been looking at doing in future too so I'm sure that will help. Nice idea about the 'set up' will try it! Thanks again
