Hi guys, This is my first post on here so please be kind haha! We have had our 8 month fox red boy (working line) since he was 8 weeks, we attended an 8 week puppy training course to cover the basics which he really seemed to grasp. We have had issues from day one getting him to loose lead walk and are having real issues getting him to remain focused on us rather than tiny sticks or other dogs or humans he sees out and about. As you can imagine, he is full of energy so we are trying our best to wear him out before training the lead walking but due to garden issues, we have to drive then walk a small distance to enable him to have a full energy draining run! Does anyone have some tips or experiences that worked well for their lovely lab? His off lead behaviour is good and clings to our side! We are constantly trying to reinforce the no jumping up but that's also a work in progress! Our main issue at the moment seems to be excitedness, whenever he meets anyone or dog he does or doesn't know we cannot get his attention via food, toys or commands (completely blanks us!) He gets crazy overexcited! I appreciate he is at that lab crazy puppy age but feels like we are going backwards and have a mad puppy with selective hearing! Thank you for reading
Hi Charlotte, Our lab is 5.5 months and we are having similar things except off lead she runs off like a rocket! She does come back but she doesn’t walk next to us like she used to when she was younger. She has gained a bit of frustration from the lead I think as she loves to run! Our trainer keeps telling us that she just needs time to mature and they all mature at different stages. She jumps a lot but we are Working really hard on this and we have noticed a small difference. She just loves people and other dogs so she gets overcome with excitement. We are taking her places and just teaching her calm and settle, which she is good at but when people get close it’s still a work in progress! From what people say, loose lead is one of the hardest things to teach and it takes perseverance. Our trainer said don’t go anywhere longer than what they can loose lead walk for (obviously not far!) and increase the distance. I remember it took a long time with my old lab and once she cracked it she was golden. There were times even my 3 yr old nephew could ‘walk’ her!
