I have a 6 month old, 50 pound Golden Retriever, not a Labrador, but I see many questions on this forum that pertain to puppies in general, and I don't find a Golden Retriever forum, so hope posting is okay. Last night I googled something like puppy will not listen and found the article by Pippa Mattinson, titled Disobedient Dog: What to Do When Your Dog Won't Obey You. I stayed up into the night reading article after article by her and found this forum. This is our first puppy and we have tried, but she is now six months and strong-willed. In puppy class, she pulls and strains and just wants to play with the other puppies, and it feels like the rest of the pups just sit and gaze at their owners, silently asking "what would you like me to do next?" Fortunately, the instructor seems to understand my plight and has told me "You get the dog you need." My most recent dog was 3 when we got him and he and I were tightly bonded. In each class I took him to, he did everything I asked of him and he was my greatest joy. I have many questions but I will start with something that happened tonight. I was on a walk with my pup and everything was going well until she spotted some boys playing in the field up ahead. I decided to turn and head back but she refused to budge. She kept backing up and trying to pull out of her harness. She has a harness that clips to leash in front. No matter how I pulled, she pulled back. I tried to grab her by the top of her harness but she wasn't having it. I decided to just stand there, and she stood for a while and then started the backing up pull again. I then started walking forward again, hoping the kids would either greet her or ignore her, but while I was still a ways away, they went back to their houses. She was then willing to turn back with me. How should I have handled this?
Once you have this down (or at least sometimes), you can start walking and prompting your dog to look at you and treat while you walk. It takes some skill to treat and move at the same time, but it's worth it to do that. snaptube vidmate
Hi Dale. Its difficult but try not to pull. One day they may be stronger than you and while I like harnesses they were originally made to allow dogs to pull things. That aside it can lead to them liking the sensation. As Amel said engagement. Break the fixation on what you don't want (in this case the eye line so step in front) and get it into you. They need to know that there is times they can meet others and times they cannot. It's a lot of work but you will get it.
Are you still at class ? You have now hit the where things do become more challenging as they are still a puppy, no behaviours are proofed and and they are getting big. Calming the " meet and greet" enthusiasm is really hard. Obedience classes really helped us, as training around distractions, is so beneficial. My pup started as the bottom of the class but time and patience got her to pass 2 obedience awards on her first birthday, and she has been wonderful since. Classes really helped me in those tricky months from about 6 months onwards.
