He's cute!!

I also think you should give him a bit more time to adjust to all the new smells and sites. This won't be reinforcing the behaviour, unless you're giving him some sort of reinforcement through treats, or praise.

I have found success with doing 'doggy obstacles' Run around trees (weave in and out) up and over things, zig and zag. This teaches the dog to pay attention to you (or they'll smuck into a tree - and most dogs know this) it also helps wear them out.

The key to correcting unwanted behavior is timing. You have to correct at the exact second it starts, or it won't be that effective. So the second you feel the leash start to pull tight, you're turning and going the other way as quick as possible. It's good to get him to sit at the door while you walk out the door, and then sit again when you get outside. This prevents him from dragging you out the door from the get go.

You might spend 10 minutes or more, getting just from your door to the sidewalk if he pulls. But, persistence pays off.

Also, make sure your leash is not too long, anything over 6' is too much, especially for training.

Also, a tired dog is much easier to work with than a dog who is wound up. Do your vigorous back yard fetch games and such, before the walk. If he's not wired and ready to explode on the walk, you may find him much easier to work with and handle.

What a sweety!

We have been very pleased with the Gentle Leader head collar, and EasyWalk harness. The Gentle Leader has a loop that goes over your dog's nose, and was amazingly effective at stopping our lab / great Dane mix from pulling. It takes time to fit it properly, and a little practice to put it on, but it really does work. The only thing I didn't like was that other people tended to think it was some kind of a muzzle and would shy away from my dog.

The EasyWalk harness is easier to use, but IMO, a little less effective. (I still recommend it, though).

Since you are really into training, you'll probably only need this type of tool temporarily, but if you have a large dog who pulls hard (as we did) it can really be a shoulder-saver!

You are doing such a great job with your pup. You really did your homework...so nice to see that! And Hank is ADORABLE!

I had the same issues with my chocolate lab, Sawyer. She was housetrained (didn't chew anything and didn't pee/poop in the house) when we first got her at 8 weeks (lucky me!), and she learned all the stuff your dog has learned in a VERY fast amount of time. They are so smart and eager to please, aren't they?

But the only thing I had trouble with was leash walking!! I taught her to heal with the use of treats, but it was still difficult when she got excited. The first thing I tried was the choke chain, and I hated it....I felt like she was being choked and she could care less! The next thing I tried was the prong collar, and it worked really well. I never tried the head collar that Freezetag mentioned (for the same reason posted above...it looks like a muzzle to people who are not familiar with it), but I heard great things about it. I'm sure whatever you use will be short-term, so I guess people worrying that your dog muzzled is a temporary thing anyway.

Good luck, and Hank is lucky to have such a devoted mommy. Ughh...I just wanna squeeze his cute little face!!!

Here is my Sawyer...

{{gwi:517808}}

awwww...Sawyer is a cutie...love the sunglasses, LOL.

Thanks for the advice everyone...I think we will give the Gentle Leader a try and I just need to be more patient. I don't care if people think he is muzzled, and hopefully he'll get the hang of it pretty soon. Maybe we'll start by just sitting on the front porch together and when he can be calm about that, we can make an attempt for the sidewalk. haha! Thank goodness for our giant backyard.

I'm sure I'll be back for more advice soon! Thank you!

The technique with which I have had the most success for dealing with lunging on leash is to begin by making the dog calm when first hooking on the leash. The dog has to come to you, sit and be quiet for several seconds before the leash is connected. I use a corectly sized metal choke chain placed just behind the ears.

Then we go out the door---any lunge gets a short side jerk and vocal correction. (I use a grunt). Pick the side you want the dog to walk on and begin working on that side. Then begin the calmness again. Start again and any lunge gets the short side/vocal correction and a sit til calm.

It may take several days to get to the point you can begin the walk fairly calmly. The whole key is repetition and consistancy, plus making the corrections as soon as the dog begins the lunging.

I've worked with dogs that 'get it' in days---and some that took weeks----just depends on the dog and the level of control the leader exerts.

Love the lab pictures. Looks like both labs have a "hard" life. Is Hank practicing duck hunting with his toy duck?

Sounds like your pup is just young and everyone has good suggestions. My puppy will sometimes go into helicopter mode(literally jump and spin in the air) if a noisy car goes by. Especially if she just has started her walk and she's full of jet fuel(dog food). She would REALLY like to herd one of those noisy beasts!

I would suggest to sign up for the first available obedience class. A good trainer will show you the correct way to use any of the collars available and besides teaching your dog how to walk beside you, it'll be a fun, bonding experience.

Handymac has great suggestions and I agree that a choke collar is the way for you to gain control. If you don't like the chain design, there are others made of a corded material. The collars are not meant to be used for choking purposes and if your dog appears to be choking, then the collar isn't in the right position or being used correctly.
Remember that it's a collar that is used only during training/walking and is taken off while at home.

Also, be aware that the dog has to be slowly introduced to a Gentle Leader and that you don't just put it on and go out for a walk. They work well for some dogs & owners but for others the GL isn't a good training tool.

AHHHHHHH, my favorite subject!!!!
The idea of turning around and going the other way, works great in theory better than reality.
My suggestion is to first make your dog sit and stay and be calm BEFORE you walk out the door. You go out the door first and put your dog in a sit stay immediately after getting out the door - NOBODY moves until the dog sits and stays and IS CALM, before going out. If your dog wont wait until commanded do it again (ad nauseum if necessary) sometimes with dogs who a bit rambunctous, it can take an entire afternoon.
Practice practice practice. My next suggestion is that you grab some kibble and take it with you in a ziplock bag. When your dog starts to pull, call it back to you and put it in a sit stay. As your dog gets better and better, just call it back and reward it. The next thing I suggest is that you pick up your pace and change up your routine alot. Dog walks should be brisk 20 minute walks with a scratch and sniff at the end to reward the dog for being good during walkies. Changing your routine will give your dog more stimulating sniffs and scenery to appreciate. This helps out alot more than most people think. Fact is that you have a working dog in your care and working dogs NEED more physical stimulation. If you can play catch for awhile before going on a walk or better yet take your dog to a local lake or creek for a swimming session - LABS LOVE WATER!!! We would often take our dogs out to the lake for an hour before taking them on a walk, no matter what the weather (this is Lake Tahoe) the dogs loved it. You can also work on training your dog to WATCH you instead of you having to constantly watch it.
Go for a walk in a wooded place. Go with someone. After you have been out for awhile, wait until your dog is not paying attention (NOTE: This works best with a really long leash 8 -10 feet) as soon as your dog is immersed in a smell, have someone you or your boyfriend (one of the pack members of your dogs family) and when that person has hidden well, ask your dog to go find the perrson who has left. Sound frantic. Make a big deal of sayin "where's Waldo?" You will see your dog using his eyes at first, then hopefully his nose, keep asking again and again. Do this at least a couple of times a week. SOon enough your dog is going to start to watch you - we did this with my current dog (bullmastiff husky mix) and within a month he was never more than 20 feet from us, and always stopping to check on where we were. To this day he can be off leash anywhere and I have even been able to call him off a fresh bear and a fresh coyote scent (animals within 100 feet of where we were) He is now 13 and has never run off. Making YOU the most interesting thing on the walk is the key. I also suggest you keep up the good work in training, the more you train the better your dog will behave. If you have the time, tie the leash to you while doing errands around your place.....this helps your dog understand you want the dog at your side. Use your commands religiously - Good luck

He knows sit and stay, so you can use that on your walks.

When he pulls (which is all the time) put him on a sit. And he remains sitting until he calms down. Then you begin walking again. Every time he pulls, you put him back on a sit and wait a few minutes. The reward for not pulling is walking. The punishment for pulling is not walking. The walk is the reward.

You may only travel a few feet and sit a million times on your first walk. If your dog is REAL smart, he will catch on that the walk is going nowhere when he pulls.

That technique works well on a herding dogs, but has never worked very well on labs.

If that doesn't work then I would use a Gentle Leader.

I also suggest obedience class for every new dog. Obedience class will get your dog used to walking nicely on leash in the presence of lots of other people and other dogs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gentle Leader

Got the Gentle Leader today and will give that a try. Hank doesn't seem to mind being handled and touched, so I hope he will get used to the GL and not hate it. But hey, he'll probably get better and longer walks out of it, so that's a good reward for him. I definitely want to get him into an Obedience Class, it will be good for both of us, but he needs to get neutered first. As soon as he heals up from that, I'll try and find a good one. I actually have another question too, but I'll start a new thread for that.

Thanks so much for all of your advice!

A good way to get your dog to like the gentle leader, is to use treats.

Put a treat in your hand with collar on it. He will have to stick his head in the collar to get the treat. If you repeat this every time you put the collar on, he will love it.

The problem you're having is the reason a lot of people do not take their dogs to the park - they hate all the pulling. Is this dog walking or owner dragging? My dog was a puller until she hit about 3 and a half years of age then she calmed down a lot. She's now 10 and only gets worked up when she sees someone she knows or a squirrel.

The best thing that worked for me was to play fetch for a long long time before taking her to the park down the street - so she was tired before we ever got there. Another trick was to let her play with other dogs off lead in the center of the large fields at the park when we first got there and then leash walk her on the trail after they wore her out (it took at least an hour).

I see people all the time at the park that won't allow their dog to sniff the grass or socialize with other dogs - they want their dog in perfect heal position for the entire experience. I want my dog to be a dog and not a robot. I use a long flexilead so she doesn't yank my arm out of its socket when she starts or stops. A leash is really a two way communication device; you signal the dog what you want and the dog sends you signals what it wants.

I find that most of the hunting breeds are perfectly behaved inside the house and a bit bouncy outside in the open. Most labs that I have met or worked with get the message pretty quickly and have a good grasp of "work" and "play time".

Be patient, you'll do fine.