Hi Everyone, thanks so much for the compliments and feedback! She's a lot of fun and is growing up to be such a sweetheart. The Gentle Leader is that muzzle collar we tried. She would let me put it on her but it was obvious she wasn't happy about it. I was amazed at how well it worked but she never adapted to it. It kept getting really close to her eyes and she consistently tried to get it off of her face. I don't want a walk to be a negative experience for her. What's the point if she's miserable, right? That's when we tried the chest harness. She didn't mind me putting it on her and she walked great with it as well; until the distractions that is. No matter how we adjust it, once she starts pulling, it moves around on her chest and she slips right out of it. The one we tried is made by the same company as the Gentle Leader and the hook is on the chest, I'm thinking that maybe one with the hook on the back might work better. I know when used properly choke collars can be a very useful tool with some breeds but she's a very sensitive girl and like the Gentle Leader, I don't think that's the right thing to use with her. That is an interesting trick Emagineer, I'll give it a try and see what happens. You always have the coolest tips! LOL I agree about the training and currently have her in her second round of classes. Her progress has been good with everything but the walking. The trainer says it's partly because she's still in puppy mode. That's fine, I'm happy to keep working with her, but I need to find something I can use to train her with that will protect me from getting hurt through the process. She's come close to dislocating my shoulder on more than one occasion. Once I find something that works, I plan on taking her to the dog park a few times a week, it's 24 acres and very busy. The trainer suggested that I walk her within eyesight of where all the dogs are for a while first before letting her go play. I had no idea Labs could be this strong! She loves to lay on me and is so heavy, she pins me down when she does! LOL

Isn't she a sweetie! My three dogs were all adult 'rescue' dogs so I didn't go through the puppy stage with them. But I did keep them in individual kennels (at home) while I was working for the first few weeks. Then I restricted them to a couple of rooms using a pet gate (similar to what you'd use for a human toddler). I walked them before work, then came home for a late lunch and walked them again, then walked them after work and then once more at bedtime. Now I work full time from home and they spend most of the day in the office with me. They make great foot warmers in the winter :-) We still walk (no fenced in yard) three times a day. Before work (about 7 am), early to mid afternoon (2-4 pm), and before bed (any time from 7 to 10 pm). I think it would be very hard potty training a puppy when you can't stay home with him/her. A rule of thumb is that a puppy can handle one hour per month of age. So a 4 month old puppy should be able to go up to 4 hours without having to go out. A six month old puppy can go up to six hours, and so on. One thing I wouldn't recommend is using puppy pads in the house. I had a dog once, that was trained with puppy pads from the time she was tiny. It was an awful process re-training her, and she would still potty in the house years afterward, if the notion struck her.

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. Mazer, I am going to foster a service puppy for Canine Companions for Independence. I agree with you about getting a shelter dog for a pet; but this one I foster will be trained to assist someone with disabilities. But I did have to consider all your other questions, and I do mean each and every one. I actually thought of you when I was considering the whole thing! I work for an animal welfare organization, and will have their support with classes at the training school and access to food and parasite treatments at cost. I do take my friends' dogs on long walks when I dog sit, and take them to parks, etc. I will not be able to do that with an 8 week old puppy for a few weeks, but will start puppy classes immediately. How long can a 10 -12 week puppy walk? I am guessing the more exercise, the better, and he will let me know when he is tired, but I read I have to be careful about overdoing it on growing puppy bones. I even got a flexilead, because I do not have a fenced-in back yard, and with the puppy I thought he could play a little more freely on it (chasing balls, etc.) I cannot/ would not ever let him off lead except in a fenced in yard, and I believe in fetch. The dog will come to work with me, and there are fenced in yards there, and friends' dogs for socialization, when he is older. Here is a link that might be useful: CCI

It's all very typical puppy behaviour, and your existing dogs will growl to teach the pup when he has crossed the line by getting close to their food or biting their legs etc and lakota will learn from that. "Lakota is ADHD we think as he can't seem to focus on one toy at a time." just about all pups act as if they have adhd :), puppies have a short attention span and they are energetic but you dont want lakota to learn to entertain himself because that often leads to chewing things or digging holes or other problematic behaviour. Dakota is a baby, and you need to engage with him and keep him occupied, and exercise and games are a great way to get a pup to burn off energy in a positive way, and a more tired lakota will not pester the older dogs so much as well. I think all he needs is regular walks, throw a ball or toy for him and play with him so he doesnt get bored or have too much pent up energy. My dogs are 2 and 3 years old and they still have energy to burn so I play with them everyday and take them for walks to tire them out. puppies are a lot of work and lakota is just being a pup. He will outgrow some of the biting behaviour as he gets older but pups bite and chew all the time. when my pup bit me on the hands I yelped and it didnt work with her but she did mostly outgrow it and learned to bite more gently instead of painfully.