My GR boy is now approaching 8months old and walks beautifully to heel on the lead.  He loves people, children and other dogs a bit too much though!  If someone is walking towards us I have taught him to sit while they approach and if they want to say hello he loves it.  It they walk straight past he remains sitting and turns his head in astonishment that they have walked straight past him
The problem is if someone is standing still eg. waiting at the bus stop or chatting to a friend he pulls like a train to get to them, and he is getting very strong now and not everyone likes dogs! I need to get this under control before he gets any bigger.  I have tried holding a high value treat in front of his nose but the prospect of fuss is more alluring than the tastiest treat.
any suggestions  as to what else I can do.

Oh, I know that feeling so well, goldies who think every person is their best friend.

How are you walking him? Just on a collar? I use a harnes with my golden which has a front ring to connect the lead to as well as the ring on the back. A double ended lead connected to each ring will give you a lot of control.

My golden is now three and her interest in strangers started to diminish as she reached two years. Now she's off lead and trots straight past people, dogs are another matter and she likes to just sniff noses before moving on.

Me personally I walk mine on head collars if in the street so they can't pull forward.

Depends on  the dog some won't accept head collars at all . My flat coat goes into a down if u put a head collar on her and would be dragged along but the other is fine with a head collar.i would see what suits best but if u  go for a harness it needs to be one with a ring on the back and on the chest so u have control and it's not like dog is pulling a sleigh which will  happen with jusy a single ring I have a mecuti harness which is brilliant for fcr

I walk my three together, the girls have a head collar and the youngest a harness because he wouldn't accept the head collar. Generally the head collars are only necessary on the outward journey, when they've had a run, just the collar and lead is enough. I also make sure we move to the side of the footpath and they sit as others people/dogs go past so they've got used to not reacting unless given permission. They are also very strong, and I darent risk being pulled over especially when it's icy! I don't bounce these days!!

Just a collar and lead at the moment as he has been walking so well, but maybe time to get a harness.  Im not a fan of headcollars (sorry -just a personal preference).

Meukit do a.money back guarantee .just make sure whichever u choose fits much . Wellington touch do one and another ria perfect fit both with the chest and back attachment

I'm another lover of harnesses with front and back rings - it teaches balance and attention without twisting their necks awkwardly. 
I'd also teach 'Let's go' eg doing a 360 turn away from whatever and then lots of treats or other reward.  Another useful thing is to teach 'watch me'

I have had Goldens permanently marked across the upper muzzle through wearing a head-collar for just under 10 minutes when 5 months old so I would not go that route again. A harness usually encourages a dog to pull as that is what a harness is designed for.  As a previous post said, they usually grow out of their fascination for people by 18 mths. / 2 yrs when they learn that not everyone loves them. Sad really. Have you tried a really interesting treat such as a piece of cheese, sausage or chicken?

[bA harness usually encourages a dog to pull as that is what a harness is designed for. 

It depends on the type of harness - there are specific ones for sledding/pulling etc and other specific ones for loose lead walking (& control). Some of the erm popular marketed harnesses aren't very good but the three  days a o I'd recommend are Mekuti Balance, the Perfect Fit and TTouch.  It does depend on the size and shape of your dog.

Thanks for the replies.

The reason i have not gone down the harness route up to now is that i never used them on my two previous dogs --a Lab and a Golden--who were always walked together from puppies.  Ireally prefer to teach them to walk nicely by my side as one of my pet hates is seeing people dragged along by thier dogs.  However neither of them were quite as enthusiastic as this one.
his high value treat is dried sausage which i buy from the pet shop and cut into small chunks.  Normally i only have to say "sausage" and he will stop whatever he is doing and come running.  The only time he ever pulls on the lead is when he sees someone standing still in front of us.  I will buy some liver today to cook and see if something new and tasty works.  Failing that it may have to be a harness.

Once u have sorted the problem there is every chance u can go back to your preferred collar and lead.it doesn't have to be a one way street

Agree with FF.
Mine is pulling far less then she used to and listens to me now. There are occasions when she will pull, her main one is towards the sea when we are staying at our holiday home - to the left are some lovely walks, to the right is the sea and that's where she wants to be above all else, having a long cooling swim.
I think the main attraction of a good front clip harness is it's something quite different for the dog and not easy to pull against, although most dogs will find a way of pulling on whatever you use. What it enables you to do is to prevent that hard determined pull and get his attention back onto you where you can get him into a sit and reward him even if he's not giving you his full attention.
Once he gets over this period of loving everyone he sees and being more discriminating, then you can return to the collar and lead if you wish. Personally I have stuck with the harness as I feel they are kinder on a dogs delicate throat area. My last dog had laryngeal paralysis and I wish I had known more about harnesses as like many I thought they encouraged a dog to pull

Have you been to any training classes with him ? When you have a gregarious puppy, you need to be able to teach them in a safe environs with the help of others & good training classes are excellent places to start.

Most of my dogs are really friendly & with the help of others I have trained them to learn pulling to get to see someone is counterproductive & unrewarding & either ignoring people standing still or only approaching them calmly is rewarding. I never used a clicker or treats until I was shown how quickly dogs can learn using them a few years back.

Training in this way IMHO is far better than relying on devices like harnesses

It might be worth considering using a head collar (I've not read all your answers so this may have already been suggested?)

And rather than make a 'thing' of somebody approaching, why not continue walking and not stop/sit?    This will suggest to him there is something to be worried/thought about?   He doesn't need to meet and greet everybody.    My husband tends to make a big deal of somebody approaching with our Whippet especially and this has transferred down the lead and made her 'wary'.

Our Whippet has been on a Canny collar and there's no 'turning of her head' involved.   It made all the difference with her and she now just has a wide Whippet-style martingale.    I don't do harnesses because dogs who normally pull (Huskies for eg) wear harnesses.   Each to their own however - what works is the main thing.

I would just add that at 8 months, EVERYTHING is exciting and needs investigation.   He may well outgrow this interest in others eventually.

It seems the op has most situations sorted other this one thing with people standing still ie at bus stops or similar. Done pretty well just need some tweaking if I have read properly
Mama bas re harnesses if u had ask me a couple of years ago about using harnesses I would have totally agreed .I also tried using a harness in a couple of dogs and all I got was the sleigh effect. Then a trainer suggested the two attachments one in the back and one on the chest.wow the difference.little pulling that wasn't easily controlled with a gentle tweak as needed. I do however still use a head collars on my gsd it just feels better and I can keep him closer to me which I prefer being a breed that people will always assume is wrong .

Another thing about a head collar - it may well be different with another dog - when she was wearing the Canny collar, it seemed to calm her down for some reason.   Perhaps she realised she was 'defeated' and stopped her nonsense

Huskies wear harnesses designed to enable pulling, to spread the force out over the body without impeding any mvoement and to allow the dog to get their full weight into it.  Harnesses like mekutis, ttouch, xtra dog and perfect fit have rings on the front and are designed as an aid to reduce pulling.

It all comes down to training, in the end - most of my dogs wear normal walking harnesses (a few do not for medical reasons but will be back in them soon), but for the most part they do not pull because they have been trained not to.  Going from the car to the field is still a work in progress but they are almost sorted.  My big lad was a big puller when I got him, but now he walks by my side in any situation because that is what I have trained him to do.  I rarely use headcollars, and I do not use collars because they can put pressure directly on the throat if the dog does pull, and I've had one dog nearly choke herself getting snagged in the undergrowth.  I also know plenty of people who have had dogs either killed or nearly killed during play with one dog has gotten caught on the other's collar.

Any bit of kit is an aid to training only - you still need to put the work in.

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Hayley Lewis Taylor says: Hi my GR did the exactly the same...what I did was as soon as I could see someone ..I would use " look at me command and when you pass the person give lots of praise...you could also the "leave it" command ..same approach but firmly hold the lead ...they are such people dogs ..good luck GR are such an amazing breed