opions please? my 15 wek old choc lab is fantastic dry nights very playfull getting the hang of walking with me however the only problem is that he wants to say hello to every on in street now obvoiusly lots of people dont mind and they say how cute he is but some do he is not agressive just wants to greet them, we took him to se our friends 2 fuly grown boxers and he just thought he was one of them started palying with them although couldnt keep up lol. any way would i be wis eto invest in a halti to keep his concentration on me he is not bad just a little niggle to sort out before he gains any true puling power :)

thanx

At 15 weeks your pup is just coming up to be old enough to attend puppy training classes - although the really good ones are often booked up weeks in advance your best bet it to get him to classes if you can where they can help you with 'hands on' advice on how to train your puppy to walk on a loose lead without having to resort to 'training aids' like Haltis.....

We have the same thing with our pup ( who is nearly 5 months now ) . He has been to classes since 13 weeks but still thinks every one has come to see him and pay him attention wherever we go . I am glad he is so sociable with other dogs and with people but the hardest thing i feel is getting people not to accept his jumping up on them .
As hes a puppy they will say " o he's alright " but they wont be saying that when he is fully grown and nearly knocks them over . That is very frustrating because while in the house you can teach him not to jump up he must get confused with other peoples reactions .
Lel

Mine too. He doesn't jump up but he lunges at people and he is sooo strong! I can keep control of him at the moment and can stop him from reaching anyone, but I dont know whether it is his face markings or not but people seem to find him really scary. And he is still only a pup so I dread to think what people will think when he is fully grown. It is only the odd few though, most people love him to bits. I am trying to get him out of this, and he is fine after about 10 minutes on a walk when his puppy energy goes. He walks to heel perfectly when there is no-one around and I was proud of myself for getting a mal to heel so early but then I spoke to someone else with a mal who took her to puppy training classes and now because they taught her to heel she seems to have lost the urge to pull. They are so disappointed as they wanted to work her and now she wont pull a rig. I dont want this to happen to Nuka as I intend on working him when he is old enough... So I have mixed feelings now about telling him to heel or letting him pull a bit.
He is wonderful at other commands though, has mastered sit, down, stay, come, leave, off, speak and paw.

Forgot to add that he is catching on to Gee, Haw and Hike!
As soon as someone utters the H-I-K-E word his ears go back and he is charging along in mal heaven :D

I feel one thing rarely mentioned in any puppy class is to reward the pup for interpreting human body language.

Most pups learn that humans want to fuss and cuddle them, but the raw truth of it is that many don't. Outside home, pup class, and dog places such as clubs or shows. I had some trouble with my pup who just loves people - great for a BSD as they can be shy, and i took great pains to socialise - but now I will always reward a pup for ignoring a human who is ignoring them :)

Lindsay