I've had all sorts of advice from people, so thanks for that.  But now I've another little problem with Toby.  I've mentioned in the past that when walking him he pulls, just like any other young dog I suppose, and we've been using the 'stop and wait' technique.  This appeared to be working initially but now its as if Toby knows that eventually he will get to walk again so he just patiently waits, then immediately begins pulling again.  Even if I pull him back to my side, he just trots along quicker until the lead is tight again.  Anyway, my main problem (aside from this, as I'm hoping that will get easier with time) is still him chasing birds.  Any birds, whether it be ducks, swans, or normal birds that are flying 20 foot ahead of him.  The problem came to a head the other day when I was walking him, and he made a lunge for a bird, nearly yanking me over but more painfully pulling my thumb nail right back, causing it to bleed and split.  (Ladies, you can imagine how happy I was about this - owwwwwww!) It's getting to the point when I don't want to walk him any more as it's no longer an enjoyable experience for either of us :(  Any help would be appreciated.  I've heard of these harnesses, are they a good idea?

Several people I know have bought the harnesses and say they have been an enormous help.

When you walk and then stop, do you continue to walk the same way? If so, what is happening is he is expecting to carry on. When I train my lot, they have to keep watching me as they never know which way I am going to go.

One lady I helped with a similar problem I discovered always left her house and turned right to go immediately to the fields. She would walk, then when the dog pulled stop. Simply by getting her to set out and turn left and walk in that direction even if it was only a 100 yards or so helped break part of the habit this dog had developed. When out walking, I got her to stop when the dog started pulling. Once the dog was calm instead of going on in the same direction all the time, I got her to walk in a different direction even retracing her steps. Walks take a lot longer but it achieved the end she wanted.

When you see birds do you tell him to leave it in a very firm voice? I'd try this and make him sit, then move on once he is calm or just to keep his attention on me by moving in another direction. When he is good and walking nicely, very quietly, talk to him, I have found dogs will look at you, when you very quietly talk to them. I tell my youngsters they are good and I do quietly say heel but only when they are at heel. I will slip them an occasional treat if they are at heel when I say it, which gives them extra incentive to concentrate on me. Eventually they learn. How old is your dog? Is he a rescue or have you had him since a puppy?

He's a rescue dog.  We've had him for about 7 weeks.  The vet said he could be anywhere between 8 months old and 3 years old!  I would say he's very young, as he's still 'puppy biting' too.  We do take him on the same walk as we have a canal nearby and tend to walk him down there, so he knows where he's going every time we take him out.  I'll try turning and walking in the opposite direction and see if that helps.  With the birds, I can see when his attention is taken by them, and I say 'no' in a stern voice, but he pays no attention whatsoever.  I can feel him brace up, ready to chase them, but no matter what I do or say he will still lunge for them, and of course in a morning this is a nightmare because they're everywhere!  He is used to going to the toilet down the canal, but when there's birds about he doesn't do anything at all, as he's too excited and interested in what's going on around him.  It's difficult as we don't always have unlimited time to walk him, and having to stop every couple of steps because he's pulling is a nightmare, and sometimes you can be very tempted to just ignore it and get on with the walk, but I try not to :)

I can highly recommend the dog training harnesses for stopping the pulling on the lead. I decided to try this because I'm pregnant and was afraid he was going to pull me over on his walks, and I can honestly say i was amazed at the difference. He walks perfectly to heel as he quickly learnt that if he pulled the harness tightens around his body which he didn't like.

Its also improved his desire to rush over to see other dogs who he meets, so it might have the same effect with yuor dog's need to chase birds.

Thanks.  I've taken your advice and I've just purchased a halti training lead etc on the internet.  I was hoping to not have to go to such extremes, and hopefully just train him, but I couldn't stand the pain of another nail being nearly ripped off whilst walking him :D :D   This had better work, as I've bought him all sorts of things such as toys etc over the internet and he's happily ignored every single one of them! :rolleyes: