my 7 month golden retriever seems to be doing fairly well on our pavement walks, walking quite nicely now - until we see another dog that is. She then gets really excited and drags me along behind her until we get to the dog and then she gets all lollopy and daft. She does get to play with other dogs off the lead when we go on our main walk later in the day. She wears an ordinary buckle collar at the moment and I am a bit reluctant to put a halti on her as my last dog rubbed her eyelids bare at every opportunity to get it off. Any suggestions on 1) a good collar or something that will give me more control and 2) how to reduce this excitability on meeting other dogs but without loosing her zest and pure joy at seeing  other dogs ????

Hi I am no expert on dog training but thought I would share my experience with my dogs with you!!
As for a Collar, I use the training collars that are 1/4 chain and 3/4 fabric.  I find these work wonders as when the dog walks well then the collar is loose (so to speak) and if the dog starts to pull the chain reduces its size and give me more power to pull the dog back.
I have one girl that loves meeting other dogs, I do use a Halti on her sometimes and it really helps she does try to get it off but soon forgets about it on our walks.
When we are approaching another dog, I try and get my girl to stand still and tell her to 'leave' and if she has done as she is told she gets to sniff the other dog (as long as if they are friendly of course!)
I find if I try and pull her back when other dogs are approaching this just becomes a tug of war!
xx

My 18mt old still gets excited when she sees other dogs. She jumps in circles she's so excited. What I tend to do, simular to gemini05, is to keep an eye out for oncomings dogs & get Molly to sit & wait, I do have to hold on to her harness to make sure the jumping in circles doesn't start!. Most of the time this does work if the other dog is not interested in her, but if they are I just let her have a little sniff & then she's quite happy to continue to walk. I think it's just time too, your pup is still so young. The older dogs in my town just look at Molly like she is potty, but their owners say their dogs were just the same at that kind of age. Good luck!

well mine is 4 (tomorrow)and very outgoing, still quite keen on other dogs so i find i dont get nearer than 10 feet, (any closer then he may try to tow me dogwards) and when he has had a chance to get used to it at a distance and if want them to meet then we will meet, (this is usually with other dog owners that i know of course). its very hard to control a situation when the other dog handler doesnt do things the same way, everything is fine for me unless the other dog decides to march head-on towards him, then its a bit tricky, as he gets a bit scardy! 
what was the other option?  Grow out of it...i dont think so!!:rolleyes:not mine anyway....no sign of it yet!

Every dog is different, my 9 month old doesn't bother with other dogs walks past just fine.  But my 2 year old boy just wants to say hello to everyone, i use a halti on mine just because of the size and weight they are.  I do make my boy stop and settle before walking on then i say leave and have a treat ready if he is calm and relaxed he gets it.  Once he has had a sniff he is very happy to walk on not bothering.  At shows he doesn't bat an eye at other dogs, but he knows its different out walking at home.  They are very fickle aren't they...

Yvonne

Someone suggested the canny collar to me and my 2 labs walk beautifully now with no pulling ever easier to use than halti and don't come as high, I got mine off ebay

I would also highly recommend the canny collar for a GR if you are looking for a headcollar. It is the only one I have found that doesn't ride up or pinch the soft lips of a GR. The lead also attaches at the back of the  neck so has a different action to other headcollar types.

I use one if walking after dark as our dog is frightened of fireworks and he is too strong for me to hold otherwise if he panics and tries to bolt. It has already been put to the test when someone let a firework off on the beach one evening as we were walking nearby.

My GR boxed the canny collar off the next time we tried it he rolled over on his back and wouldn't stand up   I've now ordered a Halti Harness which I hope will help as when he decides to go he goes

There are a myriad of head halters and/or harnesses that can help you manage your dog until it will walk calmly on a flat collar.

Halti
Dogalter
Dogmatic
Gencon
Gentle Leader
Canny Collar
Dog train

etc etc etc

Any sort of collar whether it is flat, half check or full check will not train your dog, no equipment will, however if you are consistent with training any dog of any breed can and will walk calmly on a regular flat collar and lead.

If you go to the Learning About Dogs site there is a very good booklet called Walk With Me produced by Kay Laurence which demonstrates a thorough method of walking on the lead.

HTH