I have a golden retriever, aged 10 months, who has always been quite a handful.
He is, however, loving, cuddly, friendly and has 100% recall in garden and obeys a whole range of commands instantly.
BUT - when out and about he is a nightmare. In spite of strenuous training efforts he still pulls on the lead and can even wriggle out of his Dogmatic harness. He is obsessed by other dogs and not even the tastiest snack will divert his attention from a likely-looking playmate. I cannot let him off the lead as I tried once and he was off and refused to come back until captured.
Training classes are a disaster. All the other dogs his age are trotting round obediently going round cones and through gates. Dog has no clue what he's supposed to be doing. Week after week we go and he can't remember (or doesn't want to remember) any of his commands. He just strains and strains to try to get at the other dogs. This week, to my mortification, he suddenly lunged at a passing female dog and starting humping her! I was paralysed for what seemed like hours but must have been half a second before I leapt on him and dragged him off. He is by far the worst dog there and it's so dispiriting.
Should I quit these training classes? How can I make dog into a great walking companion instead of a manic liability?
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
What next with delinquent dog?
lainiekazan · 23/01/2014 13:17
Fan - yes I have done that with my boy - if ever he has been let off in the park he is fine to play as long as the dog he plays with has good recall with their owners as he just follows the dog so when they come back, he does. At the moment we are doing mainly pavement walks because of the weather so not doing that, and the trainer has specifically suggested I don't let him play until he learns manners 
. It is good to hear from someone further down the line who is making progress!
It seems there are 2 schools of thought - my trainer's idea of not letting him play just yet because that will increase his obsession, but other people have said the more dogs he plays with the more he will "get it out of his system". Do you think that letting him play has helped his behaviour when you don't want him to play and just want him to walk past other dogs?
It is possible age is helping but at this stage is calmer rather than calm 
But he can pass another dog now without going batshit mental and trying to hurl his whole body at them. I didn't go up to meet the gang this morning as it was slinging it down and there is often noone there in bad weather. He reverted to his old ways of hunkering to the floor and refusing to move as he knew there was a dog behind.
Another little BT (identical to mine!) has joined our little group and we often walk back together and they walk lovely together despite been as similar in temprement as they are in looks.
I have a Goldie too and I'm definitely not snooty and my boy is definitely not pristine 
. He's a lot older so fairly sedate but still has his mad moments and his recall isn't great.
What area are you in OP? Just say general area like NW, SE if you don't want to be specific.
Mine does jump up...at speed and preferably with mud!
Breaking into dog group was as easy as just having the guts to walk over to half a dozen peopl e stood with their dogs and say hello, chat for 10 minutes and just stalk them after that Dead subtle I am! Yorkshire folk do tend to take pity on a struggling loser though when dealing with wayward mutts! All jokes aside though, they are 'dog' folk though so really helpful.
I have met loads of people I chat to regularly in my local park but as I say, we are strange round here anr tend to chat to random strangers as though we know them!
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