dog doing me head in

[meatismurder]

I got a 16month lab,hes great round the house,very well behaved. But when we go out hes a bit of a pain, he pulls on the lead. if theres other people up the park throwing a ball for there dog he gets the ball and wont give it back. I always take a ball and one of those flingers,he loves chasing it,brings it back,drops it at me feet,then snatches it as i go to pick it up. I always end up having to put him on the lead because he just niks the other dogs balls! people are starting to avoid us. and a couple of months ago he nicked a ball off of a dog and the dog bit through his ear,not a pretty sight,but you would of thought he,d of learnt his lesson?

[meatismurder]

Oh and he even takes childrens balls aswell,this little kid was playing footie last wk, Dexter started running,No Dexter No,POP,the mother was very unhappy,kid crying. I gave em a fiver for a new one. very frustrating.

[bigmamma]

You may have to keep him on a short lead for a while until he's trained or he may get him and yourself into hot water honey x

[paddywak]

Try a Halti collar, they fit over the head and alter the focus of the lead to under the chin worked really well for Max a GSD he only wore it for a few days and it solved the problem, have you thought of taking to training classes? If you check you will probably find a class for older dogs in you region, as bigmamma says if you dont get something done it can lead to all sorts of problems latter on

[andy-hughes]

If cats are female, dogs are male - they don't learn lessons, even when pain is involved!

i reckon a good training class will sort him out - soon as, because he is either going to get into a serious fight, or a parent is going to get seriously stroppy - both best avoided.

[paraffin]

Hi meat:

Although Dexter is obviously a happy-go-lucky typical labrador, I'm sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations when out and about.

I have two collies and I also on occasions take a ball and I too use a ball thrower. My younger one is quite obsessed with the ball and he also used to try to chase other balls belonging to other dogs. He doesn't do it now but I had to be quite cruel to be kind.

I eventually broke him of the habit by literally screaming at the top of my voice at him, getting literally right in his face as I did so. It had to be done and although on one hand I felt bad about it, and quite embarrassed in front of the other dog owners, he would still have been doing it had I not. It took a few "goes" but he soon got the message and is easily dissuaded nowadays with just a gentle but persuasive "no!"

Also, I don't know if you could possibly find somewhere to exercise him where there may be few other people with dogs?
Plus, when he drops the ball at your feet, order him to "sit" and "stay" a few feet away before trying to pick up the ball, and don't do it until you're satisfied that you can get to it before he can! He must learn that you are his boss, not the other way round.

As suggested, the halti is a good way of controlling his pulling because I know how big and powerful some labs can be. So don't fight him, control him!

Hope this helps. Best of luck.