Leash reactive Labrador Behaviour

this is phoebe in her dogmatic, it goes around the muzzel and fastens at back of head. they come in sizes quite precise so she shouldnt be able to get out of it if the right size is bought. I was a bit put of by the price but within 5 minutes i realised its worth its weight in gold

What a beautiful dog!! From the size of her, I can understand the need!! I'll take my little bugger to the pet store to have her properly fitted.....if I can get in there without her going nuts! Thanks for the suggestion!

you can only buy dogmatic online here - http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/ But if you look at the petshop there are few things you need to make sure of - that the part you clip on to is under chin and does not close up when pulled, that it fastens at very top of neck / base of skull. that it can be adjusted is it will stretch out with use. And if possible that it has the extra band joining the nose band to the head band along the cheek as that is the part that stops it riding in to your dogs eyes. i see far to many dogs in ill fitting head collars or ones that ride in to eye. like any tool it only works when used properly.
She will likely kick off about it first few times you use it as she will soon notice you have the control and there is nothing she can do about it. Phoebe used to rear up trying to pull it off with her front paws, now she happily puts her head in for walkies. It just gives you that safety net while training and if you feel more confident that will rub of on happy as if your nervous and waiting for her to throw a fit she will pick up on that and it will make her more nervous and more likely to throw a fit. Thats how it went with phoebe soon as i had the head collar i felt safer and more in control and her behaviour changed. I really think a head collar will give you a helping hand in training her

Katy,
Thank you so much for all the time you've spent trying to help me. I shall check it out. How old was Phoebe when you first put the dogmatic on her? I walked Happy around the neighborhood yesterday, and you were right, she is frightened, edgy, and very unsure of her surroundings, even though she's been living here with me since October 2012. When I first place her in the golf cart, she begins to pant, afraid of crossing the crack in the driveway where the wire to her underground electronic fence runs. Even after removing the electronic collar, she won't get near the crack in the driveway, so I either have to place her in the golf cart or the car to drive her across it. It's inconvenient to be sure, but I guess I should be glad that she doesn't want to cross it, especially in the event of a power failure when she'd be free as a bird to do it without getting shocked.

your welcome, its not often somebody has a problem i can help with. Phoebe has been in a head collar since she was about 2 as thats when our problems got worse (teenagers ) She is almost 8 now and still scared of stuff but we have learnt to deal with it. When she shows you shes scared you kinda have to go against your instincts. Dont fuss her or use a baby voice as your just reassuring her that something is scary. I tell Phoebe in a very matter of fact way that its ok and to move on when she trys to put the brakes on. I praise her and treat her once she has passed it. Sometimes i will walk past the same thing a few times back and forth till she realises its ok. If Phoebe trys to bolt from something i move her a little away from it and then put her in a sit for a minute or so, so she can have a look at it. if she goes over to sniff it i make a fuss and give her a treat otherwise i make the fuss once ive decided to move away to praise her for sitting near it. A lot of these things she still makes her self small and tucks her tail under but atleast she will walk past it normal. There is a house that had a huge flag hanging from a window during the olympics and she was petrified of it, she really didnt want to walk past this house but i made her do it everyday, still now shes weird about this house and stares at it as we pass with her tail tucked under.
With passing dogs the second i spot the dog i start to watch phoebe then the second she spots it i tell her in a very firm voice to "leave it" i keep walking and have my hand ready to pull the lead in shorter if she starts. Never stop this makes it worse they cant throw a proper tantrum if there being frog marched down the road. Each time she whines or barks i tell her "leave it" once passed if the tantrum didnt happen i make a huge fuss i go really over the top telling her what a good girl she is. If we had a tantrum then i just carry on and i dont say a word to her. Try not to change how your holding the lead or your pace or tense up as this will make her think something that she needs to worry about is coming (i know this part is easier said than done it was the hardest part for me) I have accepted that Phoebe will not have doggie friends and i have embraced that. so now we walk and i aim for no interactions with other dogs atall as there is no way of knowing which will go well so i dont put her in the position to fail.
With getting Phoebe used to the head collar i went with chucked in deep end, there was no getting used to it. i stuck it on her and went for a walk and she really was unhappy kept trying to pull it off each and everytime i gave her a very firm "NO" with each walk it came less and less and she quickly learnt that if she wanted to go out she had to put it on and if she wanted to enjoy her walk she had to leave it alone.
If a walk is going really bad i come home, wait 5 mins maybe have a cup of tea or something and then go back out again as if a walk starts real bad its probable not going to get better as shes all wound up then and seams unable to calm down. coming home and taking the collar and lead off and having a little rest seams almost like pressing the reset button

good luck. im happy to help you where i can so feel free to keep me updated on progress