I think you've done really well with him.

Lots of young dogs do play with the lead, its great fun for them but a real nuisance for you! I think you are right to say that he is grabbing your BF in frustration at not being able to grab the lead.
he may act differently with your boyfriend because you are reaping the rewards of having more spent more time training him and it has become a habit to obey you and you have more patience.
Dogs will act differently with individual people because each person interacts with their dog in different ways and how ever slight those differences, they can affect the way the dogs responds. It can be something as small as pitch of voice or a different way of standing .

Also, dogs soon learn who has less patience and/or who is quicker to react to their unwanted behaviour . Getting a response is rewarding in itself even if it a negative one and reinforces the behaviour.

You've had some good suggestions already so fingers crossed they will work.

Thanks dibbythedog
he is now 24 kilos.
http://s23.postimg.org/9grpzwvaz/DSCN3310.jpg

Hello Guys !
I want to give you an update on Myrsky and ask for some advices.
He is now 8.5 month old and he is clearly in his puberty, his behaviour towards some dogs changed and he is ignoring us most of the time. He is still ok with other male dogs and friendly just some he doesn't like too much.But the thing which is the hardest is his excitement. We don't know how to handle it. let me explain. If there is a dog 10m away he is of course speed up a bit or starring and waiting, the commands like "leave it" or "watch me" are nothing to him in this moments. Worst is, if we go to the dog park or actually just want to pass it, it takes so long to walk by or arrive because he is pulling so much and is out of control. I don't know what to do in this situations to calm him down, sometimes even a tasty treat in front of his nose, wont make him focus on me. And also what to do if he is lunging/barking after another dog in a not friendly way?? I want him to ignore the dog or just beeing calm. What I do at the moment is make him sit and looking in the other direction ( if i can) for looking at me he gets treats..please guys tell me that this time and behaviour will end and after he will turn out as an nice adult dog..I hope so

I would suggest you practise 'watch me' commands in a less distracting situation to start with, then go and stand a distance away from the park and practise again. Loads of praise and treats if he does as you ask; if not, move further away and then try again.

Once he reliably does 'watch me' at a distance, close the distance a little and repeat.

Make food rewards really worth while, out of the ordinary - and keep changing them so he's never sure what will be in your hand today. Try cooked liver, cubes of sausage, ham, cheeses, etc.

Play with him a lot, too - make yourself far more interesting than other dogs. Reserve special toys just for outings, and again, swap them about so he's never sure which one you'll have today. Play games like 'Find it!' (Toss a handful of treats into the grass and let him snuffle them out, then try hiding them behind a hedge etc, but let him see you do it at first), or 'hide and seek' (dash behind a tree and call him excitedly; when he finds you, lots of praise and toy rewards). Teach him to follow a target stick (clicker training works well for this) and then take it with you - the outdoors becomes his 'agility equipment'! Fallen logs, benches, hedges, or just weaving under/around your legs . . . It doesn't matter, provided he is focussed on you!

If he does start to become reactive to other dogs then you may need to learn techniques such as BAT which you can read about online.

Another thing you could try is to get involved in an activity such as Cani-cross, where he will be around lots of other dogs but he will see them all focussed on the activity not on each other, and he'll learn to have fun around other dogs without being focussed entirely on them.

Oh, I hear you. With the best will and all the patience in the world it is hard to get a young exuberant dog to behave in situations like this. You're right, he is entering his 'teenager' phase, and you can expect some, ahem, recalcitrance. Don't worry! It's totally normal. You may even see some regression, where it seems that he's lost some of the basic training that he used to have down pat. Pretty much all puppies go through it as they're growing up. Some are more rowdy about it than others. Just go back to basics, reinforce what he's already learned, stay on target... You've come this far and done so well with him.

PONlady's suggestions are excellent. Right now his whole world is opening up in new ways for him, and so much is so incredibly interesting that it's hard for him to contain himself. You might have to work a little harder at being the most interesting thing in his life. New toys, new games, new treats-- the world is great, but he has so not come to the limits of how great you are.

One thing you can try is, before you go somewhere where you know he will become excited, like the dog park or past a place where there's usually dogs he reacts to, is to really tire him out. Play ball, go running or for a bike ride, or just mentally exhaust him with puzzles and mind games or learning new tricks. The more energy he's already expended, the less he will have to go lunging into every situation he can-- but you'll probably find that his reserves of energy are fairly bottomless! Stick with it, though, and keep with your training, getting him to be as calm as possible even where it's difficult. And even though it is hard, stay consistent.

One thing to avoid doing, though, is to make going towards or into a difficult situation-- say the dog park-- and struggling with him into the game. It's too easy to do. You go to take him to the park, he just won't calm down, keeps pulling and pulling and lunging and barking at every dog and every kid on a skateboard and every squirrel until eventually you just give up and drag him away... it's very easy for him to perceive that ritual as being a heck of a lot of fun, and he may come to see it as the whole point of going to the dog park. I'm sure you've seen it yourself: someone with a dog going crazy on the end of a lead, rushing like crazy to get into the fun, until the human gives up and drags him off-- and the dog prances away, head high, tail wagging. He's just had the time of his life! Great game! Thanks, human! Instead, if you find that the situation is just not going your way and you have to get away, make sure he understands that it's not part of a game. Don't talk to him, don't make eye contact; hold the lead firmly and walk off in such a way that he has to follow you. You don't have to be mean about it. Just don't acknowledge him or the situation. Walk away calmly with as little fuss as possible.

Then, as soon as is feasible, when you're in a calm situation, *do* play a game with him. Be really happy about it and praise him. Remind him that there are games-- that lunging and barking thing, that's just not one of them.

Smart dogs like Myrsky often make up their own games. That's fine! Let him make up games and teach them to you, just make sure that he isn't making situations that you don't like into games.

I know this is all very easy to say, much harder to do. It takes work but I think you've already shown that you are up to it!

Oh thank you so much Strangechilde and PONlady
actually today (we just come from the walk) he was surprisingly better, but I did things different and took the advices very seriously, took a toy and a lot of treats and even since a week I use a clicker for watch me. I also think I have to be more fun for him. I'm always so straight and strict with him because I was a little frustrated sometimes. But today I was relaxed, calm and gave him a lot of opportunities to be rewarded I really think he is not the worst teenage dog, he is trying. I will just remember myself when I was in puberty I want to be a good mum for my baby <3

Well done. These dogs aren't an easy breed to train!
I'm sure your being more relaxed has helped. Dogs pick up the slightest tension from their owners especially when they are on leads.

By the way,don't forget to have fun too and enjoy your puppy!