crazy puppy...what to do?

hi everyone,

i need some help. walking duffy has been a nightmare. he's 5 months now and the best puppy ever. we love him to bits...except when the leash is one and we're out the door. there are two reasons why...

1) he sniffs and marks everywhere. we can't go 3 feet without him stopping to inspect something (he's half schnauzer so he's got quite the nose). we moved from collar to harness so when he pulls or we pull it won't hurt his neck. still, he's a terrible walker. as for the marking, will this change once he's neutered. so how can we work with him to walk with us?

2) he wants to play with every dog and person (mostly children) that he sees. he starts to cry and gets up on his hind legs as soon as he sees a dog or person and it's completely unaggressive, he just wants to play. we've done what we can to socialize him. he's gone through puppy class and has met lots and lots of people since we got him at 13 weeks. still, he's so excited when ever anyone's around, he'll claw you to bits if you hold him back (and we do hold him back and he does claw at us). any tips to fix this?

thanks everyone!

When he claws you, do you ever give in?

My puppy used to nip at me when I tried to get him to move from a place he was sniffing or trying to eat garbage.

I wore jeans and when he nipped at me I stopped, shortened his leash so he had to stand right beside me, and I scolded him. Then I didn't move for 2 mins until he stopped pulling.

You have to show him you are the boss and he has to go where you say. Try keeping him on a shorter leash.

When my puppy is good I let him have the max 16 ft of the leash so he can walk ahead a little bit (only do this if he has been taught to heel). When he is misbehaving he gets 2-3 feet so he can do nothing but walk right beside me.

Its best to keep the pup on a short leash beside you until he learns his role during walks.

The marking should be lessened by getting the castration done, which should be soon. As for the playfulness, some dogs can be really excited. All you can do is get better control on him so that he isn't scratching you. If he thinks he could never get away from you or even loosen the leash, he won't try for it. If he sees that if he pulls hard enough or catches you off guard he gets to see the people, he won't stop trying. Just be consistent and less tolerant, just my opinion.

What type of harness are you using?

There are some old posts about how to deal with jumping up. Basically you need some friends to help you. They have to ignore the dog until he is sitting, then he gets praise like crazy.

Have a search through the older posts, our training expert has written some really good instructions for this

Good luck, and pictures please