I just wanted to post a little thank you to everybody who helped me with all my questions I've posted on this board.

One of my previous problems was my dog acting like an idiot any time people came over or entered our home. Running up to them, getting way to excited, jumping on them, etc.
I got some great advice to try tethering him to me when people came in the home to give me control. It worked great, being on his leash, he seemed to listen to my commands better and his outgoing personality was greatly improving. Finally last night somebody came over and I didn't have him tethered and with my command he stayed right by my side!!! I was such a proud Mommy!!

I also had difficulty with submissive urination when people came over and pet him or cooed over him too much. Tethering helped this problem too, my pup is able to get used to the people in our home and when I finally do release him, his excitment is much more calm now.

I really feel like tethering improved our over all pack structure. My dog seems to really stick by my side now and by being closer to me, he is much more alert to my commands. Hopefully anybody else having trouble with their dog minding them, reads this post and has the success that I have had.

So thanks to everybody who helped me out. My pup is 8 months old now and still a little wild at times...but that's just part of him charm! I'm sure this won't be my last post, so thanks for always being available.

Yes...tethering is one of the great tools in the dog/human relationship. Highly effective!

Glad to hear about your pup's progress. Isn't it cool when you see such progress? I love hearing stories like that.

Congrats and keep up the good work!

Big advantage for young puppies as you can hold him back from biting your leg while you try to get him on somethind else. My boy is very independent and this is helping him to realize he is with me and I am the leader. So glad to hear of progress in any form with dogs and owners

My 9 week old puppy doesn't like being tethered. When he realizes he's tied to me he goes into freak mode like some of the dogs I've seen on The Dog Whisperer. He's very energetic, so I sometimes let him roam the living room to play with his toys so he can burn off some of it. So far I've caught him every time he's about to pee inside.

I guess (and hope) this will get better as he grows. If I have visit over and have him tethered to me, he goes insane, whines and the whole 9. None of my friends/family know $hit about dog training etc, so they think I'm not letting him be a puppy. I will get someone to come over very soon and have him tethered to me and WILL NOT let him say hi to that person no matter how hard he whines. How does that sound?

It ain't easy

AMEN to the "umbilical" method !!! It prevents a multitude of ills <:-)

Richard, your puppy is very very young. As far as visitors are concerned, if you would rather not have him greet visitors, it might be preferable to put him in his crate out of sight of the visitor. I think it's asking too much of such a young puppy to tether him to you when someone comes to visit and not allowing any interaction the whole time the person is there and the pup can see them. I just think it's too much stress on such a little guy.

And Richard,
Just from my own experience, my pup at that young age (9 weeks) wasn't in love with his leash either. The first few weeks he resisted it a lot and eventually he began to understand it.
So I think it's safe to say he'll get better on the leash with age. And I still let people greet him but only after they've been there a while and he's adjusted to the change.
And then his greeting is controlled (on leash), so I can correct him if he jumps on them or goes back to his crazy pup mode.
It's a never-ending process....and I love it!

I'm wondering how long a line people use when tethering their dogs?

I personally thought the 6' was a little too long sometimes and often used shorter lengths depending on what I was doing when my pup was tethered.

ours didn't like her 6ft either for the first day or two, but then she figured out that when she had it on, she was out of her crate and with us

it also signaled play time or going outside time, too

now when she sees me get a leash she runs to me and comes to a fast sit!

When I got my GSD as a puppy I "Tethered" her to me just because I wanted a close bond with her for doing Schuthund. I found that I not only got that "Close Bond" she was the easiest dog I have ever had to house break. The funny thing is that I did this without even knowing about this site at the time. It just seemed the best way for me to get her attached to me. Now when she is out with the other dogs she still comes and checks in with daddy every little bit, she is 16 months now.