How do I get my Lab to respect the street and CARS

Keep him contained. Dogs don't understand cars. Go get a martingale collar([linkhttp://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=13]http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=13[/link]), so he can't slip his lead, and start teaching him a really good recall. The sooner you start teaching him to come when called, the better. It's also a good idea to suprivise him while he's in the yard.

I agree with Jennie, teach to react to you at once. Also, when on walks teach him to sit and wait before you cross the street. Don't let him cross the street with out you.

I would suggest obedience training classes asap., if you don't it's going to get worse.

get Leslie Nelson's Really Reliable Recall DVD.  But really, this sounds more like a management issue-- why is this dog slipping the leash so often? Put something on him he can't slip. why are the gates open? install auto-closure devices or padlock them.

Hi there. I'm glad I found this thread. I'm having the same problem. I have a 2 year old black lab female. I've only had her for about 3 months and she is pretty well trained. She was given up by her family and is not a stray. We went through basic obedience and she did just fine. But, I'm also have the same problem with getting her to pay attention to me when we are outside. It's like she is ignoring me, which I think she is. There was one time that I let her off leash to play ball and she saw something across the street and bolted, almost getting hit by a car. Since then, I refuse to let her off leash unless we're at an off leash area. However, she is really getting to me as she will not come when called, especially at the dog parks. I saw that someone suggested Leslie Nelson's DVD. Is that a good purchase? Can you offer any other ideas how to help get her to listen to me?

Hello there []

Your dog is acting how a dog should be expected to act when not trained. To have a dog (and then it is a Lab!) develop impulse control under heavy distractions (say, sit and stay while there is a squirrel on the other side of the road), or come when called while it is having tons of fun, chasing another dog or a cat, requires a lot of work and some idea of how to actually train. To explain how all of this is properly done step by step requires however more than a few lines. I would strongly advise you, both of you really, to get yourself Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash". It explains nicely how dogs learn, the basic principles of teaching a dog, and gives step by step instructions to things like developing a reliable sit/stay and recall among other things. I strongly believe that investing those 15$ and taking the time to read it two or three times (yep, more than once if that is the only real training book you read) will vastly improve your knowledge of how to handle your dog and help a great deal to decrease your frustrating experiences.

Good luck []

Leslie Nelson's DVD is definitely a good purchase and her methods are easy to follow.

Teach your dog to "wait".  He can learn the word easily if you ask him to sit and wait before his food bowl is lowered to the ground.
Say "wait" and start to lower it.  If he comes forward, take the bowl back up.  Repeat until he waits long enough for it to hit the ground - then quickly say "ok" and let him have the dinner.  Next, ask him to "wait" in different places without the food - if he does, you say "ok" and give him a treat (I carry Cheerios or Solid Gold Tiny Tots everywhere I go when I'm training a dog - they aren't yucky and you can break off the teeniest bits, so no fat dog).  Then, start adding distractions.
No dog who hasn't learned "wait", "leave it" and "come" should ever be off lead outdoors - period.  You must find a way to contain your dog until all these behaviors are learned or you bear the responsibility if something bad happens.  JMHO

If you are really really really willing to work on this, you can also teach a default behavior of sitting at any open door/gate.  Take the wait training ideas and put them at open doors and gates as many times in a day as possible.  Set up 6-7 2-3 minute training sessions at the openings every day.  You may even choose to use a specific word to indicate going through an open door or gate (rather than the more generic  release or with me word).  Dogs anticipate patterns of behavior very well, so use that to your advantage.

Hello everyone and thanks for the suggestions.  I've ordered the CD by Nelson, and will study that.  For those who suggested training, he and I did go through the six week puppy kindergarten, and then had a professional trainer work with him for three months, so he's getting lots of that.  He is staying in the yard most of the time, and is on a long lead and harness when I work him outside the fence,  so we'll hope that works.  And I've met with the guys who keep the yard up and the delivery people who sometimes come into the back of our property to ensure they know how to double check the magnet locks on our gates when they leave to ensure they are shut.   So hopefully we can prevent him from getting out.
 
As for working the core of the problem, I'm spending a ton of time working him on the lead, near the street and setting curb boundaries with leash pops and positive reenforcement.  Wish I could use treats but he's on a restricted (allergy) diet.  Gosh.
 
Again, thanks.

Yes, thank you for the info.  I also ordered Leslie Nelson's DVD.  Like Allen, my dog has also gone through obedience class, but I think she needs more training.  She is otherwise a very good dog.  I hope this DVD will help and I will try to post our progress.  Has anyone else had success with the Really Reliable Recall?

Many a dog owner has found that dogs can be very obedient in class or in the kitchen, but they act like their brains have melted in all other situations. One of the most important things to remember about dogs is that they don't generalize well. This means that a dog who understands what COME means in the backyard may truly not understand what COME means in the front yard. Thus the concept of proofing: For every command you teach the dog, you have to proof. First you teach the command in a quiet place with no distractions. Then you start gradually increasing the number of distractions. You have go slowly because you want the dog to succeed every time. Expecting a dog to SIT in a park with squirrels and children and other dogs running around is an order of magnitude more difficult than expecting a dog to SIT in a quiet garage. You don't jump straight from the garage to the crowded park. You jump from the garage to other quiet rooms; then to the backyard; then perhaps the park when it is empty.

You can use treats.  Take half or some other portion of your dog's daily food, and use that.  Granted it is not as compelling as liver, however, in a slight state of deprevation (not eating the full amount of dinner) will increase food drive for training.  It doesnt hurt dogs to get the food spread out over the day in this manner provided you have good house manners (signals for need to empty bowel or bladder)