Hyper Lab

Question
I have an 11 month old chocolate lab, he is like a child to me. But I sometimes get annoyed with his excessively hyper behavior. He jumps on everyone that comes around and seems to never calm down. Is there anything I can do to reduce this?

Answer
More exercise would help.  And not just walking, something to get his heart rate up, fetch or something.  Check out the ''Chuckit'' that allows you to throw a tennis ball further.  

Obedience train him.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Consistently is very important in correcting jumping and other problems.  Quickly correcting him each and every time he jumps on somebody is very important.  Something bad has to happen each time.  People are successful with a number of different things.  One of the most gentle is to grab his front paws and hold him up.  The traditional knee to the chest or step on his paws work well too.  At a recent seminar I went to, the nationally known trainer liked the step backwards.  In each case apply ''Bad dog, its name off!'' in a firm, but not loud voice.  Go ahead with it even if he is too quick to add a physical correction.