@GaryE How old is Mabel now?
Right now, she will walk for long stretches on a relaxed leash. Then she spots a leaf in the wind and will throw all her strength into the chase. She's strong, so that is a mighty jolt. She stops when she remembers the leash, but when it's icy as it is now, the potential for injury is real.
It really is. And labs and goldies are strong, solid, heavy dogs! A lot of people just go "oh, it's a lab, goldie? They're super biddable and easy to train, it's why they're guide dogs!" forgetting that they're first and foremost a dog bred to retrieve game, and work in all types of weather conditions, and they were bred from other hard working sporting dogs. They are large, strong dogs, and being pulled or knocked over by a young one in a brainless moment is a real problem!
Both labs and goldies are also known for being giant, over-enthusiastic, goofy, loving clowns as pups. And unfortunately, they are puppies mentally at least until they hit 2-3 years old, so it's a lot of work to get through those adolescent stages, and come out with a calm, biddable, gentle giant doggo at the end of it!
@GaryE Given how isolated and dangerous, weather wise, your place is, and your wife and MIL's frailty, I'd recommend getting a headcollar to use for her. Can also be called a Haltie, or Gentle Leader. They work on the same principle as with horses. If you're controlling the head, they can't throw their weight into it and yank you over. I've used them successfully before, and means your wife could walk the dog with one finger holding the lead.
Can be tricky to teach her to accept it, but since they're usually highly motivated by food and praise, if you introduce it gradually, don't make a big drama out of putting it on, then praise and distract her so she doesn't paw at it too much, then take it off again, praise and reward her for being good, so she associates the head collar with good things, and not being a big deal. Do that a few times just in the house, just praising her for wearing it, and letting her get used to the feel of it, before taking it off again. Once that's been done well a couple of times, can try attaching a lead, and gently leading her around the house, and praising her if she does well. Then the yard, before you're finally ready to try using it on a walk.
The other part about whether they work, is how skilled the handler is. Get a longer than average lead - 6-8 feet would be ideal, so she can have her head and sniff, explore, enjoy her walk, without having her head yanked about. Have seen owners try a headcollar, don't get the dog used to wearing it, then just drag the dog along besides/behind them, pleased that the dog isn't pulling them over anymore. Meanwhile the dog is lagging behind desperately trying to scrape the headcollar off with his paw, rubbing his head on the ground trying to remove it, and then being yanked along behind that owner. Not a good sight to see, and it took some work to get the dog de-sensitised to that so I could work with him and teach him it didn't have to be this terrible thing, and earn his trust in me and the headcollar. Took more work though to teach the owner to see it from the dogs point of view, and teach her to gently lead him and use it to gently lead, and control, but in a gentle, communication kind of way. Not pulling their heads around, or using it more like a punishment and not letting the dog enjoy the walk.
It could also injure the dog's neck, if a handler uses it badly like that, so a lot of people don't like head collars as a result, and they fell out of fashion in favour of harnesses.
I haven't needed one for a while, Pixie and Jack were great on harnesses, but I wouldn't hesitate to use one if I had a large dog that needed it, because I know how to use one right, especially in your circumstances. I know you guys adore Mabel and would use it gently and put the work in to get her used to wearing and walking in it, and it could genuinely be a lifesaver. If either of you got pulled down or knocked over and injured while out in the middle of nowhere, help is a long way away, and then hypothermia is also a real risk.
Give it some thought and check them out, and happy to answer any other questions, here or in pm!
She'll also go weeks without a behaviour, for example not jumping up on people, and then suddenly, test the rules/lose her focus all over again. It's like she needs periodic retraining.
Oh yes, this is very normal! You go to bed proud because your dog behaved perfectly, and finally seems to have grasped all the training you've been doing, and wake up to a dog that appears to have been swapped by changlings overnight, and doesn't listen to a thing you say. Like everything you worked on fell out of their head.
It's a normal part of their development, even though it's frustrating! It is partly pushing the rules/boundaries, to see what they can get away with. Teenage behaviour! But it's also just brain development, hormones, and that learning isn't linear either.
Those stages (and it'll likely happen more than once, I'm sorry to say!) can be frustrating, but you just have to be patient. They haven't totally forgotten everything, I promise!
Be patient, and keep going back to first steps, repeat and reinforce the basic training you did in the first place, even if it means going right back to the start. And on the times they're pushing boundaries and you know it, can be a bit more strict. Use a stronger voice tone and say "ah ah" or another sound they don't hear very often (which is why I make that noise, since it's different from "no" "stop that", since they're likely to overhear those words a lot in everyday life, so better to choose a more unique, simple noise that interrupts the behaviour, then praising her if she looks at/comes to you.
Can also lead them away/body/block them/stop them from doing whatever it is. Pixie knows what "ahah!" means, and reads the tone of voice and facial expression, and knows it means "I'm serious. Stop that" and works for whatever she's doing that I don't want, like counter surfing for snacks, heading to\o close to the edge of the river while off lead, or about to eat something I've told her to leave, and she's ignored the command to "leave it" or "drop". She's usually good with those cues too, even dropped a juicy looking chicken bone she found in a park once, without even hesitating! I was so proud of her.
But that's the sternest "punishment" I've ever needed to use in dog training, and don't need to use it that often even, because we worked hard to make training fun, I have a smart dog from intelligent working breeds, so she learns new commands and tricks pretty easily, so that's not an example that I'm a great trainer (although I am pretty good!), when I also have a great dog! On the other hand, smart dogs are harder to train, in many ways, since they have to think about it and want to do it, will challenge and push boundaries more than a medium energy/less smart dog would, and need a lot more exercise and mental stimulation, since they get bored more easily and will get themselves into mischief unless otherwise occupied, or tired out! Luckily, mental exercise, like learning new tricks, commands, or skills like scent trailing, are just as tiring as physical exercise. They need a good balance of both.
