Let me just start out by saying i'm new, inexperienced and limited by both time and location in my training but I find SO much joy in what I can do with him when I can do it.....

So... I have a 7 month old male from HRK in Dundee, MI he's a riot but seems to be real "touchy"  He's super smart and learns everything I teach him almost immediately, the problem comes in his response after learning...  For instance "HERE" he knows i want him to come to me but he decides to sniff a bit more or just look around while I state "HERE" 10 more times then slowly but surely he comes in....  I don't know what to do to get the responsiveness.... E-collar?  or will that just make it worse? Also, he often gets "scared" by me or something about me...  Say "HERE" and his ears go back and his tail between the legs and tries to hide but definately won't come to me....  Do I just have a really sensitive pup?  I willing to admit that my tone of voice sometimes clearly indicates my frustration but in my head if he's not obeying the stern tone is the way to get the desired response.  How do I get response without changing my tone of voice, or should I be changing my tone as above?  Am I just expecting too much from a young dog?  Sorry for the 20 questions, but if anyone can help me it seems this is the place!

My advice would be to contact Dale. He will know the litter/pups better than anyone.

Is he on a check cord? At 7 months he is ready for you to start formalizing obedience, and starting to teach him that he has a job. He is at the age when he will start to blow you off-it's normal. Don't give a command you can't enforce. Put him on a check cord-say Here once, and if he starts to come, tell him good boy and encourage him to come all the way. If he stops to sniff, say here and give a firm tug on the cord, and do that each time he stops enroute. Praise him when he gets to you. After a few days he will understand what he is supposed to do, and you can expect more and stop praising/encouraging him along the way. Getting frustrated and raising your voice or being intimidating with your voice does you no favors. Don't yell, and don't beg. Just a pleasant upbeat "Here" and then use the cord to correct him. You need to read and follow a training book or program.

Would you come back to you if you could here yourself?

I use so much praise at this point with a dog, they cant help themselfs not to come back. I have never collar conditioned to here in any of my dogs. You have to make it fun for them, and when they do it right lots of praise, If you had a boss that was in a bad mood all the time would you be all excited to go to work?

It takes like 10 positives to get rid of one negitive in our minds, I wonder how many it takes for a dog? I would think around 3 to 4.

You are training the dog good and bad right now, and he is taking it all in like a sponge, take your time, be EXCITED when you train ,Have FUN, It is suppose to be FUN, for you and the dog......

There I fixed it,,,,apologies. Frustration overload, I will shut up.

TDK, hooligan and keskam,
Thank you very much for your responses/input!

Paco,
Thanks for the warm welcome!

Deezel, When i train my dogs and something isnt going like i think it should, a very good trainer on here told me that 99% of the time it is me and not the dog, It is something that i was not seeing or relating to the dog. It happens to all of us, You are no exception, It is good that you asked for advise, other than really messing up your dog,

Excitement IMO is lacking in alot of handlers, Labs aim to please, that is what they live for IMO, do your training in a way that works in your advantage, I probably give way to much praise but oh well they are my dogs and they love it, I make mistakes every day with these guys, 

 As somebody told me teach ,teach, teach, and then teach some more, thats how they learn..