Anyone actually tried Jerry Howe's techniques?

I've had pets, including dogs, growing up and none of them were
particularly well behaved and aside from feeding them and occasionally
acknowledging them when going into the back yard, I was never really
taught as a kid how to properly care for a pet. I've got my own family
now and decided to add a new member to our family. I'd like to learn a
new way to actually enjoy having a dog and having him participate in
the family unit.

We just adopted a 7mo lab puppy from our local shelter and I'm in
search of alternate training methods. I've tried a few of Caesar
Milan's techniques but they don't seem to have a lasting effect since
most of them are dependant on having a lead just behind the dogs ears
and after a couple of corrective yanks, it ends up around his throat
and then he pulls and the lead slides down to his shoulders which makes
him want to pull even harder. We walk him until he's calm every day
like Caesar recommends, but as soon as he gets home and off the lead he
gets rowdy. Keeping a lead on him 24/7 is not practical. We take him
to the local dog park every day and he does pretty well socializing
with the other dogs there. He's very active and occasionally jumps
up on other dogs but it's usually other active dogs and it seems like
he's trying to get them to wrestle around with him. Once in a while
he'll find one to play with and they'll go at it for an hour or
more. I haven't gotten any of Caesar's books, so maybe some of the
missing pieces are there but I'm bothered by having to make a purchase
to do something as common as
training/rehabing/whatever-else-you-wanna-call-it a pet.

In searching the groups here I couldn't help but come across Jerry
Howe's postings. My initial impression was he's a belligerent, rude
and insulting kook, but I also have an open mind and before I wrote his
entire program off, I wanted to see what he actually provided free of
charge. I was surprised to see that he does indeed provide his entire
training manual online and free of charge. I know he tries to sell
other things, or at least has tried in the past, but like I said, I'm
opposed to buying information in regards to common every-day tasks so I
didn't look into that side of his program at all. I'm about 1/2 way
through the training guide and he hasn't pushed any products as of yet.
In fact, his recommended training tools (i.e. soda can with a few
coins, etc) are made from inexpensive items found around the house and
he actually seems to discourage the purchase of all but the most basic
collar and leashes, unlike our vet who promptly suggested the Gentle
Leader by brand name. The dog hates this thing and I feel bad using it
to force him to walk or heel or sit. I'd rather he do these things
because he knows it's what I want him to do. I see other dogs do it,
so I know it can be done.

I enjoy studying psychology, which is the reason Caesar's techniques
appeal to me, and it seems Jerry's techniques use even more psychology
and less physical contact to accomplish the desired result. I'm
curious if anyone here has actually been able to get far enough past
Jerry's ignorance in dealing with people to be able to try his training
methods and what the result was.