I love the image of you all gathered in the hall, wine glasses in hands
Honestly, relaxing evenings are a thing of the past in this house at the moment. We live downstairs in the kitchen most of the time and there is a stair gate, so it's slightly more tricky than just going out of a door but if it worked for you, then I'm happy to try anything that has had positive results!
I have been doing a combination of blanking Tali and changing the command when we are in the park and he starts trying to dictate what we do - telling him to heel has worked a bit, although it's been gradually turning into him sort of moonwalking in front of me looking hopeful which is NOT the heel we learnt in training... Blanking him works too, but only after a while, and I find blanking him frustrating too, as it seems so passive, but that's my problem I guess
Having said all that negative stuff, he is amazing a lot of the time, and was determinedly sitting and watching me in the park today, as instructed, whilst being buffeted by a pug who was equally determined to play. It's important to remember the good stuff under all the monkeying!
The key word you used is 'eventually' I think - it's small steps and determination and we'll all get there in the end!