I collected a collie yesterday to stop him from being PTS. Lovely dog, great in the house, well behaved, affectionate, great off lead... However, he is clearly not used to a lead and gets VERY stressed as soon as he is leashed. He pulls like a tank, but it feels like he's trying to escape as oppose to pulling with excitement iykwim. He stops listening to voice commands completely as soon as the lead is on, pants like crazy, and, most worryingly, snaps at everything in his path, including nipping my 8 year old yesterday :( He clearly hasn't been trained at all (he's 4 and has been kept crated most of his life) and his walks have consisted of being put in the back of a car and let out to run.
I'm going to struggle to keep him as ds is now petrified of him, and the village I live in is full of kids, so would be very wary of trying to walk him, however, I have a friend with no kids who is prepared to take him in, providing I can help her with training. I have a long line, a muzzle, a clicker, plenty of treats and an anti pull harness and we're going to take him to a quiet area in the car this afternoon and start trying to get him used to a lead.
My plan is to attach the long line and let him go, and just get him used to having that attached with me at the end, then gradually build up to getting closer and closer, with the help of treats, until the lead is short enough to walk him on. Does this sound correct? Obviously, he will be muzzled when in public, as cannot risk him nipping anyone else, but I feel it's just pure fear that caused him to nip yesterday, as oppose to aggression. He just seems terrified on the lead, yet off lead he is happy, confident and responds to commands well.
Any tips would be appreciated! If we cannot start to crack this ourselves, then we will get a decent behaviourist involved :)
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Training help needed!
3 replies
JulietBravoJuliet · 17/07/2014 10:27
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