Need creative retraining help

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

Austin is a 2 to 3 year old pure bred border collie who was originally sent to a rescue that turned out not to be a rescue and was there for about a year and a half before they were shut down.

 

He is a wonderful happy guy to people and gets along with other dogs but, he will not walk on a leash.

 

I have adopters waiting to see if I can work out this problem but, he will walk about 10 feet and lie on his back. If I saw this behavior in a new dog I would just pick him up but, he's been with us for 2 months so no excuse there it's a fear of where he's going to go. Oh and I'm sure he was beat for this.

 

I have tried walking with baiting. leaving him lie there and going off to play with other dogs. I may try taking him for ride today.

 

I'm guessing an off leash home would be best as he wderful but, there are still times he will have to leash up and not play dead.

[powerfulgazelle]

Austin is a 2 to 3 year old pure bred border collie who was originally sent to a rescue that turned out not to be a rescue and was there for about a year and a half before they were shut down.

 

He is a wonderful happy guy to people and gets along with other dogs but, he will not walk on a leash.

 

I have adopters waiting to see if I can work out this problem but, he will walk about 10 feet and lie on his back. If I saw this behavior in a new dog I would just pick him up but, he's been with us for 2 months so no excuse there it's a fear of where he's going to go. Oh and I'm sure he was beat for this.

 

I have tried walking with baiting. leaving him lie there and going off to play with other dogs. I may try taking him for ride today.

 

I'm guessing an off leash home would be best as he wderful but, there are still times he will have to leash up and not play dead.

 

Would Austin walk side-by-side on a splitter with another dog? Sollers did not do the "play dead" thing, but he was sort of a fool about walking on leash til we got Kip. Once we started walking the two together, Sollers was a quick study on "how to walk nicely"....

[Skyler]

If the baiting doesnt work I would simply leave the leash on him at all times when he is not in a crate. Let him drag it around everywhere he goes (in safe environments). I would also try having him walk together with another dog on the splitter as suggested. If you do not have one or this fails try the method below.

 

If these fail I know of another option if your dog is not aggressive toward your other dogs. If you are not experienced with training dogs or dog savy I would suggest a bit of help on this one. You must be there to watch closely and eventually get in the middle anyway and the experienced dog must be as big or preferably larger than the training dog.

 

Step One: Try leashing your dogs together without you holding the leash. Just slip your other dogs collar through the handle of the leash and re-fasten it. This allows another dog to lead him around rather than a human. Give this time and let them get used to it but not around other dogs or in a situation where they will get to rowdy.

 

Step two: You are holding the leash in the middle of the two dogs and just following between them. You can use two leashes for this one just linked together with the experienced dogs lead snapping onto the handle of the training dogs lead. Again, let this one soak in a bit.

 

Step three: is to do this with two leashes holding the dogs together and you in the middle and you simply unhook the experienced dogs leash from the training dog and keep walking but they are now on separate leashes without him realizing the switch.

 

Step four: is to drop the experienced dogs lead and you have a dog not lying on his back and walking freely with you.

 

You could also try putting him on a long lead such as a 20-25 foot clothing line attached to your belt. Just freely roam the yard and let him test his boundaries. After he has realized his boundaries you can let him get to the end of the line and you walk the other way casually a few feet. This will tug him toward you a bit but he still has an amount of freedom. Increasingly shorten the line and freedom he has using the same walking away method only gradually increase the distance you walk away from him. Shorten...shorten...walk farther...walk...farther...shorten.... Eventually you should be able to walk wherever you wish with him on your belt with about a 6 ft line. Just switch the line for the leash and do the same. Then release the leash from your belt into your hands and, viola'! Both techniques are about gradually reeling the dog in so there is no overwhelming experience.

 

Good luck.