[macke27]

I just (4 days) adopted a 1 year old, 40lbs, bearded collie/golden(?) mix. He has had pretty bad diarrhea and kennel cough. Both issues have been addressed by his vet and he is eating fairly well and has energy.

My question is, he is becoming increasingly hard to walk. If we are going a direction that he is not happy with he refuses to move. This happens at every block. I have tried quick jerks of the leash, using a very commanding voice, praise and a clicker when he does well. Nothing is helping. What I m doing now is picking him up and walking the direction that we need to go for about 3 feet, putting him back down and using the "come" command. Sometimes he comes and I praise him like crazy when he listens. Right now with his illnesses, he is not at all food motivated.

Also, he has a coughing fit every time this happens and sometimes made me give into him. He was a great walker his first day and great when I walked him at the shelter. I feel like giving in these few times has made him lose respect for me.

I thought this might be because he is overwhelmed with his new surroundings, but after really evaluating his behavior, I think it is just that he does not want to go home and wants to show his dominance. Our walk today turned into a 3 hour walk. I just bought him a harness, which should be good anyway until he recovers his cough, but... I need help.

 

[Amaryllis]

Do yourself and the dog a favor and stop viewing your interactions as a contest. You are not losing, he is not winning. You are a team, working together.

First of all, the dog is sick. Don't try to train while the dog is sick. Would you be able to learn anything in the middle of a bout of the flu?

Secondly, You've have the dog 4 days. You could not possibly have given clicker training enough time to work, because it takes 1-2 days just to load the clicker. Slow down. Have patience. He'll be your dog for the next 10-15 years. You don't have to do it all today.

Wait for the dog to recover physically. Make all your interactions pleasant and easy. Reward good behavior, manage and redirect bad behavior. Wait for him to calm down and get better (a couple of weeks at least). During this down time, please learn about clicker training. kikopup on youtube is great. there's a sticky here about loose leash walking that will help you.

Have patience.