Collar & leash training

[leontet]

There is a week since I brought little Rudolf home. He's now 7 weeks old and I've been advised to get him acustomed with a collar and short walks on leash.

I put a light-weighted leather collar around Rudy's neck a couple of days ago. To my surprise, he became mad at me about that. He refuses to play with me. He even refuses to come to me when I call him, even though I clearly show him the treat. That's pretty strange, as he used to ran like a rocket every time I was calling his name. When I came near him, or when I call him he starts to scratch his neck as if he would be extremely annoyed by the collar. Otherwise he scratches a little and then falls asleep.

I removed the collar for an hour today and he begun playing with me almost instantly. When I put the collar back, he became stubborn again. It's obvious he hates the collar thing :)

I've been told today that putting a collar around the neck of a puppy younger than 4 months is a big mistake.

Now the question: I have at the present time three ways to follow:
1. I may let the collar on Rudy's neck no matter how much he dislikes it
2. I may put the collar on when I walk him only, then remove it for the rest of the time
3. I may remove it for good and wait until he is 4 months (or whatever the age must be).
Please help me on this matter! I really don't know what to do! Rudy is extremely stubborn and the collar problem is only one of the multiple problems he is putting in front of me. I don't have much experience with training a dog, so I'm confused about his behaviour. My former dog, an Alsacian Sheppherd, was extremely obedient from the very beginning.

Any ideas are most welcome!

Thank you in advance,
Teo

[Chloesmom]

Congrats on your new baby! Chloe didn't care too much for her collar when she was small too. 4 months sounds late to introduce a collar, but 7-8 weeks seems young to really push the issue. We introduced the collar about 12 weeks, leaving it on for a while then taking it off for the time she was in the crate. Another thing we did was let her drag around a lightweight leash while she was uncrated inside. One thing we didn't do well was discourage her from chewing on the leash. That was a bad habit that was very difficult to break. It's amazing how quickly they can chew through them.

How about associating some fun time immediately after putting the collar on? For example, put the collar on, and then before he has a chance to get annoyed, throw a ball and play fetch. Then after playtime is over, remove the collar and give lots of praise. Or, put the collar on and then go outside to play.

Rotts end up with a big heavy neck so I don't leave Chloe's collar on when she's inside. Seems restrictive to me. But when she hears the jingle of her tags she knows we're going for a walk and she happily stands while I put it on. When we get back she gets a good ear scratching when I take it off, she's in heaven! :D

[leontet]

Thanks a lot for your post!

It seems a very sensible point of view the one you have exposed. Unfortunatelly I cannot take Rudy outside until he is fully immunized (I live in Romania, where the Canine Parvovirosis is a great threat). But I shall leave the collar on his neck only some time of the day. The problem comes from that he refuses to play with me when he has the collar on. If he plays with his toys he doesn't bother too much about the collar thing, but when I come close, he starts scratching and crying and refuses to even look at me.

About chewing the leash: this problem is solved due to another member of these forums, who has advised me to buy a buckle leash. Rudy seems to dislike the sensation of his teeth on the metal so he gives up any attempt of chewing the (otherwise very attractive) leash.

Regards,
Teo