Maybe a harness would be better,but not to stay on all the time.If he hates the collar i wouldn't leave it on when you go out,he could injure himself,get his leg cought in it.

 

Try a harness definately! It doesnt matter if he just sits there. Get one and put it on him and leave him to it! Walk about as normal and he'll soon give in.

Take it in small steps!

Attach a lead, let him drag it about

Then hold the lead let him pull you about until he's totally confident and then gently try and tug him or call him the way you want him to walk

You need to be patient he sounds a lil bit stubborn! lol

If you're going to try a harness, id recommend taking him into pets@homes and buying a nice simple one to start with. For example:

Puppy Padded Harness by Pets at Home | Pets at Home

Id choose these because you cvan try them on in the shop to make sure its a good fit and is not bad priced until youve cracked it and then you can buy which ever you like!

Thats all of course personal opinions, thats how id do it and its worked for me many times! Good luck! Keep us posted! And loads of photos please !

 

He needs to realize that the collar means good things. Such as giving him a real yummy treat, as chicken or liver treats, or playing with him with his favorite toy. If you have an enclosed yard, maybe put it on him, take him outside and have him chase you or fetch a ball or frisbee. I think he needs to associate good things with the collar.

 

Maybe I'm mean but I'd leave it on him (while you're around for the day or weekend) no matter how he acts. He'll soon forget it's on. Saying that I'd not leave a collar on when he's unsupervised. Harness are good too. Same idea....leave it on until he gets used to it. You just have to be more stubborn than him is all!

 

I would try to find a harness that you can open at the neck and the body. If he doesn't like a collar I am sure he won't like a harness that has to be put on over the head. Rocky hates having to get the harness on over the head (and being taken off the same way) so I simply made him a harness myself with tho buckles on it. Here's a picture, just to demonstrate what type of harness I am talking about:

I think a harness like this would make it easier for you to put on him and he will defo have more difficulty getting out of it then a collar.

Also I first trained Rocky in the garden. He had his harness on and a lead that was losely hanging down. I stood in front of him and had a treat in my hands which he obviously wanted to get . So when he came walking towards me I praised him and gave him a treat. Did that a lot more times and with greater distances between me and him. I eventually tried it with him right next to me and it worked. He really quickly got what I wanted him to do.

 

As far as the collar, I'm in the same boat of just leaving it on him to deal with. If he can get it off with the 2 finger rule, you can try making it just a smidge smaller so that he can't slip it off. The 2 finger rule leaves a lot more space on a chi than it does on a lab, lol.
Up until this point, every time he's had it on he's been able to make enough of a fuss, pout, refuse to move etc. and that behavior gets rewarded when you finally take it off him. So he's just learned that he needs to just keep up the act until you finally give in and feel sorry for him and remove it.

It might take a little while but he'll eventually get used to it; if you don't give him any other choice. A collar (and ID) is for his own safety; not pleasure.

All that said, remember, don't ever walk a chi with a leash that's attached to a collar. When these little ones pull they can cause a collasped trachea. So when using a leash, it should always be on a harness.

There are some of the Step-In ones that are now being carried at the Dollar Tree for (needless to say lol) just $1. The front paws step into it and it buckles just between the shoulder blades. Doesn't put any pressure on the neck.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses. Turbo is the most stubborn dog I have ever seen!

The collar doesn't seem like a good idea, so I removed it. I'm going to try one of these with his ID tag. This should be here in a couple days.

Thoughts?

 

My dogs have a bunch of different harnesses, one of which looks a lot like the picture. Their favorite however are the vest type harnesses. If you look at my sig picture, you'll see what I'm talking about. It evenly distributes the pressure on their little bodies when they tug on the leash, because it covers so much of them.

Just mentioning that because you may end up trying a couple different harnesses before you find one your dog likes best.