I am dog sitting for my landlady, and she has a large male German shepherd. We have a fenced in yard that I walk him in a few times a day. He is not well trained and has even climbed over the fence before, so I have to keep him on a leash at all times. Most of the time I take him outside without incident, but the last few days there have been rabbits in the yard morning and night which causes him to go crazy and chase after them dragging me behind him. The same freakout happens if the neighbor lets his dogs out in the adjacent yard.
I am a small lady, and it takes most of my body weight against his pulling to stop him, once I get him stopped he is still amped and is difficult to manage. He wears a circular chain collar that tightens as he pulls away. The real problem I am having is that he runs so abruptly that it causes me to run a few steps before I can stop him which has caused me to have pain in my leg like a pulled muscle. I try to anticipate these sudden movements, but he even lunges after bugs at times.
Since I am only dog sitting for the next two weeks, I don't expect to be able to remove 7 years of bad habits/prey drive from the dog. Is there anything I can do short-term to avoid getting injured further? Send all your ideas, ill try anything!