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Wear an old jacket and have a pocket full of small treats*. Only reward good behaviour, even down to saying his name and he looks at you (to start with). Move onto more elaborate stuff as your confidence and his reactions allow. Go to some open ground with him on a lead leaving the lead as slack as possible. Each time he gets ahead of you or goes left or right turn and go in the opposite direction say "Fido heel" in a happy voice and when he turns to join you give him a treat. Pretty soon anytime you say his name or a command he will be looking at you and expecting a treat. After you've got his attention all the time you can stop giving him a treat every time. Eventually he will start responding to just your voice and if he gets a treat then that's a bonus for him. I took my oldest rescue dog to a trainer for months and spent hundreds and he's still a twat but the second rescue puppy is four now and he's perfect.
*We used Frolic Complete which are like small 2 pence piece sized doughnuts. I wouldn't use this as dog food but if you pinch between north and south the doughnut will split into four equal sized lumps. Each of these lumps is one treat as you have to take into account the dogs daily food/treat intake. Good luck.
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Constable_Savage
Question for you all! We may be taking temporary ownership of a viszla/pointer cross, about 5 years old, sweet but has had zero training. Doesn't know basic commands like sit. Doesn't get walked enough. Gets frustrated and knocks stuff over in the house and gets shouted at.
Is the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" true? I've walked him once and he nearly pulled my arm off but eventually I got him to walk a bit more calmly, so I feel like there's hope for him.