Problem with my dog....

[GreenheadJim]

I went to pick up my dog today from his trainer. He tuned him up for me. He is not the initial trainer. The guy that had him first moved away. He told me that my dog had been burned up with a shock collar. He was working on stopping on the wistle and hand signals. He said that when he used it, my dog just locked up. He would not do anything. Can this problem be corrected? Or is my dog ruined?

[Faithful Retrievers]

Can we get a little background such as how old the dog was and how long the dog was at the first trainers? Did he complete FF? What was the dog like before you took it to this trainer? Did you put a collar on it before you sent it to new trainer? When did the dog have FF or force to pile work?
I have had a few that were burnt up. One was my fault and was a single incident of not checking the setting when switching dogs and then ones that were continously over corrected with the collar.
It can be done, but it is a very tedious job to coax the dog back out of the tranqualized state. I have seen dogs that wouldn't move an inch with the collar on and some that did everything with its tail between its leg.
It takes alot of (FUN) for the dog to over come the fear. I have always worked my way back to the collar, but it takes time.
Is it night and day difference with the collar on, vs without the collar?
Or is the dog timid even without the collar on? You can sometimes tell where the fear was derived from. For example I had one that would do everything on land and then line her up for a water mark and you couldn't get her in the water. It was obvious to tell that the dog was burned in the water or entering the water.
I know of a few people on here that work with dogs that have been heavy on the collar and maybe they will be more help.

[GulfCoast]

Tom Hamilton in Saucier, MS has retrained many "collar fried" dogs British/Amish style. Probably why he despises E-collars. Its not a quick process to fix. Recovery will really depend on can the dog deal with pressure of any type at all, or is the dog afraid of ANY pressure, or merely "collar" pressure. There is a difference, and it takes a little while to find out.

Good Luck, and I hope your pup gets it's joy back soon!

GC

[Copiah Creek]

GC that was well said .

[GreenheadJim]

My dog is 3 and a half years old now. He completed force fetch. The trainer kept him for 3 months and said he needed a break. When it was time to go back, the guy said he was full at the moment, or would not return my phone calls. I took him to this other trainer to try to get him on hand signals. He had trouble getting him to stop on a whistle, so he put a collar on him. He immediatly shut down. He took the collar off and the dog was real hesitant to go. My new trainer said that he had been burnt up in the past(hence why the other trainer wouldn't take him back). My dog likes to hunt and has alot of drive this trainer said.

[flyntwt]

I took the collar off my dog, and have seen an ENORMOUS change in her attitude (she went through a similar situation). Now, the hard part is retraining myself how to teach without the aid of the collar.

[GreenheadJim]

I just got through working my dog in the yard. He pretty good except that he was hesitant at first. He would go and then come back after about 5 yards. He finally quit, but then would not stop on the whistle. I am not a trainer, but I guess I need to be patient with him. I don't want a field trial dog, just one that will get ducks.

[Faithful Retrievers]

I wouldn't put any pressure on the dog anytime soon. I wouldn't worry about sitting on the whistle unless the dog is by your side so that you can sit the dog if it blows off the whistle. I would just show the dog that retrieving is fun and get a consistent drive out of the dog just fetching for a while. Like was mentioned your probablly gonna have to go amish due to the dog will have phsycological problem with the collar from now own, atleast for a good while. Do you know a local pro that could see the dog to give you an observation and maybe some advice by seeing the dog work? Without seeing a dog this internet training is a shot in the dark.

[GreenheadJim]

Thanks for all the input fellas. The guy I just got him back from, lives real close to me. He told me not to worry about it too much. He said that my dog should hunt and go get every duck we shoot down. Although we might have to take a bucket of rocks with us just until he gets the hang of what's going on .

[jkb87]

Thanks for all the input fellas. The guy I just got him back from, lives real close to me. He told me not to worry about it too much. He said that my dog should hunt and go get every duck we shoot down. Although we might have to take a bucket of rocks with us just until he gets the hang of what's going on .

dont feel bad, my dog got ready to hunt and i had not started hand signals with her this past season but was ready to hunt, i took several rocks in my blind bag and boat to make it through the season.......

[whitedog]

who was the first trainer... do not wont to carry any of my dogs to this guy

[Faithful Retrievers]

A good season under his belt will do him good.

[GreenheadJim]

Thanks again everyone. I think he will do ok. Going to work him now.

[hcsmith]

I have a similar problem with one of my personal dogs that I was training and pushing really hard and fast to compete in derby's. She is currently doing much better. I quit worrying about her competeing and made our training sessions very easy only doing things that she knew how to do. What I was trying and I am still doing is building her confidence back up. I am just now back to putting a collar on her but NO pressure from it. She was a little timid when I first put it back on but I have been doing drills and marks and binds that she knows and has run before, again building confindence in her with the collar on. This process has taken me months but she has some potential so I have not given up on her I have just slowed down a lot and made sure she has confidence before moving on. She currently does not get down when we go to train even if she has the collar on it is fun for her again the tail is wagging and she is chomping at the bit to get a bird.