I have a new client with a Vizsla that had previous ecollar training with another trainer about six months ago. This dog is about as shut down as you can get.
The only way I can describe it is that the spirit has been shocked right out of him. I've seen more than a few unfortunate victims of trainers that
didn't know how to use an ecollar, but this guy takes the cake.
He obeys, oh yes, he does everything you ask of him but it is done at a snails pace, with head low, tail tucked, and you can see the whites of his eyes as he peers up at you. He is conviced the other shoe will drop at any moment and he'll get shocked. So he goes slowly, carefully, and seems to be praying that I don't suddenly change my mind.
He shivers when he hears the microwave beep. When the alarm goes off in the morning he whines. When I go to put on his flat collar he ducks down and looks away or tries to hide at the back of his crate. In the house, when we are just relaxing he collapes into a heap and does not move. At all.
He is damaged. I've had him two weeks and while I see slight improvement in certain areas he is progressing as slowly as possible. His owner sent him to me because she didn't know what else to do, she had tried a private trainer with little change and obviously the kennel that trained him first is out of the question. She doesn't expect me to "train" him, she just wants him to act like a dog again and didn't have any idea how to help him.
Has anyone ever worked with a dog like this before? Were you able to make any headway? I'm not doing much obedience with him at all. I will ask for a sit at random, but as of right now my plan is to let him get used to that and start sitting without cowering before I do anything else. There is lots of food involved and I'm lucky he's always hungry. His owner said he was a happy, bouncy dog before he was "trained", so I know that dog is in there somewhere.
Not really looking for a step by step plan, just wondering if anyone else has seen something similar and how you handled it.
He obeys, oh yes, he does everything you ask of him but it is done at a snails pace, with head low, tail tucked, and you can see the whites of his eyes as he peers up at you. He is conviced the other shoe will drop at any moment and he'll get shocked. So he goes slowly, carefully, and seems to be praying that I don't suddenly change my mind.
He shivers when he hears the microwave beep. When the alarm goes off in the morning he whines. When I go to put on his flat collar he ducks down and looks away or tries to hide at the back of his crate. In the house, when we are just relaxing he collapes into a heap and does not move. At all.
He is damaged. I've had him two weeks and while I see slight improvement in certain areas he is progressing as slowly as possible. His owner sent him to me because she didn't know what else to do, she had tried a private trainer with little change and obviously the kennel that trained him first is out of the question. She doesn't expect me to "train" him, she just wants him to act like a dog again and didn't have any idea how to help him.
Has anyone ever worked with a dog like this before? Were you able to make any headway? I'm not doing much obedience with him at all. I will ask for a sit at random, but as of right now my plan is to let him get used to that and start sitting without cowering before I do anything else. There is lots of food involved and I'm lucky he's always hungry. His owner said he was a happy, bouncy dog before he was "trained", so I know that dog is in there somewhere.
Not really looking for a step by step plan, just wondering if anyone else has seen something similar and how you handled it.
