need help

[StuStiltman]

Last summed I adopted a 3 year old stud dog (Stormy) from some breeder friends of mine. Stormy was as I said a stud dog, raised in a kennel and not trained. He is a good dog, I took him hunting with me about 15 times last fall, he is very engaged in what's going on and even retrieved a couple ducks I threw for him while playing fetch. Here's the problem, storm likes to run away, when I train him in my yard he wears a check cord so he can't get away. When hunting he stays tied up unless I'm hunting out of the boat out on the lake where its not possible to run away. I'm thinking about getting him a shock collar so when he runs I can, in theory, get him to come back. My question is, is it wise to start training a 3 year old dog with a shock collar or is that one of those things they need to be raised.with. thanks.

[shnelson]

I'm far from an expert, but if I were in your shoes I would start with the foundation work as if he was 6 months old.

Go ahead and get an electronic collar for him to wear, but you need to make sure he's got his commands down before introducing the correction from it.

First priority would be to get him to heel, sit/stay and here (or come) at your command while off of the check cord. At his age and history this will probably take a lot of repetition and frustration, but it will pay off. All this while he's wearing an inactive collar so he doesn't see it as a negative tool. After a number of sessions with him wearing it, you can introduce the shock as reinforcement to the command given. Start at the lowest setting and slowly increase it until he displays discomfort with it.

Smartwork was a great asset for me even with my dog at 2 years old when I started it. Something I'd recommend checking out if you haven't yet.

Probably not the long winded answer you wanted - so in short I would say yes you can train a 3 year old dog with a shock collar as long as it's introduced properly and not with haste. Just remember it needs to be used as a reinforcement tool before you try to use it as a correction tool and all should be fine.

[lumbertick]

...paging Dr. Labman...Dr. Labman....

My opinion is that you can teach an old dog new tricks...and the advice that Nelson gave is solid. If Labman responds to the page...he might be able to build on that for you....he knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

lt

[h2ofwlr]

Good advice already mentioned. BTW yes you can intro a E collar to an older dog.

[Labguy23]

Starting at 3 is an uphill climb but it can be done. Get a training collar and a long rope. Go to a park, ball field, or school yard and start doing your OB with the training collar on but leave the transmitter at home for a couple weeks.

In the mean time buy Fowl Dawgs 1-2. Less than $50 and you can resell them if you want. Way less complicated and Rick shows actual dog training. If you like training you can buy 3-4.

[Musher]

Labguys recommendation of the fowl dog videos is a good one. (I think he recommended them to me to) I found them used on line and think I paid $30 for both. Good videos and my suggestion is to go slow and FOLLOW the steps...no short cuts. I didn't and needed to go back and start over. It can be done but be patient.

[StuStiltman]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll be picking up those fowl dog DVDs for sure. I adopted storm with the understanding that I may not be able to turn him into a hunter, if he turns out to be a house dog I'm OK with that, I'm still gonna do my best to turn him into a hunting dog, the little guys got so much potential, Im gonna do my best to bring it out.

[shnelson]

I might still have fowl dawgs one somewhere around the house if you haven't picked it up yet

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Quack]

Needs the check cord until he proves to be reliable without it.

So far you've trained him that when the check cord is on, he has to obey, but any other time he is free to run away.

Follow all the advice above, and sign up for a dog obedience class through community ed or one of the pet stores. The shock collar will be part of the plan, but its not the solution.

[StuStiltman]

[quote="Quack"]Needs the check cord until he proves to be reliable without it.

So far you've trained him that when the check cord is on, he has to obey, but any other time he is free to run away.

Exactly the problem, he's proven he's not reliable without the cord. All the training takes place in my yard, my closest neighbor is a half mile away, theres 4 houses in the section I live in, if he runs there's a solid chance I won't ever see him again. My hope is the ecoller will help me keep from losing him as well as being a training aid. Thanks for the advice, updates(hopefully good) will be coming this spring. Thanks again.