ORIGINAL: dhrnrcpa

Maybe in the hands of the right person they're okay, but I had a potentially great dog ruined by one.

I was self-training my first lab, and at eight months old he was already working hand signals and most of the basics. His one problem was that when he made a retrieve, he would drop the object (dummy, bird, etc.) on the ground at my feet instead of holding unril commanded to release. For a working dog, I had no problems with that, but I was interested in field trials and thought he showed potential.

I sent him to a professional trainer, who shocked him into oblivion. After 30 days, my dog had dropped from 70 pounds to about 55 and was terrified of people. it took me over 2 years to gain his trust back. He's a decent dog, but has never rounded into really good hunting material because he cannot take any real pressure in a training session without cowering down. (By pressure, I mean raising my voice- not even to a yell, just a louder, firmer voice).

I shudder to think what might have happened if I hadn't got a phone call from someone warning me as to what was happening. Thankfully, the other six dogs in his care were picked up by the Humane Society.

I know I'm going to get a lot of responses about how this is a trainer problem and not a collar problem. I do say this though- if you are going to use a collar, know how to use it correctly. If you are sending your dog to a trainer, get references and know that they know to use a collar correctly.