My dog is extremely sensitive to any correction. I'm reluctant to do serious training with him. Do you have any suggestions?

I have some basic to intermediate experience with dog training. I have never tried a remote electric collar before, and just purchased one locally, made by SportDog (I have no idea if this is a decent product or not). I just found your website, and would really appreciate some advise as I have a very unique dog. I am a veterinarian, and this dog came in on emergency one night after being hit by 2 cars. The history on this dog was minimal, he was seen by someone in the town being hit in the morning, no-one could catch him, then was hit again in the evening. He crawled under this persons deck, and a member of the SPCA dug him out and brought him in to me. He was pretty traumatized, but interestingly has never tried to snap, growl or bite anyone. He is a rottie x pit bull, probably something else too- not sure. Further investigation revealed that this dog had no home, and had been running around in this village for about 8 months- no-one could get close to him.

He is very gentle, and fine with other dogs, but he is absolutely terrified of people and any loud noises or quick movements. Genetics or environment- we'll never know. Every client I have says that their dog's been beaten, but with this guy, I really don't know what has happened. I don't believe he'd every been in a house, never on a leash, and hid under a tree for days when we first got him. He still can't walk with anyone walking behind him, has major trust issues and bolts if any stranger even looks at him. I've frankly never seen anything like it.

So, the problem I have with him is that he is so sensitive to any correction that I'm really reluctant to do any serious training with him as every time I gently correct or even say no, he turns into a quivering mess! However, he has developed some bad habits: 1) he will run away when given the chance, even with a long lead on, 2) he chases wildlife and 3) he won't come unless he has the long lead on- he knows we can't catch him. He is very slow to respond to a command...he just starts shaking when we put any pressure on him. He just recently started trusting enough to take treats and actually eats when we watch him now, he will sit, down, heel, come, and a few other polite basics on-leash, but any intense training and he falls apart. I started agility with him and he seemed to catch on really fast, but I am afraid that he will run away if something distracts or scares him. We have had him for a year already, and have made slow but steady progress, but recently had a housesitter that allowed him to run wild- on the street, on other peoples farms, on walks etc, and I feel that a lot of our patient training has completely gone down the drain. I think remote training might be the way to go with this guy, but having no experience myself, and being unable to find anything comparable to our situation on your website, I am a bit afraid to try it and cause more damage. He is a great dog, and we have a pretty tight bond despite his challenging "special needs," so I'm willing to try whatever I can. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you can share your expertise to help me help our guy.

Thank you for your time in advance.

Sincerely,
Elena