I have been working with this stray black lab that has been living here for a year and he is scared to death of his own shadow he nearly has a heart attack if their is gun fire or if he is in the truck while im dropping material in it (the first two times this happend I was loading and unloading my fathers truck and he ran under his feet and hit the gas) I use him as a sign of peace and freindship when I am meeting a new client or just want to take him for a ride (he is usually the first one to jump in) I got to figure out how to train this out of him as well as how to ignore strange food which is also a major problem I do not have the money to get a shock collar to work him on the food end but in time I will need to get that unless some one has a better idea


Thank you Ed for your great site... I was also wondering what your opinion was on the rescue dogs from lackland Air Force base

If he is jumpy with loud sounds it is most likely a genetic nerve issue and that is something that cannot be changed. As far as leaving food you can teach him the "leave it" command. I would not use a shock collar on a dog like this.

It sounds like this dog has weak nerves. That is not necesarily a bad thing as I have a weak-nerved dog too. Of course it's better to have a dog w/good nervers, but dog's w/bad nerves respond very well to obedience training. It's a confidence boost for them and they need it.

My rescue was like this. There are things you can do to help him.
My dog is the perfect example of why a puppy needs to be socialized. He was chained in a yard until 9 months of age with hardly any contact. Now he is very fearful. Might be genetics too, who knows.

An example of one thing that happened with us: First week I had him, I temporarily put him on a rope tied to a tree while I was going to put some things in the garage. When I pushed the button to open the garage door, the dog bolted so hard he broke his collar and dashed off.

Within a few months, he could hardly wait until the door was opened just enough that he could squeeze under... because that's where the car is and we are going for a car ride!!!

The point is to associate big/scary noises with good things. Example: Get the dog all excited "we are going for a ride in the truck!" then BEFORE you open the door for him to hop in, throw something heavy in the back so that it scares him. Completely ignore the scared behaviour THIS IS IMPORTANT. Then open the door and say, "well, are you coming?" If you do this every time he will eventually associate the loud sounds with a fun car ride.

This will not happen overnight but it is an example of an exercise you can do with him to help him.

My pup is very leery of anything new - he doesn't jump out of his skin like he used to but still very very cautious. Knowing how he is, I wanted to be sure that he wouldn't freak out when he was in the room while I was running the vacuum cleaner. (It was a pain in the neck to close him up in a separate room). So I started him out by showing him where the vacuum cleaner was in the closet. Next step was to slowly wheel it out into the room. Then I placed several of his most favorite treats on the vacuum cleaner. I did this two different days (did not turn it on yet). Then on the third day I gave him a couple of treats, walked him over to the closet, got out the vacuum cleaner, and turned it on. He very carefully approached it, sniffing the cord, etc. Then I very very slowly started to push the vacuum cleaner. The key seemed to be to make very slow movements. Within about 5 minutes, he was absolutely fine with it. When I turned it off, I again placed a few treats on it and let him have them. Next time I vacuumed, he actually laid down on the floor within two feet of the running vacuum cleaner like it was no big deal.

That's great. My dog has never been afraid of the vacuum, but she barks at it and tries to bite it. It's so hard not to laugh at her. When I'm fed up with it though, she will obey me and sit or down on the rug I'm vacuuming and stay.

the nabors dog that lives here (you try to tell her she dosent belong and see what happens she will roll over and say bull) wont move for much including cars untill they are almost on top of her I will give that a try on the heavy things... a cement block should work for noise the trick will be getting him to stick around when the bang happens... leash mabe and do you think this would get him so if I dropped a heavy load in it he would not jump out of his skin??... a heavy load being dropped into our truck sounds like a small building comming down

You may want to start out with smaller things than a cement block!
The idea is to get them use to it and not give the poor dog a heart attack! Maybe a piece of 2by4 for starters, then move up after the dogs use to it?