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I rescued my dog also when she was about a year old. A co-worker of mine has the sister dog, and when he discovered I was looking for a dog he led me to her.
Kona (I renamed her the first day) was literally tied to a dog house since she was a pup before I got her. She thankfully didn't show any signs of abuse, and she was fed regularly, just starved of attention.(golden/husky)
When I got her, she was alot like your lab that you described, no training to speak of, jumping, kind of nipping at the air, trying her best to chase down any animal that she saw.
Basically the way that I have gotten control of her is with lots of attention, exercise, games and lots of repeated training. It really does not take long to notice a drastic difference once the dog settles in, and realizes that she now will have what he has so desperately wanted- affection, attention, and a true master.
As for the electronic collar, you should NEVER and I repeat NEVER use one to train a dog something it does not already know, they are ONLY for re-enforceing commands that they have already mastered.
Think of it this way, I want to teach you a new language that you have never heard of, I tell you to translate this sentence I just wrote, ZAP!!
you didn't get it right. not too nice right, and you didn't learn a thing but to stay away from me.
start with the basics, sit, down(this one will take a week or two), stay, go, leave it, enough(very good one). Only train one thing at a time.
give each command two or three times a day for no more than 10min at a time, and only move on to the next once the command is
well understood. If you have access to a fenced yard you can start with retrieveing right away, and it is an excellent way to begin the bond between master and dog. At first give him a treat and then just toss a ball for him and let him go play with it.
(small treats work well for this) after a couple of days of this you can start by letting him see that you have 2 treats in hand, give him one, throw the ball and once he reaches it, say "come" and wave the other treat for him. He should come back for the treat.(helps if you only throw the ball a short distance at first)when he comes back to you say "give" before treating him. As he will have to drop the ball the eat the treat anyhow, this is a good time for it. after repeating this for a few days to a week, he should recognize what come means, and also how much fun retrieveing is.
As he starts to progress with his other commands, you can throw them into the mix by commanding him to sit, down, stay(this is a tuff one) before you throw the ball...
Trust me, it sounds like you have a wonderfull dog on your hands, and with patience and love, he will come around and be an excellent example of how wonderful a recue can be.
Best of luck, and any questions, I'll do my best
- Chris
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