Quote Originally Posted by king2005
I never wanted to go that route as you know. I hate the bloody thing. But I was desperate to get him to stop barking in a forcefully fast time.

Pleas tell me I didn't ruin him permently & that I can get my little man back?

I have lots of time to correct all problems he may have or get (just not the barking) So I'm willing to try just about anything (except the behavourist, as stated above, unless I want Mr. biggles PTS, which I don't!!!)
YOur little man is shaken up. For your protection I would make sure you do not-
* grab him suddenly
* prevent things that you would out of impulse to it. Like- closing the door to the room you were in would have kept him from running upstairs..
* spend time with him like sitting on your lap etc.. and give warning when its time to get up etc.
* Remember- he is 8 years old- ..
I still think a behaviorist would help, but I see your point.. I personally would not use a shock collar- as I have seen it causes too many after effect problems such as this one. Your dog learned the night with andrew that a raised voice can set that collar off .. You put him in a defensive posture- and he learned from the night before- I am going to get shocked..
As far as how long- its hard to say. We have had femka now for over 2 years, and raised voices still scares her- she will leave the room because she lived previously in a house were people fought all the time.. And this even includes football games! Raised voices- femka leaves the room..
What I did with her- is find the level at she could tolerate- added a little " happy voice" then treat ( she loves cookie bites) - etc.. Little by little she has come up to tolerance and excited voices- but its still there.. I may not be able to totally remove 5 years of fear- but at least she is okay with improvement.
I am hoping this is just a one time over reaction on her part. After all- all those changes you listed on the other thread- it did change alot in his world at one time. " Check your step" in these situations- stop and think.. Do not set the dog up to fail. Set the dog up to win- like calling the dog to you from the pillow- then remove the pillow. You also did not state that you caught the dog with the torn up pillow. I am assuming this was after the fact. If you did need to correct the dog with the pillow- this would have been a better scenio.. ( making this up of course because I do not know the lay out of the room etc..) " shut the room door so the dog can not dive up the stairs- ' oh mr what did you do- open crate door- if the dog leaves the crate make no move towards the dogs- remove the pillow.." put the pillow enough in a pile for later clean up- come on mr. lets go outside....
If you didnt catch him tearing it up- open the crate- come on lets go outside.. and leave the room.. And better yet- do not put the dog something he can tear up to start with..