Quote from JA_LDP:
Why don't you just go outside and toss a tennis ball around for 30 min a day? The dog will come inside and just nap. If he picks up a dead bird or something, just yell at him, smack him in his nose if necessary. If he has a cage (which he should) put him in there so he knows he did something wrong. If he does it again, yell, smack him and put him in his cage again. Be firm and consistent. I've been around dogs my whole life and not a single person I know has ever used a shock collar to train them. To me it just seems unnecessary, lazy and borderline cruel. Especially with golden retrievers since they are so easy to train...
What if your parents shocked you instead of just yelling, spanking and putting you in 'time out' when you did something wrong? You'd probably grow up with a lot of problems...