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Ed’s new 9 week old Mal puppy, Bart, being worked in food engagement around distraction.

Enter for a chance to win a $25 Leerburg Gift Certificate!

Do you have great stories about your dog? Now is the time to enter Leerburg's Story Contest.
Email your story to Cindy about
How Your Dog Changed Your Life
We will change the theme periodically. Click here for more information.

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Hello Cindy,  I would like to tell you how my German Shepherd "Dexius" changed / saved my life.

I was diagnosed with a flesh eating bacteria in 2004, and had surgery to remove the infection, during the surgery the two major muscles in my back were severed. During this time I went through a very deep depression, as I went from being an active Law Enforcement Officer, to not being able to get out of bed. With the help of family I was able to recover physically, but I have had issues off and on fighting depression. 

In March of 2007, I began to have a very bad bout of depression, and was hospitalized. My wife (who I married in 2006) knew I had grown up with dogs and used to help train them when I was a Deputy Sheriff, spoke to my Doctors about whether a dog would help with my depression or not.

In April of 2007, my wife bought me an 8 week old bi-color German Shepherd, as an early birthday present, whom we named Dexius vom Kriegerhund, call name "Dex."  Having had dogs in the past I knew that GSD's needed to be kept both physically and mentally occupied. I began to look into training with Dex, and found the sport of Schutzhund. As I began to learn more about the sport, the more I began to get excited. I just knew that this would give me "something to live for."

Dex has given me that something to live for. Taking care of his needs has forced me to push myself physically, where now I can work full time again, even if it is sitting at a desk all day now. Dex seems to know when I am getting "down," and is somehow able to bring me out of it, even if it is just putting his head on my lap. While we have had our set backs in training, we are pushing forward and are hoping to go for our BH in February.

I truly believe that without Dex, I would no longer be here. 

John

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This Week's Featured
Question & Answers
Our newsletter will always contain several featured customer Q&As from that week.

Have a question for Ed & Cindy? Try the Leerburg Search Engine. This search engine was written specifically for Leerburg by our in house IT manager. Our search engine is specific to Leerburg and only searches leerburg.com and the Leerburg web forum.

If you can't find the answer to your question by using our search engine,
you can email Cindy here at Leerburg at cindyr@leerburg.com
If you have your spam filter on, make sure you set it to receive our replies!!!

Question: My puppy is more interested in everything except retrieving, is there an easy solution to this?

Cindy-

I have a 5 month old lab that I am trying to get to retrieve a dummy. She seems more interested in everything else around her.  She will go get the dummy then either not bring it back or drop it half way and go on doing something else. Is there an easy solution for this?

Thanks,
Shannon

Answer:

Your dog needs to be more focused and engaged with you. If she’s more interested in other things that’s a sign that she’s not ready for the level of distraction that you are subjecting her to. You also need to keep your dog on a leash, so she doesn’t have the option to leave you.

I’d recommend learning to use markers with her.

these 2 videos are going to help you apply the skills you need to get your dog more engaged with you.  I can’t recommend them enough.

The Power of Training Dogs with Markers

The Power of Training Dogs with Food

Learn to use the search function (located in the left hand corner of every page on our website) Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps.

For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Markers.

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Question: Our female had just one puppy and he’s now 6 days old and hasn’t gained even one ounce.  What do you think?

Cindy,
 
I ran across your website and have learned a TON.  We have a situation w/ an English Bulldog puppy maybe you could help me out with.  Here's the situation:
 
Our female had just one puppy.  The first two days he fed very energetically.  He would stay on the same nipple for up to twenty minutes and was a great little eater.  We were thrilled, but a little concerned because after two days he stilled weighed the same as he did at birth (6.5 oz).  In the past our puppies started gaining almost immediately.
 
Then after two days he would nuzzle a lot on our females teets, but wouldn't latch on well or for very long. We started him on the bottle, but it was the same result. He got progressively worse at feeding and wouldn't suckle. He acted hungry, but wouldn't latch on.  I ran across your website, made the puppy formula, and we started tube feeding him every three hours. That has been going on for a few days now with good results. He's eating, urinating, his feces looks like it should, and he's hydrated (no tenting of the skin, etc.), and he looks pretty chubby. He seems strong, moves around his little box, holds his head up, and even stands on his feet for short periods of time. He sleeps well and doesn't whine much now that we've got his food situation under control.
 
The problem is he is now six days old and is still at his same birth weight (6.5 oz).  We've been weighing him regularly and he's never lost or gained an ounce.  Have you seen a puppy like this that seems healthy in every other way, but won't gain weight?  We're continuing on w/ the formula from the website and hoping he'll start gaining, but I wanted to pick your brain and see what you thought.
 
Thanks so much for all you do.
 
Chuck

Answer:

I’ve never had a pup that didn’t gain weight at all develop normally.  Unless you are weighing the pup in grams you may be missing a weight gain or loss.  There are 30 grams in an ounce so the pup could be making very small gains and unless you can measure that small increment you’d be missing it.

I’ve recommend investing in a scale that weighs in grams, they are relatively inexpensive and you may be able to find one locally.

I hope this helps.

For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Bottle Feeding or Q&A on Breeding.

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Question: My 3 year old dog is housebroken but he pees on our furniture.  What can I do?

I have a 3 year old staffordshire terrier. He's housebroken but pees on beds and couches. What can I do?

David

Answer:

A dog that pees on beds and couches is NOT housebroken.  This dog needs to have all his freedom taken away while you retrain him.

http://leerburg.com/groundwork.htm

Pack Structure for the Family Pet

We have a section on the website about house training. While most of it is geared towards puppies, older dogs that use the bathroom inside the house can benefit from the same techniques.

If this was my dog, he’d never be off a leash inside the house and he’d be in a crate when I couldn’t supervise him 100%.  There is no quick fix to this, because he’s got established habits now.  You’ll have to change those habits and it’s always harder to retrain a dog than to teach them properly in the first place.

Cindy

For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on House Training.

 

*If you have a training question – write Cindy here at Leerburg at cindyr@leerburg.com

*If you have your spam filter on, make sure you set it to receive our replies!!!

*Our newsletter is a big success and we would like to send out a huge THANKS to our wonderful customers! Since beginning this newsletter our volume of email has greatly increased and you may have a longer than usual wait for a reply to your question.  We will answer; it just may take us a bit longer than you are accustomed to. In order to speed up this process, please condense your questions to a paragraph or two. This will make it MUCH easier for us to answer in a timely fashion. Your questions are important to us and we always appreciate receiving them. If you have a medical issue or emergency, please consult with a health care professional right away. We can’t diagnose or treat sick dogs via email. Also, try using the search function on our site - it now searches the site AND the web board. Thank you. Ed & Cindy

Testimonials

Dear Ed:

Thank you very much for your article on Dominant and Aggressive Dogs as Family Pets along with information on Correction Levels.

I have a very handsome 85 lb. - 11 month old-White German Shepherd named Thor. Thor is a hard dog, I have spent significant money on training, that in retrospect, was truly for a soft dog and had little effect on Thor. Additionally, in frustration, sometimes I have gone too far in the other direction in trying to over correct, which in turn over stimulated Thor and didn't give him a choice to understand what was expected of him.

Your article clearly and concisely laid out the hierarchy of appropriate corrections for dogs based on their personalities. After using my voice in a normal tone and then escalating to a pronged collar (Leerburg's) leash correction (lifting pop). My very intelligent dog "gets it." I am no longer yelling or trying to correct him with a death grip. Further, you description of "Time Outs" and the kind that are appropriate, is also very effective. Thor has learned he cannot enjoy sitting outside Starbuck's with mom if he acts like a beast to other dogs. If he acts up, or tries to be aggressive to other dogs, he gets a leash correction and goes immediately back to the car. If he is a prince and lays at my feet, he earns the privilege of my company and the fun of people coming to see us. He is such a ham; he much prefers being admired to sitting in the car.

It is a treasure to apply your years of experience to the great improvement in our family's enjoyment of our intelligent dog. Your soul is truly in your work AND for all the hands-on work you have done with dogs, YOU ARE ALSO A VERY GOOD WRITER!

Thank You For Your Great Article and Great Collar:
Carol

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ANNOUNCING
The Michael Ellis School for Dog Training

NOW OPEN

More details on courses, course content and dates available on the website.

http://michaelellisschool.com

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