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Michael Ellis in the bite suite working Donna Matey’s dog Jackson
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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 our search function in the top left of every page.
It searches the web site AND the Web Board!
My dog is very over protective and I'm thinking about getting a basket muzzle. What type or size should I get?:
Hi,
I have an over protective Aussie / Border collie mix who thinks she owns my wife and I and our house.. she will try to kill anyone who comes near or in until she gets to know them (usually about a half hour of giving her treats ..lol). Any way, to walk her, I need to use a Halti, which is fine as she doesn’t hate it but, doesn’t love it either. It helps control her urge to lunge at passers by but it is not guaranteed she won't. I'm thinking, if I get a basket muzzle, I can then do things with her like the park, dog parks, public places and such. What type / size would she be being Australian Shepherd / Border Collie mix? She weighs 56 lbs and is about 21 - 25 inches tall at the shoulders.
Thanks!
CraigEd's Answer:
Craig,
I am happy to sell you a wire basket muzzle. I am sending this to my office manager who is my muzzle expert.
With this said the muzzle only covers problems up. It cures nothing. You will still have this problem and the problem is there because of the way you have chosen to live with this dog. The dog is the way it is because of you and your family. It lacks pack structure and because of this has assumed the role of pack leader.
A few thoughts to make this more clear to you.
1- A Halti is just about the worst piece of training equipment every
devised. Those who recommend them lack experience.
2- Read the article I wrote on Dog Parks
3- Read the free eBooks on my Philosophy of Dog Training and
4- The Pack Structure eBookThe bottom line is this dog may love you but it doesn’t respect you. A very common thing for dogs who were raised without rules.
Being aggressive or getting aggressive is something that only the pack leader allows to happen. A pack leader tells the pack members when and who to be aggressive towards. That's not happening in your house – or at least in the dogs mind its deciding for itself because it doesn’t respect your leadership.
Just to put this in prospective – I was a police K9 handler for 10 years, I produce training DVDs for police k9 handlers. Police service dogs don’t try and bite everyone – they only bite people the handler allows them to bite. That's because there is clear leadership between dog and handler. It’s not an accident, its not because of the dog breed, its because the handler establish control and leadership.
This dog does not need a Halty, it needs a prong collar and/or dominant dog collar.
It needs to go through a pack structure program – the dvd I did on this details it - Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog.
If it were my dog it would go through a meaningful obedience program (Basic Dog Obedience) followed with a remote collar program (Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner). In the end this would be a calm submissive dog that respected me and did not show any aggression. It would respect the consequences of showing unwarranted aggression and it would know and accept the fact that I NEVER ALLOWED STRANGE PEOPLE OR STRANGE DOGS NEAR IT. It’s the role of the leader to protect lower ranking members of the pack – you don’t do this and your dog knows you don’t do this.
Read the article I wrote on who pets my dog.
The absolute wrong thing to do it to have strange people give this dog cookies when t hey come over. The dog is nervous. It has learned that you allow people near it. It has taken the position that a good offense is the best defense. Having strangers giving dogs like this cookies creates far more problems than it fixed. It teaches a dog that it can make people its nervous about give it treats. That's is dangerous.
When people come to your home. The dog should go to its crate. Visits are no pack members and they have no business touching the dog.
Bottom line is I would be happy to sell you a muzzle. But this solves nothing. In fact, dogs like this can brake teeth out with muzzles. If they strike out at a someone who is bending over they can break teeth or really hurt someone. I did a training DVD titled TRAINING MUZZLE FIGHTING FOR POLICE SERVICE DOGS – a police dog can brake ribs with a muzzle on.
You didn’t ask for this information. Hope it doesn’t offend – but it happens to be the truth.
Kind Regards,
Ed FrawleyFor more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Separation Anxiety or Q&A on Dog Fights.
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My dog has septicemia and has stopped eating. Do you have any suggestions?:
Ed,
My dog has septicemia, and he has stopped eating completely. He was originally on a raw diet but I took him off for the summer and because he wasn't eating. Currently I am force feeding him with a syringe: sweet potato, vet recommended A/D and organic chicken broth. I am going to trade out the chicken broth with Pedia-lite, and was wondering if you had any other suggestions as to what I can add to the food I am currently processing for him to get him as much nutrition as possible.
Thank you in advance for your help,
StephanieCindy's Answer:
Since septicemia is a life threatening condition and I am not a health care professional or vet, I am reluctant to give advice that may be detrimental to your dog’s well being. I would probably consult with a holistic and/or homeopathic vet.
Here is a list of vets we have compiled to date, with the help of our customers. If you do not find a vet close by on our list, I would suggest doing a Google search on holistic or homeopathic vets in your area.
I hope your dog makes a speedy recovery.
Cindy
For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Health.
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I decided to switch to raw and can't find chicken necks anywhere. Is it safe to use other chicken parts during the switch?:
Hi Cindy,
I wrote you a few weeks ago concerning my 11yr. old German Shepherd with arthritis in her hips. You recommended switching her to the raw diet. I've ordered a couple of the books you suggested and I've read nearly every article on the Leerburg Web site I could find. I'm convinced this is what I should do.
Now, my problem. Everything I've read suggests using chicken necks as a main staple, especially for the switch. All my life I remember seeing chicken necks in the grocery store and thinking, "Yuck, who'd eat that?"
Well, now that I actually want to buy chicken necks, they are nowhere to be found. The grocery stores here can't get them. I live in Saluda County, SC; and we have two major chicken processing plants in this county. My sister-in-law is the plant nurse for one of the processing plants, so I had her inquire about the chicken necks for me. She was told that they no longer bother to leave the necks with the bird. The necks are left with the heads, which are sent to another company for -- get this -- dog food.My question: Is it safe to use other chicken parts during the switch?
I can get backs & leg quarters with no problem. (My German Shepherd has all her teeth, although they are quite warn.)I will also be switching a Boxer (11 mo. old), a Lab (4 yrs. old) , and three Beagles (two are 3 yrs. & one is 9 yrs. old) All are in good health, but the old beagle is missing a couple of teeth. Any more tips for my big switch?
Thank you so much for all your help and advice.
Sincerely,
KristieCindy's Answer:
I am not a big fan of using chicken necks or wings for switching dogs to the raw diet, even though that’s what many books recommend. Backs are better IF you add some extra meat. Since I have started feeding a raw diet I have gone more to a prey model type feeding style, where the bone content is only about 15 % of the total diet. I think for switching, bone in chicken breast is about the easiest for the dog to handle. The bones are soft and there is a good amount of meat on there. If you use backs, add some extra ground meat of some type.
Once your dogs are doing well and not having any issues, then leg quarters are great. They are the foundation of what we feed here. They have a lot of meat on them and they are well tolerated by our dogs. All of our dogs (even the semi toothless old timers) seem to handle chicken leg quarters just fine. I think this depends on the individual dog and all of ours have tremendous food drive, so they eat them right down. The senior dogs just chew a bit more than the young ones.
Cindy
For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Feeding a Raw Diet.
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My dog pees where he sleeps and has no problem laying in it. What should I do?:
Hello.
I have read many of the articles you have here and I understand you are a strong believer in crate training. I am a strong believer in whatever will work to solve my problem. I have a St. Bernard that is about 11 months old. No matter what I do he pees where he should not. I began by crate training as you recommended but this soon failed as every time I would go to the crate he would be laying in a puddle of his urine. I would have to bath him everyday and it wouldn't stop. I moved to leaving him in the bathroom when I was away and he began going there as well. Finally I moved to letting him have the living room with the air conditioner on and he goes on the carpet. I don't know what to do and the articles and videos you have are not really addressing this specifically but instead just keep saying crate train. I would love to do so but for some reason this dog will pee right where it sleeps and have no problem laying in it. What should I do?
Thank you.
MattCindy's Answer:
The first thing I would recommend is to get your dog checked out by a vet to make sure he doesn't have a UTI (urinary tract infection). If there is not a medical reason for him to urinate in inappropriate places, then I would suggest our housetraining ebook.
I would also look beyond just the housetraining aspect of this and evaluate that he is getting enough structure, training and exercise.
I would implement our groundwork program and Basic Obedience DVD .
Get the dog checked out medically first and take it from there. I hope this helps.
Cindy
For more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on House Training.
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Do you take on aggressive dogs at your facility for training? If so, what are the costs associated with it? Or is there someone in this area that you can recommend us contacting?:
Do you take on aggressive dogs at your facility for training? If so, what are the costs associated with it? Or is there someone in this area that you can recommend us contacting?
We are in AZ and have consulted with several trainers regarding our dog’s behavior without much hope. I have downloaded many of the articles and anticipate on purchasing the video—unfortunately, with a baby on the way, we need to “fix” us and our training ASAP –in order to help our dog overcome his aggressive behavior before we have no other options then having him euthanized.
Please let me know --- he is very much a part of our family –
A little background—he bites people without warning (at least from our untrained eye—I'm sure there are warning signs)—they can be either in our house or walking down the street –while on leash—no bark, no growl nothing…he just runs up and bites them in the leg; even if they have been in the house and he knows them. He just recently turned on both my husband and myself. We are very concerned with a baby in the house that he is going to attack it.
He is also very aggressive towards other dogs.
He now has bitten over 5 people—we have worked with a trainer and have followed everything religiously and see no improvement on him stopping this behavior. We are starting to think that he is mentally not well.
Please let us know if you know of anyone or yourself who can help us.
Thanks!
KamyEd's Answer:
I don’t train dogs for people.
I strongly recommend that you read the article I wrote on PREVENTING DOG BITES IN CHILDREN AND BABIES.
I can tell you that unless you are willing to change the way you live with this dog and unless you are willing to do the work yourself you are wasting money and time. The dog can learn that he cannot be aggressive when he is with a trainer. I will guarantee that he will revert to his old ways when he returns home.
I don’t mean this as an insult but this dog is the way it is because of the way you have chosen to live with him. This is a common problem with people. With that said unless you establish pack structure and leadership this will never change for good.
Here are the DVDs you can use to educate yourself :
Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog
Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner
Cindy and I both use a Dogtra 280ncp remote collar when we train our dogs. This collar has a very small receiver (on the dogs neck) in addition to a digital readout on the transmitter. This is critical in fine tuning the low level stimulation we use in the training.
This is work that can be done without a tremendous amount of body strength.
Kind Regards,
Ed FrawleyFor more questions on this topic, see our Q&A on Protection Training Pups.
*If you have a training question – write Cindy here at Leerburg at cindyr@leerburg.com
*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. Thank you. Ed & Cindy
Dear Ed,
Through your DVDs you are my mentor in Schutzhund and I want to say thanks. To a novice, Schutzhund sometimes seems like a secret society that you can't get information about. Your DVDs especially Raising the working puppy is invaluable to me. I have ordered many DVDs about Schutzhund but they are not done well or it is difficult to understand the narrator. Not so with your DVDs. You speak clearly, plainly and give excellent real world examples of your time with dogs.
I know you know all this, you're a pro! But still felt the need to say thanks since I have developed a true passion for Schutzhund and crave knowledge about it.
Denise
Oconto Falls, WI----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Ed,
I don't even know how I stumbled across your site, but I have spent all afternoon reading through the valuable information you provide. In my case you are preaching to the converted, but there is always something new to learn, and I am so glad to have found someone so eloquent whose philosophies about dogs are so consistent with my own. I often feel that I am in a shrinking minority.
I mostly wanted to thank you for making so much for your site freely available. It's obvious that you are really trying to help people build better relationships with their dogs. We have three rescue dogs of our own (two aussies and a border collie and I take foster dogs for the local herding dog rescue. Your site
is going to be invaluable when working with some of the more aggressive animals that we get, as this is one area where I still feel unsure of myself as a pack leader and trainer.I will cherish your line "I don't walk my dogs to make friends" forever. Until recently we lived in the city and I had to bring the dogs to a local park for daily exercise and training. Groups of other owners would stand around chatting while their dogs ran amok, and I would ignore them while my dogs ignored their dogs (until their ball was inevitably stolen, at least). I once overheard another owner saying "that girl is always such a bitch" and I had to smile. Indeed I am.
Thanks again.
SarahCheck out our NEW Leerburg Affiliate Program.
Make money selling Leerburg products on your dog web site!
Upcoming Michael Ellis Seminars
Check out the pictures from the recent Michael Ellis Seminar
and the upcoming seminar dates!
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Watch for the
Michael Ellis School for Dog TrainersComing in August 2009
In the coming weeks we will be supplying more information on Michael's school for dog trainers - if you have ever considered a career in dog training, Michael Ellis' school will be the place to start.
In 2009, Leerburg's Ed Frawley and Michael Ellis will start to produce dog training DVDs together.
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