Behavior Problems Q&As

Hello Ed: I have a 50 lb English terrier mix (6 yrs), very sweet and loving when around people/strangers while in my house, backyard or on leash. Off leash, he chases anything that moves, typically ankles of people that are running, biking, skateboarding, etc. He is aggressive with other dogs. The most nerve racking is he goes after children. I picked him up from an unknown family handing out puppies when he was 8 weeks old. He was shy as a puppy. I've had dogs all my life, and if ...

Dear Cindy, My 9 months old male German Shepherd has just recently begun barking for prolonged periods of time either loose or crated and we need some guidance. When crated, day or night, as soon as either my husband or I go upstairs in our house, Dio will bark for 30-60 minutes nonstop and repeat this behavior several times a night. FYI, he is always taken out before being crated, has chew sticks, a toy, and some water in his crate. We have tried classical music & a sheet c...

Hi Cindy, I bought a bark collar from you about 4 weeks ago and I have been using it on my pit bull because he barks a lot when outside. Soon after I started using it he has slowed down with the barking but his aggression has seemed to increase and he seems scared when wearing the collar. I was wondering if I did something wrong and whether the collar might be increasing his aggression. He was use to wearing an e-collar before I bought the bark collar because I have been training h...

Hi. I have a barking question for you. I have a four month old Giant Schnauzer puppy. He is a great pup, he is crate trained, learning obedience quickly but he has one problem I am unable to break him of. Very early in he morning he begins barking/yipping to get out and get fed. I have tried everything I can think of like trying to ignore him, not let him out until he stops, spray with a water bottle, nothing works. I was considering a shock collar on a very low setting but I am ...

I have a 2 yr old male Catahoula that barks a lot at night. However, he is supposed to bark when treeing a coon or baying a hog. If a bark collar is applicable in this situation, how best to use it? David PS: I checked your Tritronics Q&A and did not find a situation like this. Thank you in advance

My girlfriend and I have a 7 1/2 month old female Standard Schnauzer named Gracie that we have had since 8 weeks old. I have had no problem establishing myself as a pack leader, but it has not come so easy for my girlfriend, so we purchased your Pack Leader DVD along with Obedience Training for later. We started the social isolation phase this past week. My main issue that I have is that I let a friend move in a month ago while he deals with separation/divorce. He stays in the basement and...

Hi Cindy, I wrote to you some time ago with questions regarding my 2-year-old (about) GSD, which I adopted about 4 months ago. Briefly, Dyna (the dog) is from a working GSD kennel and was unwanted because of one floppy ear. She was kept at the breeder's kennel until she was about 7 months old (he wanted to retain her as a breeding bitch) and then sold to a family as a pet-only dog (as her ear didn't stand up). She stayed with this family for about 10 months or so and then was retur...

Hi Cindy, Your staff has been very helpful with muzzles. They also referred me to you for help with electronic collars. We have very specific situation and need your help chosing the right product. Since our dogs spend much more time in their crates now and cannot be left loose in the house when we are gone anymore, they started barking and whining in crates which makes our life living hell. We got a 3rd pup recently - a 8mo Husky mix. He does not bark mostly but "speaks" an...

Hey Ed, I have used TT collars and love them with my GSD's, but my wife has a 10 lb brussels griffon. We need to get a bark collar but she has such a small neck. What do we do? Thanks,John

My dog is a cocker and 9 months old. When I take her to the YMCA for beginning puppy class she barks and barks really loud all the way into the classroom. She stops when we get into the room. She also barks and barks when I take her to the Vet and and I have tried doing this every month to get her used to the place. She doesn't stop barking at the Vet's. What can I do? Thanks, Karen

Hi Cindy, Our puppy Lucy is 15 months old, she is a very smart dog we are of course still in the process of training her. One thing that really bugs us is she will start to bark and bark it seems for attention especially if we have guests over. She seems to be doing it for attention because we are just conversing with one another and she'll bark and sometimes jump on our leg, it seems to get our attention. How do we break her of this bad habit? We do say no bark to her in a firm vo...

Cindy, I talked w/ Donna today and she requested that I write you for advice on which e-collar to purchase for my dog. Charley is a 15 month old miniature poodle, about 12 pounds. Charley is a an extremely active, athletic dog. We do a 3 or 4 mile run most days. He?s not aggressive, very social, a poodle, but a ?soft? dog, mild and loving most of the time. He?s probably the best dog I?ve ever had. I am working w/ Charley steadily on obedience training, aiming for trials for CD ti...

I am hoping that you can help us. I have two ? Australian Cattle Dogs. The ? comes when my step son?s Australian Cattle Dog (neutered male) (Ryder) comes to stay with us for two days every two days (my step-son is a fireman at Otis AFB, here in Mass.). I have a spayed female (Libby) and a Champion show dog (Diesel). ALL these dogs are crate trained. All these dogs are registered ACDs. When Diesel and Libby are home and out of their crates, they are very good together, I am the pack lead...

Cindy, I'm sure you've heard this many times before....we have a Doberman who whine. A LOT. Barking isn't a huge problem (he does bark, but not to the point that it's an issue). I've seen the success decribed on the website regarding bark collars. Is there anything similar for whining? Something that would issue a correction for whining, but not for as bark? I see no reason to correct his barks, given that the problem is the whining. The dog does seem to have general SA issu...

Hi, Your site has been a great help. We have a 10-month-old Brittany, and until a month ago, I thought we had just been lucky because our dog never barked. Now, she barks when dogs pass by our house, whether she is inside or outside. If we are on a walk, she rarely barks at a dog passing by, even if it barks at her. She gets excited, but doesn't make a noise. The one thing that has changed is that we have had Invisible Fence installed during this time. I have read questions on you...

Hi Cindy! I have a 5-year female German Shepherd that is territorial barking in our small backyard that I can?t seem to control. We no longer allow her access to the backyard when we are gone during the day because we can?t allow her to be a nuisance to the neighbors. When we do let her into the backyard to ?do her business,? she races out the petdoor and barks loudly with her hackles up the entire time she?s outside. She also barks along the fence. Is this an instance where you?d...

Hi, I have a question, I'm sorry if I got the wrong email address. I have two dogs, both almost 3, a Golden Retriever and a Great Pyrenees. The Golden doesn't bark at anything. He will be surrounded by barking dogs and not even turn his head. Our Pyrenees, however, will bark if the grass is too green or growing too quickly. They also don't play with each other a lot as our Pyrenees is much more laid back than our Golden and he gets bored with her and she tires of him. My question is, would...

Cindy Help! OK - I have Izzy in her crate pretty much all the time like it says to do. (in the groundwork article). She's never had an accident or anything. I'm sure to take her out to go to the bathroom and I take her out for a long walk everyday too. As per what Ed says about 'social isolation' I don't talk to her, I ignore her and everything. I'm trying to be as aloof as possible! Here's my problem. She won't quit barking! AHH! It's making me crazy! What do I do! So far I have not even ...

Hi Cindy, I want to start off by telling you what a great help you and Ed have been with my training! I love your videos, especially the Training with markers video. My question for you is, I have a female Dobie and I am unsure what the best reaction should be when she barks at people or noises (for example: people walking through the neighborhood at night or noises outside). I want my dog to be naturally protective and watch/alert me when she senses something is not quite right. W...

Hello Cindy, It has been a very long time since I last emailed. I ordered several of Ed's videos and searched his site on quieting a barking dog. Simply put, my 15-month-old Doberman is very obedient thanks to your videos but for some reason if he hears the slightest sound outside, upstairs or even if my wife opens the basement door to talk to me for something he just keeps barking. I don't mind him nor will I correct him for barking at strangers walking by or hears noises ...