Recommended Q&As

We breed Coton de Tulear puppies. We have the mother and father. We also have a boy from the first litter. The female is in heat. We were keeping the boy separated but mother and son locked last night. The sire has locked before and after. When the female and sire mate they usually do several times. Is the litter not viable? What do I do???

Hi Cindy, I recently watched the Michael Ellis video Playing Tug and Foundation of puppy bite work. Great videos for someone that is not a formal dog trainer. He answers most of your questions w/out me asking. I'm working a 9 month old Doberman for my fiance and am having a challenge having her gripping the tug and holding it. It feels as though she is not committing to holding it during play w/me. She holds the puppy sleeve great during bite work but won't commit to holding on to...

I have 9 week old GSD who chews on all leashes. I need short one for her drag in house. Any recommendations??

Hi Cindy, I have many of your videos including "playing tug." My 3 1/2 month pup and I are playing tug. This has went along pretty good at first, but now he wants to lay down as we play. To counter this I move the tug toward him and up as to not push the tug back into his mouth. The forward pressure gets him back on his feet, but when I start pulling away from him he will lay back down and try to hold onto the tug. Is this a problem at this stage and if so what should I do. Thank you

Cindy, I have had a few high drive GSD. Great dogs, except when we are in the home relaxing. I am relaxing but the dog is pacing and whining. He never seems to be able to turn it off. I was not able to ever find his "off" switch. Can you help me with some ideas or make a DVD on how to turn your dog off when you are not working? Think there is a need for us novice dogsters. Thanks

Hi Cindy, I have a 16mo GSD. A month ago, someone charged my dog for "fun" at a family party. Initially, my dog cowered, and everyone got a pathetic laugh. That same person who charged my dog, could not stand up from a sitting position without my dog jumping up on all fours and barking aggressively at the previous perpretrator. My dog could not relax while that person was present. This person told me that I had a serious problem with my dog. I laughed. Today I took my GSD to the vet. Th...

I have a question about drinking water as it pertains to the groundwork/pack structure phase of training. I work nights 9pm - 7 am. When I get home at 7, I wait about 20 minutes and then feed my dog. Regarding water, should I keep water in the crate when the dog is in the crate? Or should I put a dish of water in the crate several times a day and then take the dog out to go pottie after they have drank? What would you do?

Hi Ed and Cindy, I read your article on why not to get two puppies. Very informative. Unfortunately I have done this. I got one puppy first, waited until he (male) was 6 months, and then adopted an almost 3 month old puppy (female). They are both maltese/yorkshire terrier mixes. Almost everyone I talked to said this would be a good idea. I was wondering if you had any extra tips as they are not the exact age and not from the same litter or parents. You mentioned in the article to never lea...

I own a golden retriever that has been trained through utility but is not ring ready. He is a high boy that anticipates his recalls when my back is turned. He fidgets at the set up point and explodes when I walk across the expanse of the ring. Putting him back into place only makes this much worse. Any ideas? Thank you

Hello, I'm looking for advice regarding my 75 year old mom and her 13 year old miniature schnauzer mix dog. Her dog, since a pup, has been a biter, snipper, growler, barker, etc. not to mention overly aggressive. He has to date bitten my mom several times resulting in trips to the urgent care or Dr. She is slower to recover from wounds as the most recent was a day ago. My response has been to put the dog down because I don't see how he can be trained after all these years from bad bree...

Good Morning Cindy, My 2 year old female was bred to my male (1 tie) and she had a false pregnancy. Vet said I could try again she is in good health otherwise. I have been researching the issue and have read conflicting information, some say yes it is safe to try again, others saying false pregnancy will happen again. My female has Leerburg breeding on her 5 generation pedigree stormfront on her 3rd. Have you ever experienced false pregnancy and if you have, have you had success in a secon...

Thanks for taking the time to read this email. Your previous responses to my questions have really helped. I just finished placing my order for some training videos; retrieve, tug, puppy bite work, and some equipment. I have a question regarding engagement. I have been training my dog with Michael Ellis' The Power of Training Dogs with Food. It has been a few months now and my pup is doing great. My problem, I have noticed, is that it is harder to keep his engagement with food. Befor...

Hi Cindy, Trust you are doing well. I need your help, Cindy. I attached a video of a puppy. This is the puppy the breeder selected for me. He is 8 weeks old in this video. Can you give me your honest opinion? This really is a big step for me and this will be the first Dutch Shepherd in my country. According to me, the dog shows a lack of drive or interest in the bite work. The breeder reckons he is independent and will be a slow maturer. Whatever that means. Maybe his prey drive has...

Hi Cindy!! Well, Dexter loves his walkeez harness!! I may have to get one or two more in different colors!! :) We just started in nosework--we've had two whole classes! I was wondering what you guys think of using one certain piece of equipment just for nosework (say a particular collar or harness) that tells the dog "when you wear this you are working." I've heard guide dog and tracking people say that they only use a particular harness when the dog is working and they get the idea tha...

I have a 3 month old professionally bred working line GSD. She is high drive with a tenacity to learn. I have both 8 weeks to 8 months and Working Puppy. While both videos are extremely helpful I still have 2 questions. 1. We have "conquered" ankle and pant leg biting and work relentlessly on redirecting with hand biting. Little progress has been made there - but it is the lunging at the face that concerns me most. Once she begins the lunging it does not quit until I leave. She wears a lea...

Hello, I just rescued a 5 year old Lhasa and he was defiantly dissocialized in his last home with health issues. I have two boys who are 6 and 10?who are completely non aggressive and our environment is very tranquil. First 2 weeks were great but Chico has decided that he is a little higher in the pecking order and very loyal to me. Even though we have established a good routine if my youngest walks in the room and is just standing there he will run up teeth glaring and growling, etc... It...

Hi Cindy, When I am sure my puppy knows a command and he does it 99 times when I tell him, but refuse to the 100th time, do I give a negative marker(NO) or do I just repeat the command and lure him into a sit? This puppy of mine knows exactly what a sit is but sometimes he looks at me with those "what are you talking about" eyes. Thanks

Ok, this might sound bad, but I'm going to become Homeless this year and I'm a Girl. So I, want to get a dog to protect me. So I want it to be aggressive toward people. I know its a liablity and dangerous but I don't have $$ for protection training. Is there certain thing or things I can do to making him this way. And is there a test I can do on him to see if he can be aggressive? I'm think of getting a German Shepherd or American Pitbull Terrier. 6-10 months old. Also I would be very car...

My 1 1/2 year old Golden suffered from bad GI issues as a pup. Ended up having surgery at nine months: vet called from OR and said it's mesenteric torsion. Basically asking if I wanted to stop the surgery and put the pup down. I decided to finish the surgery and see what happened. Vet removed an estimated 30% of the small intestine. Miraculously the dog recovered and is thriving with no apparent side affects, except the dog has terrible intermittent gas. I had him on Pro Plan salmon and o...

Hi, I have found your website very informative. I ended up using a prong collar as a result, and so far I'm happy with the results. However, I did have one question. I have a large (3mm) collar for my german shepherd mix. Basically I took off enough prong-links that the collar fits around the jaw and below the ears, as it's supposed to. However, there's still just enough play that it slips down during walking/training. The problem is that if I take away any more prong-links, the collar...