|
|||||||
 |
|
|
|||||
Search Our SiteLeerburg 2008 Catalog Request a Catalog Download Catalog Table of Contents Dog Training Videos New Releases DVD DVD Box Specials FREE Streaming Video Dog Training Equipment Dog Training Equipment Dog Training Books K9 Healthcare Products Web Forum Discussion Discussion Forum How to Register Dog Training eBooks Dog Training Podcasts Dog Training Articles Articles Question & Answers Leerburg Kennel Our Kennel Current Litters Customer Testimonials Stud Dogs Adult Dogs for Sale Our Kaiserhaus Malinois Dog Training Categories Dog Training Dog Obedience Training Aggression Problems Dominance Problems Dog Fight Problems Puppy Training HouseTraining Problems Feeding Dogs Breeding Dogs Electric Collar Training Schutzhund Training Police K9 Training Leerburg's Top DVDs Your Puppy 8 Weeks DVD Basic Dog Obedience DVD Electric Collar Training DVD Dominant Dogs DVD Raising a Working Pup DVD Bite Training Puppies DVD All 120 Dog Training DVDs How to Order View Shopping Cart Foreign Orders Shipping Charges See Our Horses Request a Catalog Contact Us
|
I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side, (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It's common sense.
What are the best toys for puppies? Answer: I am rather opinionated on this issue. I believe that everything you do with a puppy from the time you get it at 8 weeks can have an effect on what that dog will be like as an adult. With this in mind I like to be very selective in what I use as toys for a pup. In most cases a puppy has to learn what a toy is. In other words, the first time it is presented with an orbee-tuff ball it has no idea that we want this to become a toy. So my feeling is that the handler should select toys that can be used in later training. I will use orbee balls on a string. I like these because they are almost indestructible. Tennis balls are a terrible idea to use with dogs. There have been studies that show the glue on tennis balls eats tooth enamal. The larger breeds (like German Shepherds) have a tendency to chew up tennis balls when they get to be adults. If a dog eats a tennis ball it will often kill him because it gets stuck in his bowels. If you go to my web site you will see toys that I sell on my web site. I DONT SELL products that I dont use on my personal dogs. The toys we sell are quality products. I do not like squeaky toys. If you allow your dog to play with these type of toys you are asking for problems. Most dogs will eat them. Its only a matter of time. If you are lucky they will puke them up, if you are not lucky they will kill your dog. Why risk them? ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I was just looking at your site and some of your beautiful pictures of german shepherds. I have a female German Shepherd who will be 2 years old in March of this year. I also have a Sheltland Sheepdog who is 2 and half years old. My husband and I are thinking about getting another Shepherd. But we are concerned about bringing in another dog with our dogs being so territorial. Both of my dogs that I have now are trained in obedience and my Shepherd (Alexis) will be starting personal protection in three weeks. Do you think we should or should not bring another dog into our family? I would love to get a male Shepherd, because they have more of a drive than the females. Also, I was wondering, my female Shepherd (Alexis) is fixed and has been for a while now, she still has drive but I really have noticed a decline in her drive. Do you think that is because of being fixed or with age? Answer: I do not recommend adding a 3rd dog to a family unless the people fully understand the implications of pack behavior. In other words, if your plan is to add a male pup and not keep the dog separated from the other dogs when you are not with the dogs, then do not do it. If a pup is allowed to have free run of the house and not be kenneled separately, then it will become too "doggy." In other words it will look to the other dogs for its recreation and fun and not humans. These dogs never bond as well and certainly are not as easy to train. In reality how could they - if they don't look to the human as their best buddy. In addition, the pup is going to be low man in the pack order. Which means he is going to be dominated by the other 2 dogs. Right now, one of your dogs is dominant over the other. They may get along fine, but one is the alpha dog. So, the key in adding another dog is to keep it separated from the existing dogs when you are not with all three to supervise the games. If you do not have a home with dog runs in the back yard, you can accomplish the same thing by using dog crates. Either keep the pup crated when you are gone, or when it is old enough keep the other crated and the pup loose. This does not mean that these dogs can never be allowed to play and run together. They can do this, but it needs to be supervised. So if the other 2 dogs really get down on the pup, you are there to stop it. Just as importantly, if the pup gets down on one of the other dogs when it is 4 or 5 months old, you need to stop that also or the old dog will have a very difficult time for the rest of its life. The pup needs to learn manners too. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I have a German Shepherd (not from you), he is 14 weeks old. After 9 weeks both of his ears stood up, not straight up, they actually leaned towards the middle quite a bit. However, a few days ago his left ear just went down and has not gone back up. Does this mean that he has a broke or lame ear now? This has me really worried since both ears were up, but now one won't stand. Is this normal, or did he hurt it some way? Will it ever go back up or not? Thanks for your help, and answers. Otto Kretzer Answer: My experience is that if the ears of a shepherd stand one time and go back down they will always come back up. There is nothing to worry about here. What you are seeing is normal. It is not uncommon for the ears to be up for some time and then when the pup goes through teething they will come down for awhile and go back up again. If a pups ears are not up by the time it is 18 weeks old (and they have never been up) it’s time to tape them. The best way to do this is to take a woman’s tampon and put it down the ear canal. Let it bottom out in the bottom of the ear and then pull it up 1/2 inch. Wrap the ear around it and tape it with the real thin surgical tape. The stuff that looks like thin paper. Tape both ears like this and then tape a pop cycle stick between the two. Every pup is going to rip the tampons out the first few times that you put them in. They will eventually get used to it and leave them. I recommend leaving them in for several days, then let the dog go a day without being taped and then tape them again until the ears stand. If people wait until the dog is 6 or 7 months old to tape ears it's too late. I can almost guarantee you that the ears will not stand because you waited too long. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Is my (almost) 19 week GS male ready for a prong collar? I don't know what size or how heavy to get or whether a quick release one is better. HELP! Also, I cut his toenails - just the ends - and played with his feet while I had him on his back between my legs. (That was the only way I could see well so as not to "quick" him. I NEVER DID! All of a sudden he will not let me do this and I can tell he is serious about trying to bite me. I don't want to scare him, but I want to be able to cut his nails. At this moment, I have not pushed and think it is getting worse with time. I've read about shaking them by the scruff of the neck and using the jowls to shake and lift them, but do I want to start this? How can I, a 64 year old woman, keep dominance? Thanks, Sally O. Mason Answer: Your dog’s toe nails do not need to be cut that often, especially when he gets a little older. Take him to the vet and let him do it. Why worry about the fight when you really don't have to? I determine a dog needs a prong collar by his reaction to a normal collar. Some dogs just seem to be knuckleheads. A jerk or pop on the normal collar does not effect them very much. Sometimes the person trying to handle the dog is a very small or an older person (like yourself) and they do not have the strength to control a dog - then the prong is warranted. My advise is to buy a normal prong (not some break away model). As an adult the dog will need an extra heavy model. When he is 5 or 6 months old he will need a normal prong collar. So over his life you will own 2 of them. They are not that expensive. My advise if to take a look at my tape Basic Dog Obedience and Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. As far as the dominance issue goes, I do not believe that a dog that argues over his toes being trimmed is having a dominance problem. If that dog growls when you put your hand near his food bowl or growls when you try and take his toy away, then this is a dominance problem. At that point you leave the prong collar on during the day (off at night) with a 2 to 3 foot leash attached all the time. When the dog growls you give him a level 10 jerk with a load "PHOOIE !!!!!" I am not sure I would ask a 64 year old woman to shake a 19 week old GSD puppy or grab him by the jowls. You do not have enough strength to fight a dog that wants to argue. You are better off picking a fight that you know you can win and a leash with a prong collar is winnable on a dog at this age. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I have an 8 month old rottie. He is a good dog, however, I have some problems making him give me something (anything) he has stolen from me. He just looks up at me and curls his upper lip. I don't think he wants to bite or harm me, he is usually a very gentle dog. I can put my fingers in his food bowl, and even put my hands in his mouth, however, when he takes something he will not give it back. What do I do? Answer: What you are seeing is one of the first stages of dominance. This needs to be stopped now when the dog is young rather than allowing him to mature and the problem to grow, (which it will). The reason you need to be so concerned at 8 months is that you have a window of opportunity to deal with dominance. At 8 months this dog is just a puppy. He does not have the maturity to be a serious threat to you, 5 or 6 months from now this will be a different situation. Growling at you over his toy is his way of beginning to challenge his position in you pack order. He needs to learn that this is totally unacceptable. How you handle this depends on your size, his size and your skill as a handler. If it were me I would have the dog wear a prong collar with a drag line (we sell these) . When the dog growled I would take the drag line and give a firm POP on the lead. The dog would learn very quickly that any form of aggression will be quickly dealt with. The reaction from the dog needs to be avoidance not aggression or more growling. If the dog growls when you correct him the correction needs to be harder. A prong collar on an 8 month old dog is going to solve the problem. You had also better put some good obedience training into this dog right now. Get my 4 hour DVD titled Basic Dog Obedience. This training will also help establish you as the pack leader and boss. And finally - read the article I wrote titled DEALING WITH THE DOMINANT DOG. There may be more things you are doing wrong in this dogs life that are causing it to act like this. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Ed, I have a 10 week old American Pitbull Terrier (APBT). He is very aggressive toward strangers already. What I mean by this is that whenever someone walks by he will charge at them and start barking. If that person was to advance toward him he would start to back up, though. I like the initial aggression, but why does he back up and what type of temperament is he showing? Would he make a good dog for protection training? Answer: If your pup is charging people and barking aggressively at this age it has a temperament problem. The dog probably has weak nerves. This means, rather than being tough he is in fact a weak dog. This is a dog that will probably be a fear biter as an adult. Some people feel that puppies go through a fear stage at 9 or 10 weeks. I don't agree with this line of thinking. I don't see it in my dogs. But even so, if the dog does go through something like a fear stage it should not react the way this dog is reacting. I guess my advice would be to try and take the dog out and socialize the devil out of him. Take hot dogs and give strangers a small piece of hot dog and ask them if they will give it to your puppy and pet him to show the dog that there is nothing to fear. If the dog does not respond to this work in a couple of weeks, then you need to consider putting the dog to sleep. You will have a time bomb on your hands as an adult. As an adult this is going to be a dog that is very quick to bark when someone is around your home. He is a dog that is going to have to be watched like a hawk to make sure he is not exposed to anyone he is not comfortable with. In actual fact, this is the type of dog that is best used as a guard dog behind a fence and not as a personal protection dog. Guard dogs do not come in contact with very many people. Their nerves are usually a little thin and this results in the dog that is very quick to bark at strangers or strange noises. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Ed, My pup (9 months) isn't socialized well with other dogs, particularly bigger dogs. I'm determined to remedy this. This wasn't really a problem until I moved into a new apartment complex that has lots of dogs. Specifically, should I correct my dog when she growls at other dogs, or would the correction amplify the problem by associating even greater stress whenever she encounters another dog? Thanks for your help! Answer: Adult dog fights are no fun. Its always better to nip dog aggression in the bud before it starts, but this is not always possible. Some dogs are going to be dog aggressive no matter what you do. With some, it is a dominance/pack issue and it is always a fight. What I do is put my pup in with another pup. I am always there to supervise. Its fine for the pups to play together, but if one gets really snarly or tries to fight I say "PHOOIE!!!" and I grab the offending pup and shake it by the back of the neck until it screams. I let it go and pet it to calm it down to show it that I still love it and I do not hold a grudge. I usually only have to do this a few times before the pups respond to "PHOOIE" Most quickly learn that I am the pack leader and I am the one that says who can and can not fight. With older dogs, I will get them used to wearing a muzzle - this can take a few weeks before they learn to ignore the muzzle. (I make them wear it in the dog crate, while on walks everywhere). Then I put two muzzled adults together and take them for a walk. They both have leashes on. I do not allow them to square off and fight. If they do I get right in the middle of it and show them who is the pack leader. If these are big tough males with a lot of protection training and they turn on me I give it to them even harder. They eventually learn that fighting in muzzle is unacceptable behavior. What they end up doing is ignoring each other when they are out walking. This work does not make them friends and I never try and get to the point where I leave these kinds of dogs loose without muzzle (why test a fight). But I have a friend that is an instructor at the RCMP School in Canada that starts every class out like this and by the end of their 20 week course the dogs can run loose together without muzzle. I have never taken it to that point. It makes me a little nervous. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I have been in contact with you several times regarding my expected puppy. While preparing for this new addition to our family, several questions came up which I did not find in your Q&A. I plan to get a wire-type crate and I see they are made in various finishes, epoxy coatings, colors, etc. Can you recommend a particular finish, or are they all about the same? Answer: They are all the same - I feel the epoxy crates are quieter and better looking. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ My son's 4 month old German Shepherd snaps or bites quite often. What should I do?
Answer: There are a couple things to consider here:
The bottom line is that this behavior will go away. In fact this is what I want to see in my pups that are bred for personal protection. If you want to learn more about this, I recommend that you get my video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. ------------------------------------------------------------ We have a 3 month old pup and a cat who play chase a lot! The problem is when we call the pup to come he acts like he doesn't hear us. How do we correct his and get his attention? Answer: This is an owner problem not a dog problem. A 3 month old puppy should not be off leash in the house. Puppies should not be off leash in the house until they are trained to the point where they mind under distraction. When dos are on leash they don't get into things (like chasing cats) they dont have house training problems and they dont chew things up. I recommend that you get my video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and the one titled Basic Dog Obedience. Both tapes deal with these kinds of concepts in training. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Our pup is 4 months old. She is almost impossible to walk down the street because she pulls so hard. She also wants to chase cars. Are these things she will get over or do I need to take corrective measures to stop them? I am just concerned with not wanting to make a mistake. Answer: I normally do not recommend a prong collar for puppies that are this age. Your case requires a prong collar. On your walks, let the pup determine how hard his corrections are by holding the leash and letting him pull into the collar. You do not need to jerk him when he is walking, his pulling will result in a self correction. He will quickly learn that it is not fun to pull into a prong collar. This is why I like to call a prong collar "Power Steering for Dogs." If they are used properly, they are a godsend. One of the things to keep in mind is "do not use the HEEL command" during this process. We are not trying to train the dog to HEEL, we are trying to teach him to not pull us down the street on our stomach. So use the SLOW command. This just means slow down. He does not have to walk by your side, he just needs to stop pulling. So as he begins to pull, you simply say SLOW in a normal firm voice (not mad). The car chasing is a different matter. This needs to be stopped. You can try a few sessions with a self correction, just before the dog chases, give PHOOIE command or a NO! If this does not eliminate the behavior, then you need to give the PHOOIE command and enough of a jerk to make the pup yelp but not cower for 2 blocks. This is a life and death learning experience for our dogs, they must learn that cars are to be left alone. If it involves humane corrections, then so be it. The key is to correct to the point of a yelp and not to the point of a screaming cowering dog. Always remember to praise the pup right after a correction. This shows the dog that you do not hold and grudge and that you have forgiven him for screwing up. If you can not find a prong collar locally, we sell them here at Leerburg. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Why is it so important to work with a ball on a string with young puppies? Answer: Most puppies have some degree of prey drive. Prey drive is the drive to chase and catch things. Some pups have way more drive than others. We use this drive to define the toys a pup will play with. Once a pup has a set group of toys that it looks at as prey items he is less likely to chew on shoes and other household items. Note the key word here is "LESS LIKELY," I did not say he would never chew on shoes. I also need to mention that I never allow working puppies to have free access to prey items. The only time they can play with them is when I am there to play. Pet puppies are a different thing. I like to use a rubber balls on a 1/8 inch nylon cord. I get the pups interest in the ball by tossing it down in front of him. When I can get him to walk over and smell it, I give a very small jerk to get it to go away from the pup. This often sparks his interest. When he goes to smell it again - another very small jerk. If you jerk too much the ball is out of sight out of mind. The key is to keep it a foot or so in front of the pup but not let him get it right away. Many novice trainers jerk the ball too hard and too much, then pups quickly lose interest. There is also a timing factor to the jerk. Do it just as his nose reaches out for the ball. Once the pup will really chase it around we let him catch the ball. Initially he will be very proud of this and we let him savor the moment for a few seconds, but then pop it out of his mouth with the string. This again sparks his prey drive by making him a little possessive of it which builds the drive to chase and catch this thing that just escaped. Don't be concerned about the word possessive. This work does not create a dominance problem in pups. Once a pup recognizes his ball when we bring it out to play, we know we are accomplishing our goal. Then we can substitute a rolled up hand towel on a string or a Kong on a string or whatever toy that we want for the ball. The pup quickly recognizes the game and associates the object as prey or his toy. Later in life we can use the pups drive to play with his ball as a reward for doing something correctly in obedience or tracking. Rather than give him a piece of hot dog, we give him a tennis ball to chase. It works because we did the background work to make the ball an important item to the pup. The only important thing that I need to caution people of is that some dogs become obsessed with the ball. As adults, these dogs will chew them up. This will kill a dog by blocking his intestines. The solution for this is to not leave toys laying around when the dog is old enough to have the jaw strength to chew them up. If you have to leave your pup in a crate while at work - leave a bone to chew on or a hard rubber Kong stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese - this will keep the dog busy for hours.. ------------------------------------------------------------ I own a 7 month old German Shepherd (from a professional kennel out here in California), And I've been training him using your videos and they are the best 100 some dollars that I have ever spent. Thank you! Quest ion... My Shepherd does a very popular thing and I hope that you might have an answer for me. He walks around the yard at a very fast pace and I thought that may it was the flies that he was after but not really. I have plants all around my yard and a 20' by 30' patch of grass is the center of my yard the outer edge of the yard is dirt where my plants grow and what he does is walk around the plants and circle them and stays on the same route...over and over again. I do take him out for for a good 20 to 30 min. walk every day for exercise. I've been feeding him Eukanuba for the last 5 months and is a very bright dog but his pacing is funny but then again I do wonder why he does this. Like I said some times it does seem like he is after flies because he will snap at them if they pass by but not always. My Friends joke about it because I buried my fathers ashes under a tree that is in my shepherds route and they say that my dad is walking my dog... All in good humor but not an answer. What do you think? He looks like his on speed. Sincerely, Answer: My guess is the dog is bored. He is kind of like a caged animal. He probably needs more time with you. I would make him into a house dog or at least get a dog crate and bring him in and crate him - so he can at least watch part of the house when you are at home. This breaks up his day and provides different experiences. I would also check him for worms, check his ears to make sure they are OK - it could be a health problem and he is frustrated from not feeling good. ------------------------------------------------------------ I have a beautiful Rottweiller pup and I want to treat and train him right, but I have a shift-job and I can give him 30 minutes daily during work week but that’s it. Is this ok? Also I don't think like a dog so how do I train my dog to bark at cars or people, and not rabbits, coyotes etc. (I live in the country). I cannot afford a trainer. Answer: My personal feeling is that 30 minutes a day is not enough for a dog. I would not recommend trying to keep it- it's not fair to the dog. If you want to learn how to properly train and interact with the dog get:
I hope this points out that there is nothing simple about how to properly raise and train a working dog. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ We are at the end of our rope, I am hoping you can help with your extensive knowledge of German Shepherds. We had a beautiful GSD 3 years ago and was not able to keep her because of a move and we were heartbroken. (We had her for a year). Well, about 4 weeks ago we decided to go and get another one and I will admit to you right off the bat we did everything wrong. We found someone in the paper and went and fell in love with the last puppy of a litter of 14. I think our minds were made up before we even got there. She was the only one left, 6 weeks old and VERY timid. Wouldn't even come to us and when my daughter picked her up she yelped loud. I know, I know all bad signs, and we still took her. Well I am sure you know what is next, 4 weeks of frustration. She yelped horribly for the first week in the crate, we have finally broken her of that by sheer determination. Won't walk on a leash, yelps at the top of her lungs and drags her feet or will pull ahead just "screaming." It is terrible, we actually had to walk out of Petsmart with her when we had her for 2 days because she yelped so loud and continuously people thought we were hurting her. And we were holding her in our arms! Well someone told us to get a prong collar, now she yelps louder and STILL won't obey commands. We take her out of the crate, she goes potty and then comes in and 20 minutes later will eliminate on the carpet, right in front of us. You can't play with her she will cry and yelp and when you try to hold her she will groan and we tell her "settle" and she will, but doesn't like it. Like I said she is "a loner" and doesn't want to be held or played with and any type of correction will lead to this god awful yelping. I won't even take her out anymore because of the looks I get from people. When we bought her and she did this the breeder said that German Shepherds don't like to be held. Well our first one was so loving, she would sleep sprawled out next to us on the couch. We desperately need your recommendation and can you tell us what this personality means. We want to like her so much but honestly she is making it very difficult and we need to know what is going on and how to change it. Thank you for your time, you’re our last hope. Kim Viliborghi Answer: This animal is a product of bad breeding (my guess is that it’s an American bloodline dog), a bad breeder and poor genetics. Nothing you are going to do is going to change the animal. Anyone who lets a dog go at 6 weeks is an idiot. It's been proven that puppies need 6 to 8 weeks to socialize with their littermates. In your case this would not have mattered. There is a possibility that this dog is sick. I would have the stools checked to make sure the dog does not have worms. If it is loaded with worms it could be in pain a lot of the time which may be the reason for crying when you pick it up. My guess is that it simply has weak nerves. My advise to you would be to either put this dog to sleep or take it back to the breeder. The first option is the best. This dog is not going to improve and you have dealt with a totally dishonest breeder. If you return the dog he is only going to sell the animal to someone else. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ My name is Rich Ehrenberg, I bought a puppy from you about 7 months ago. Jetta Vom Leerburg call name Kia. Her parents are Otis and Nelly. I want to eventually breed her and I'm wondering what her parents OFA readings were? I see you have Otis' hips A stamped normal but that means nothing to me I want to know what his OFA was. If he was not rated by OFA why? And what does this A stamp compare to on the OFA reading? Who gave him this A stamp? What exactly is the A stamp reading? In this I mean A is this, B is this, C is this etc.? Answer: The A stamp is the German hip certification. They have 3 levels - A Normal is the highest. It’s done at 12 months, not 24 months. He got it from the German SV, (German Shepherd Dog Club of Germany.) THE A - B - C ratings are done in Holland and Belgium - they do not apply here. Otis has very good hips. I had him x-rayed before he came here and the x-rays are on file. His father is one of the top hip improvers in Germany today. You can read my articles. The reason he is not OFAed is because he is A stamped and I had the x-ray done before I got him. I don't need to knock him out again to get a piece of paper to duplicate what is already done. Makes no sense. I (and you) are very lucky to have dogs from Otis. ------------------------------------------------------------ We ordered and received your puppy video, none to soon I might add. It has been very helpful. This is our first litter. We had 7 (4F/3M) healthy GSD puppy's on Tuesday the 16th of Feb. The heaviest two, a male and a female each weighed 570g. The male now is 785g and the female is 855g. A 285g gain in 5 days. I'm thinking, oink oink. The runts, one male & one female weighed 510g and 480g respectively. Now after five days the male weighs in at 740g and the female at 700g. My question is this, actually my wife’s. She is concerned that the little ones are not gaining enough fast enough. The least gain that either of them has made in one day is 20g. The male has gained as much as 85g in one day, and the female as much as 75g in one day. Is there cause for my wife's concern? She thinks that the little female is asleep half the time while the other's are nursing. Yet in 5 days she has gained 210g or 7.35oz. To me that seems just dandy. Actually the next heaviest male, at 565g at birth has gained only 200g or 7oz. total. So your opinion will be most appreciated and your advice taken. Thank you, Dale B Rottacker Answer: If you wife is concerned she can stick the small pup on a tit every time she goes into the room, 10 times a day is not too much. This will improve weight gain. DO NOT TUBE the pup, big mistake if you do. I am sure it will be fine if left alone, but putting it on the mother more often will help. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hello, I am a police officer in Mississippi. I am not a K-9 unit, but I do hope to someday get my own. My question is I am about to get a puppy and train it for search and rescue, now what I would like to do is eventually train him for police work (narcotics, bite). Do you think I should go ahead and incorporate those aspects in now or should I work with him later. The people I am going to be training with are all police K-9 officers who have many years of experience. They all know very well how to train K-9's, but I am always interested in different opinions. Thanks, Joey Answer: Most K-9 Cops are good cops, some are good dog handlers and most are poor trainers in that order. In my experience less than 20% of them are good trainers. I wish it were not the case. What they know about selecting puppies and training puppies is nil to nothing. A badge and a dog does not make them experts. I do it too and I have been head of the training committee for the WI Police Dog Assoc. If you want to learn how to selection test a pup for this work, get my videos Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Bite Training Puppies. This shows you how to run tests on a litter to pick the dog you want, if I were you I would study the shit out of this tape before you go get your pup. Walk away from the litter if they do not pass. You can imprint narcotics on pups from a baby (it’s great for the dog), but you cannot use it on the street in drug work (no matter how good you think it is) until it’s at least 13 or 14 months old. If you do you are setting yourself up to lose in court. Read the articles I have written on this subject. It used to be done in Texas, I think they have stopped it because of the bad publicity it gave them, (which they deserved). I would recommend The First Steps of Bite Training at about 6 months then The First Steps of Defense. ------------------------------------------------------------ When should you neuter your puppy? Answer: If your goal is to do protection work or police service work with your dog, do not neuter until it is 24 months old. Let the dog have access to his hormones to develop and mature. If he is neutered at 2 years it will not effect his working ability. If a dog is neutered at 6 months it will definitely effect his protection work, (by reducing the drives.) If a dog is a monorchid (only has one testicle come down) it is critical to have the dog neutered at 2 years of age. If the testicle has not come down and is not removed there is a high probability of it developing cancer at about 5 years of age. ------------------------------------------------------------ I brought Lacy home at 7 weeks 10 days ago. I have a 2 1/2 year old mild mannered Airedale (Callie) who enjoys playing with baby, but might not be aggressive enough in disciplining puppy who consistantly nips at her...and hurts her (has drawn blood)...should we stop allowing tug of war with frisbees and chew toys for awhile? Puppy is extremely assertive. Also, puppy has flat out snit fits if she does not get her own way...for instance, she got over-stimulated today and got put in her indoor run with cage; she threw a little fit for 10 minutes. Very difficult to take. We either say no and sort of stare or simply ignore her and she finally settles down. Very disturbing with barking and whining every two hours at night...hard to settle her down after taking her out for business...she wants to play and we won't let her. Unfortunately, we are thinking of taking her back. Callie desperately needs a playmate, though, and have looked for same for almost a year. Answer: This is more of a handler problem than a dog problem. During this time period the dog should be spending a great deal of time in the crate. Is it annoying to put up with? YES!! But unless you do it you are going to end up with a spoiled pain in the butt. This pup must learn that it’s normal to be in the crate and to carry on and bark does absolutely no good. You should not stare at it, just ignore it. Every time you leave the house it should be in the crate, put the crate in the garage if you have to. It’s like breaking a horse - it will fight you and fight you until it one day realizes that it’s no use. The only ones that don't learn are the ones where the people give in and let them out before they should. An 8 week old pup will have a problem going all night without relieving itself. This is normal. Pick the water up at 6 PM. By 10 to 12 weeks it should be able to be in the crate all night without a problem. I would put more toys down for a couple of months, let the dog have a ton of toys. Regard my article titled Teaching Your Puppy the Meaning of the Word “No.” I also recommend you get my video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. Then at about 5 or 6 months get Basic Dog Obedience. They are intended to follow one another. Good luck and don’t give up, it actually sounds like a nice pup. Read all the Q&A sections on my web site about pups. ------------------------------------------------------------ We adopted a 6-9 month old Brittany and have had her for approx. 2 months. We have done a lot of work with her and she and our 3 cats can now co-exist rather well. Our main concern is that she literally hates being crated when we leave the house. She is never left in her crate more than 7 hrs. while we are at work/school. She seems to find some way to escape and then ultimately chews something up while before we get home at least two days out of the five. What can we do? Answer: If this were my dog I would drill some holes near the door of the crate (assuming you are using a plastic airline crate). Then run a wire through the holes and the door of the crate so the dog can not open it no matter how hard she tries. If its a metal crate then use 2 snaps on the ends of leashes to clip the crate door closed. If the dog is very vocal and will not quiet down leave the TV or a radio on. If it continues get one of the Tri Tronics Bark Limiters - use the lower shock settings if necessary, (but there is a video that comes with the limiter to show how to use it). This will eliminate the screaming in the crate and the dog will be forced to lay quietly. Do not give in to the pup when you initially put the collar on. When it barks and gets a shock and screams it must learn on its own to get a grip and calm down - that’s what these collars do, they calm the dogs. Go to the butcher and get the dog soup bones. Let the dog chew on the bones during the day. Give it something to do when it’s awake. But dogs of this age sleep a lot when given the opportunity. I would also recommend that you begin obedience training the dog. It’s the correct age. This does 2 things: it promotes handler interaction in a positive way with the pet, it also teaches the dog manners. They learn right from wrong and this transcends into their normal lives in other ways. Read what I have to say about obedience training. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I have a 12 week old Border Collie pup. We were working on sit stay before each meal and then given a release command "OK" and he runs to his dish. But after my husband corrected him at one meal he hesitates going to his dish after the "OK" command is given. He looks at us as if asking for permission again. At which time we have to say "OK, go get it" two or three times. Should we correct this, if so how do we do it. Thanks, Answer: You need to start to learn something about dog training, and I guess sending this email is an example that you know this. Your husband was 100% wrong in doing this. A 12 week old dog should not have this kind of pressure put on him. He is a baby. Would you do this with a child? I think not. I would strongly recommend that you get my video Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. Read about it. This tape is 2 hours of solid information. When the dog is 4 or 5 months you will need Basic Dog Obedience. Giving corrections to pups that are so young is going to destroy his temperament. You really need to be careful and learn how and when a pup can be corrected. ------------------------------------------------------------ I have enjoyed your tapes. The question I have is my GSD just turned 7 months,and he's very playful, temperment very good. If I'm gone for a couple of hours, he will chew up or chew baseball caps, socks, papers, remotes (TV), anything, but he only does that when we are gone,and that’s not all the time, but when I come home, if he's not at the door, then he's done something. I don’t correct him hard on that, because again, he doesn’t do it all the time, but shouldn’t he be coming out of that phase? He still has a lot of puppy in him, and he is a joy. He's almost 85 pounds. I'm thinking that if he's that big, he should be coming out of that phase. Answer: The dog needs to be crated when you leave. Give him a large bone to chew on, (NOT TENNIS BALLS OR TOYS), or a raw hide. It's a simple solution to a problem. That’s why God gave us dog crates. ------------------------------------------------------------ How likely is it that a slight overbite in a 3 1/2 month old GSD puppy will correct itself? And regarding dominance: Can a dog be submissive to people but still be dominant when it comes to dogs? Answer: Overbites often correct themselves. Yes - submissive dogs can be dog aggressive, (it’s probably not dominance that you are seeing but weak nerves which manifest into aggression). ------------------------------------------------------------ Why does my pup target the puppy tug handle as opposed to the tug itself? It seems 50% of the time he goes for the handle. Any suggestions? James Dougal Answer: Pups go after the handle because it moves less than the rest of the tug. They learn that it's easier to get the handle than the other end of the tug. This is either caused by handler error, (poor use of the tug), or the dog is ready for the "back tie." If you clip the tug on a leash and flop it around on the ground you can often get more jumpy movement in the tug and eliminate this problem for awhile. If the dog gets the rope (or leash) then its time for a back tie where you can direct the bite to the proper place on the tug. Back ties also allow you to build frustration by making the dog miss the tug as you run by - frustration builds drive. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ I was hoping that you could give me some advice. I have a 5 1/2 month old female GSD (both her parents came from your kennel.) We took her to an agility park last weekend where we were socializing her with an 8 month old 100+lb GSD. The pups were both on leashes when the male suddenly went crazy and attacked our Maddie. She was hollering & trying to get away and the male just wouldn't let up. My husband finally got her away from him and the owner apologized saying that her dog had never behaved like that before & then left the park. Later while we took a good look at Maddie we saw the she had two bite punctures on her belly and a large gash on her outer thigh that ended up needing 3 staples. I know the best thing for me to do is to keep socializing her so that she won’t become afraid of other dogs but I am not sure how to choose who I should allow her to socialize with. Maddie is not a dominant dog and wants to play with every dog she sees. Is there any type of body posture (or anything else that I can watch for) to know whether or not a particular dog would be safe for her to socialize with? I would appreciate any advice. Sincerely, Answer: I am afraid the damage is done. You will find that from this point on your dog will look at other dogs in a defensive manner. I am not a fan of these dog socialization areas - they "ARE STUPID" for the very reason that you have already found out. People with no idea of dog training take their dogs there and they end up having a free for all - many times they fight and the results are that one dog is attacked and hurt. My advice is to NEVER TAKE YOUR DOG TO A PLACE LIKE THIS AGAIN. Control which dogs your pup is allowed around. Make sure from this point on it is never allowed around an aggressive dog. If you do not know the other dog is passive - then you assume that it is aggressive. If you follow this basic rule you will never make a mistake and your dog will possibly recover. Pups are pack animals. They expect their pack leader to protect them. You failed your dog this time. It's your responsibility as pack leader to not allow things like this to happen. My advice is to socialize your dog on a flexi lead and get my video Basic Dog Obedience - read what I have to say about obedience training. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ Our puppy - Nitro (Male Sable) is terribly afraid of other dogs. Our Lasha Apso, 8 years old, has bitten him a few times, but he is not afraid of her. Our relative's small dog also bites him. Now when he goes around any dogs he starts screaming, his backhair goes up and he wants to run and hide. We did get your training video on puppies and I know it is important to socialize him. He loves people and has met many people. We were going to bring him to puppy class at A-1 Training in Brooklyn Park. The person there said we should spray his mouth with "Apple Bitter," have him on a leash and make him sit or lay down but not to tolerate his screaming. Do you have any ideas on what we can do? Answer:
The key with this article is not the dog park
issue, but rather your responsibility as a pack leader to protect your
puppy. You have failed in this responsibility. I suggest that you spend
some time on my web site reading Q&A sections
on puppies and training in general. What needs to be done now is to nurture
this puppy when it shows fear of a large dog. You should not allow it
around other adult dogs that you do not know. You should only allow it
to be around dogs that are very friendly to puppies. It may be too late,
the damage that has already been done will end up being translated into
a dog aggressive animal as an adult. Whatever you do, do not follow the
advice of the dummy in the puppy classes. ------------------------------------------------------------ We recently purchased a 5 month old, German Shepherd of German and Dutch breeding. She is a pleasant puppy and quite active. We already had a 12 year old Cocker Spaniel who also has a very pleasant and now placid personality. We have had the shepherd for 3 weeks. During this time we have allowed the dogs to sniff each other through a gate, but have not allowed them to be free together. Our few attempts to introduce the dogs without the gate; have resulted in the following: the shepherd eagerly approaches the spaniel and wants to play, jumping on her excitedly. The spaniel (who could walk under the shepherd) doesn't want any part of this play, and will growl at her and snip. When the shepherd is more subdued (later in the day), the two dogs are content to be in the same room (we keep a leash on the Shepherd in case she decides to get frisky). Do you think that this will improve with time? I am hopeful that they will get along, because neither dog growls, sneers or otherwise acts aggressively toward the other unless the Shepherd jumps on the aging spaniel. Do you think that we will have to wait until the shepherd outgrows the "puppy stage" at 18 months or so? Cindy Answer: This is a very common problem with people who own old dogs and get puppies. I ALWAYS defer to the old dog. I like old dogs. It is your responsibility to protect the older dog from the abuse of a pup. Just as it would be your responsibility to protect a 3 or 4 year old child from the abuse of a new pup. This starts with obedience training and a prong collar. There is no reason that a pup can not learn the meaning of the word NO. I have written an article about this on my web site. The list of training articles on my website. I would strongly recommend my Basic Dog Obedience video. This pup needs to learn some manners and there is no better way to do this than to obedience train it. I hope this helps. You owe your old dog the ability to live her last days in peace and quiet, not in a living arrangement where she is always worried about being jumped on and bit. ------------------------------------------------------------ Is there a thing as a "fear period" that puppies go through or is it just a way to justify weak nerve? A six-month-old pup that has always been friendly and inquisitive all of a sudden-without any bad experiences becomes hesitant about meeting people. He still is inquisitive with things, but hesitates when meeting new people. Once he has met them and accepted them he is his old friendly self. Karen Cataldo Answer: I don't really agree with this issue of a "fear period" at 9 or 10 weeks. I think this is a crock. I do think that puppies can have difficult times when they are teething. They don't understand the pain that they experience and if they grab something with their mouth and get hurt, because of the teething, this can cause some temporary set backs. So the first thing to look at is the temperament before this time period. The tests I do at 8 weeks point out weak nerves. If these tests are OK as a young pup and the dog then has changes latter it may either be a health issue or it may have been a traumatizing event. Remember that pups are babies - just because they have good nerves and are environmentally sound - they can still develop problems if they are treated badly. This can happen with one incident. ------------------------------------------------------------ We recently found a puppy in the ditch wandering around a mile away from our home in the country. We carefully called him to approach us and he seemed adorable so we took him around to several houses in the area to see if anyone lost him. No one knew anything about him. We proceeded over the next several days to see if anyone lost him. Meanwhile I took him to the vet and got worm medicine - they tested his poop and he had worms. They thought he was about 8-12 weeks. He still has his baby teeth and was 14 pounds. We have been seriously considering buying a pure bread black lab for a pet and for a hunting dog. The vet and some other friends who know a great deal about dogs think he's pretty close to being a pure bread. But we knew if he was, the owners would be looking for him. He seems very good-natured, he doesn't jump up, whine too much or bite. He follows our kids, ages 6 & 9, everywhere and seems to have fallen in love with us as much as we have with him. Our main question is whether or not he'll be a good hunter if he doesn't have the pure bread blood in him for smelling and if he will be safe for us to keep. We don't want a dog that will turn on us from bad temperament. I have been reading as much as possible about training dogs and what to do and not to do. I just want to be sure this is a wise choice to keep him. Can you help? Thanks, Answer: It sounds like you lucked out. If this dog was skittish or shy you would have a potential future problem. But it seems he is well adjusted with good nerves. If he has good play drive and will chase sticks and balls he should be a good hunting dog. There are a million pure bred dogs out there that can not do the job they were initially intended to do. A perfect example is ALL OF THE AMERICAN BLOODLINE German Shepherd Dogs. None of them can be police service dogs - not one!! So many times being pure bread has nothing to do with a dogs working ability. My advice is to get a couple of tapes and learn to train and work with your dogs. I would recommend: I have produced a video titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my web site. It has 2 hours of solid information. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. ------------------------------------------------------------ I was wondering if you could help me. I have a nine-week-old GSD pup that doesn't seem to want to bond w/ me. It never seeks out affection from me and only seems to tolerate being petted. She seems to be healthy and has a high prey drive. She only seems to want to bond with my grown mixed breed dog. He is a large very strong, Pit bull mix. She is not intimidated by him at all and will play rough with him and likes to bite him and pull on the skin under his throat. She only ways 14 lbs but plays with him really hard like he was just on of her littermates. I have read your piece on raising a hard pup and she seems to fit the bill. I like her temperament except for the fact that she doesn't seem affectionate at all. She also seems unaffected by praise. To give you an example, if I squat down and talk to her in that pleasant High-pitched voice I usually talk to dogs with, when I am praising them, most pups I have seen, will approach me wagging their tail, She however just cocks her head and looks at me. She will boldly approach me if I have food. She likes children and is outgoing and friendly with strangers. She is not at all fearful. I have separated her from my dog and am working with her with toys to get her to bond more, anything more I should be doing? Sincerely, Answer: This is a simple problem. The problem is that the dog should be kept away from the other dog. It is becoming "DOGGIE." This means it’s more interesting in playing with the other dog than people. You need to keep the dogs in separate kennels or keep one crated while the other is out and loose. ------------------------------------------------------------ I would like to get a German Shepherd, but I am out of the house for about 12 hours a day five days a week. I would have to leave him locked in a crate until he was fully house broken. What is the maximum amount of time a dog can be left in his crate? Thank you, Answer: In my opinion, this is too long to leave your dog in the crate. If you can put the dog in an outside dog run, then that is OK. But to crate a dog for that long is going to make the dog depressed and/or crazy. In my mind it is inhumane. You would be better advised to find an adult dog that is 100% house trained. You may have to use the crate for a week or so to get him used to the fact that this is his new home. Then allow him access to only certain rooms and not the entire house. ------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Mr. Ed Frawley: I found your website on the internet, and I was hoping you would be willing to help with some advice or maybe a referral to someone who would be able to help us. I am sorry to say that we are having a problem with our Jack Russell Terriers. We have a 5 month old male Jack Russell Terrier who we bought from a friend who bought him from a pet store called "Just Puppies." We have had our male dog for about 1.5 months. My husband bought me a 12 week old female JRT for mother's day. He bought the female from a JRTCA breeder who was home raised - she is the best, we have had for a little over a week. Our male "Rusty" is not a very happy dog, he hardly ever wags his tail (he was 5 months old on May 14th - he is 13.5 inches at the withers and approximately 13 to maybe 14 lbs.). Our female "Molly" is very happy - she wags her tail everywhere she goes, great with our child, we already love her very much (Molly is now about 13 weeks and only 5lbs). We have tried letting them duke it out and we have tried keeping them apart for a few days, because Rusty bites her and pulls o |
