Dog Sports Q&As

My 14 month old GSD loves playing tug, but often she is biting/holding onto the string (and tugging hard) vs. the ball. I'm worried about the impact on her gums and teeth. I don't see any effect. Should this be a concern? Thanks

Cindy, again, thank you so much for your availability. This is a terrific help, and I love Leerburg. A question please... I'm interested in getting a new dog for AKC Obedience and Rally. Several professionals have recommended choosing a young adult such that the dog's potential is more readily assessed, stating that there are too many unknowns with puppies even when well bred. Others have said that getting a puppy is best to form an early relationship and to begin early luring and attent...

I’ve been working on the forced retrieve with my terrier for the past 2 months. I started from the very basic. From take, to hold and now bring. I also used a starter kit similar to the one sold at Leerburg. Which includes a pvc section as well as a dowel. He’ll pick up and bring the pvc and dowel. He just will not pick up the dumbbell. What did I do wrong? Also, what can I do to resolve issue? Thank you in advance for your response.

Hello! I'm training my older dog for Mondio, and am wondering about the order of training the send away and the jump pattern with touch pads. I'm not sure if this is mentioned at all in the DVDs, as I do have the Jumps DVD and Send Away DVD, and am still working through watching the Send Away DVD. My dog has a decent understanding of touch pads, but I haven't taught either of these exercises before. Since both use the touch pad as a target, is it better to train one exercise first, then move ...

Hi Cindy, I have a question regarding tug play. I've taken Michael's course on tug play, but I am having trouble generalizing it as a reward. My dog plays reasonably well and is excited to play tug in the absence of distractions. But if I try and use it as a reward outside of my backyard/my garage(training area) then he shows zero willingness to engage. He will sort of half engage in my front yard, but he won't really bite with commitment... even if I tease him with it. He looks right by m...

Good afternoon. I am about to purchase the Foundation of Sport Detection DVD/online course and am wondering what supporting target scent "kit" you recommend. I see there are CKC kits, AKC kits, UKC kits, NACSW kits et al available. Can you explain the key differences and why I might choose one over the other? I have a Belgian malinois/shepherd cross whom I would like to train for scent detection - at this point just for "fun" and mental stimulation ... for both of us. :)Thanks for any assista...

Do spayed dogs lose their drive for Schutzhund or other protection sports? 

Hey! I am new to Leerburg and loving all the training resources, I am slightly addicted to following along and training. I am wondering how many new things it's okay to teach my girl at the same time in separate training sessions? She is a high drive working GSD and she loves to train as much as I do but I am wondering if I will confuse her if I teach her multiple tricks over the same time frame? Again thank you for all the resources you offer, I wish I could absorb it all at once, so exci...

Cindy, I am watching your video on nose work and am getting ready to start training my dog in it. My dog is a house pet and usually is allowed in all of the rooms in the house. When she is home alone, she is either outside in the kennel or inside a closed room in the basement (when the weather is bad). The issue is that the only room I have where I can set up a training space is that room where we keep her. Will that be a problem if she is in the training area with the drawers all set up bu...

I adopted a GSD about three months ago. He is about a year old, and arrived emaciated, and an anxiety disorder that left him chasing and yelping for his tail, and when caught, proceeded to bite it bloody. Your content, including media and prose, provided tools that perhaps saved this dog’s life. Thank you. I have gained a strong interest for protection sports, and would like to introduce my dog to it. I am unsure of the distance we will reach, but our determination is unwavering. I notic...

Hello! My GSD is 14 months and we decided to try Schutzhund. Prior to giving this a try, he has basic on and off leash obedience, getting ready to certify in AKC tracking and is taking Rally classes. Suddenly I am a little worried, is Schutzhund going to make him more aggressive to strangers? I know this may be a stupid fear, but he is a nice, friendly dog most of the time and I am worried about doing something to ruin that. On the other hand, he really enjoyed the tug and puppy sleeve ...

Hello, I've purchased a 2 year old, fully trained dog who has already earned a BH, and who tried for an IPO1 twice and failed protection both times, but earned 72 and 93 in tracking, and 80 and 70 in obedience. Since buying the dog, I realized I was teaching him bad habits because when I first got him, he snapped into position really quickly, but I didn't know how to reinforce him because I knew nothing about IPO training until about a month ago, when I started showing up at Schutzhund Club ...

I have a one year old Belgian Malinois that I want to work with for protection training and bite work. I am fairly new to dog training and would like to know which courses and/or DVDs I should watch, and in what order should I take them to develop a good protection dog. Thank you!

I have a Belgian malw puppy that I want to train in perction work what will it cost me to do this

Hi Cindy, I just have a query regarding the bite sleeve with jute cover. My Malinois loves his bite work but we have noticed that he is specifically targeting the jute sleeve where it overhangs the end of the hard arm as this is the area with no hard casing beneath it. He has learned that this is the softest part and has just exhibited re-bite to ensure he gets that part only. Is there a way to soften the hard arm itself? Indy is 16 months of age and plenty big enough to tackle the sleeve...

Do you have a protection video that focuses on the job of the handler in training? Even such things as keeping long lines (we frequently use 2) from tangling in our dog's legs & equipment, how to set our dogs up quickly and cleanly so we don't spend time "futzing," how to quiet our dog after we out the sleeve and tell him to sit, how to watch the helper & our dog for maximum engagement, how much & timing of praising & correction, can all be helpful to "2 left footed handlers" like me. Thank y...

I have two questions. I have trained and field trailed bird dogs since being a young boy. I now would like to get into Schutzhund. I am concerned because I have kids and did not know if this makes a dog mean to where it would bite or if they just do it on command as part of the game. The second question is that I have an eight week old shepherd. I just finished watching the ME video of training with food. Can you tell me which videos I need to do next and do I need the tug video if I...

Hi, I have a nearly 4 year old female spayed GS. She seems very high drive, as explained by the breeder. Bloodlines from Europe. She aims to please and is very good and trainable. We want her to bark at cars and people coming to yard. She barks at the night critters but never people or cars. I once saw her bark at my Dad that was unexpectedly in the trees one day. She is always loose on property, never runs away, and has a beaten trail around the house that she seems to be protecting. Whi...

Cindy, We have a very small female puppy (~12 lbs @10 weeks) and are working with her to encourage prey drive as a start for protection. She seems to have good prey drive for moving objects ( compared to my last dog and my friends` GSDs) and is crazy for the leather bite rag. I want to take it slow with her development since my last dog was damaged by a well respected trainer starting defense work too early (this is just my opinion and suggestions from other working breeders of this typ...

I'm a police officer in Connecticut. My police dog is two years old. We just completed 4 months of training and he is doing well. He already has a couple of finds. My question is that sometimes when he is tracking, he will stop to smell animal odor. Sometimes it's so bad, that I have to grab him by the collar to pull him from that spot. He will even lick the area, and taste whatever he is smelling. He's a great tracking dog, but if he smells a certain odor, he will completely stop tracking a...