Ed Frawley's Philosophy of Dog Training
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In this foundational video, Ed Frawley shares his comprehensive dog training philosophy developed over a remarkable journey that began in the 1950s and spans more than 50 years of hands-on experience. Ed explains that effective training is common sense combined with a clear understanding of how dogs think as pack animals who genetically seek ranking order and view their human family as their pack. He emphasizes that establishing sound family pack structure accounts for 75% of solving behavioral problems, while obedience training represents only 25%—dogs must respect their handlers as pack leaders through fair, firm, and consistent control, as love alone cannot earn respect.
Ed positions himself as a "Balanced Trainer," rejecting both the all-positive approach that produces inconsistent, often dominant dogs, and the force-based methods that create fear and unreliable results. His preferred system is Marker Training, which he calls the most effective method he's seen in five decades—a non-confrontational communication system using three core markers: "YES" for immediate reward and release, "GOOD" for approval during duration work, and "NOPE" to signal mistakes without correction. Ed details his three-phase training process: learning with motivation, adding distractions, and finally introducing corrections only when the handler is 100% certain the dog understands but is refusing to comply. This video is essential for anyone seeking to understand the complete framework of balanced dog training, handlers struggling to establish leadership, and trainers looking to create "Active Dogs" who willingly problem-solve and engage rather than simply comply out of fear or inconsistency.
The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
Training Dogs with Food Rewards
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When people have specific training questions we recommend that they go to our website and post those questions in the ASK CINDY on the front page of leerburg.com. Cindy has been training dogs since she was a teenager and has competed in several dog sports at a regional and national level. She was also a vet tech and owned a boarding/training and grooming business for many years as well as breeding working Dobermans and Belgian Malinois under the kennel name Kaiserhaus.
Questions posted to ASK CINDY are answered almost every day. They are also recorded in our systems if a dog owner has additional questions Cindy will review the previous Q&As and this helps her give better feedback and assistance.
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