Most Popular Q&As

I read all the info on your site, but didn't see anything in regards to my particular problem. I have a 16 week old Australian Shepherd, Lab mix who is completely house trained and crate trained. She now rings a bell on the door when she needs to go out. However, she needs to pee very frequently - about every 2 hours or so (but can hold it all night). So, when I have to leave her in the crate for over 2 hours, at a certain point she cries and cries. I believe because she simply cannot hold...

Dear Ed, First of all your tapes and products are outstanding and I recommend them to anyone who has a dog. My pup is now 9 months old. I crate trained him from the very beginning when I brought him home. Everything that you said in the tape "Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months" is true. He seems to be doing fine without supervision and does not tear into the couch cushions, shoes, etc. He seems to be very well behaved after being in the crate for 8 months. Question: When ...

A friend of mine told me he is having problems with his 8 month old pug mix (male) he said he corrected him to hard after he had an accident in his house and now it seems every time he is corrected (and he claims even when he isn't corrected) but his name is called, he rolls on his back and begins to urinate. How do I help him break this? I value your opinion. Thank you for your time. Is there any book on the market you recommend that will help me understand dog behavior better? Si...

A friend of mine gave me your web site and I must say it is incredible. You have so much information. I probably have just blown off an hour at work just looking at the sight. Don't tell my manager. I have a problem. My boyfriend and I are moving in together and he has two teacup poodles. I love them very much. Their names are Minnie and Teddy. I am afraid that I will end up moving right back out after I move in because the dogs are not yet house trained, and they are 3 years old! ...

Hello, I need help desperately! I have a Chihuahua male that is about 2 1/2 yrs old. He is peeing on my furniture all the time and I don't know how to break him. We have scolded him then put him outside but to no avail. Please help! I have 3 other female that are all spayed they are peeing all over the house too. I have a cocker and basset mix she is 14 yr old and having problems holding it so I think her sent of her mishaps are there for the others. But the male is the one ...

I have a gorgeous 16 month old tri-color beagle. Her name is Annie. She has the typical sweet beagle disposition, doesn't tear things up and is great with kids. We love her to death. The vet says she's the prettiest beagle they've ever seen. We have only one problem. We have two doggie doors in our house which lead to a small fenced yard. She goes out through the garage that leads to a small channel where she goes out the other doggie door to the yard. In other words, she goes thro...

Hello Cindy, I have been watching (and enjoying) several of the Michael Ellis training videos. Sometimes he uses FREE as a release word and other times YES. Can you please tell me what the difference is and why he uses both words? Thank you. Mary Ann

Hello, I have recently purchased both the Power of Food and Power of tug videos and will be getting my Malinois puppy this Friday. I have gone through the videos and taken notes, but have a quick question for you please. I just want to be sure that having the puppy follow a food lure into the sit, down, stand and heel will not kill drive. I understand that the luring needs to be done without command and without correction. Thank you for your time. My son was in Iraq twice over the last fe...

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...

My young dog jumps around when I try and bring her into my arms. She will sit for the focus but squirrel away when I try and get her into my arms.

Hi Ed, When going around in circles for "Into My Arms," after the first time, my dog doesn't want to go in a circle anymore, so he lays down and tries to chew the tug. Then I take it away from him. Should I put a prong collar on him when he lays down and have him come and go around in a circle then come "Into my arms"? He has a flat buckle on now and when I pop the leash it doesn't get his attention at all.

Dear Cindy, One month ago I had to put down my male super GSD at only 4 years old. His littermates sister has always taken a backseat role. I believe she is now over her grieving and I'm wondering if she'll ever step up to the plate? She is a very kind dog but doesn't quite get the idea of playing fetch, hide and seek, frisbee catching, etc. She watched the male do everything. I give her a ton of time walking,etc. How long will it take for her to take the alpha role, if ever...

I have a one and a half year old male GSD. He was a rescue dog and hadn't been socialized at all when I got him (almost a year ago). He is very smart and learns everything I teach him right away. I've been wanting to start him on some protection training, my problem is that he is very dog aggressive and tends to be either intimidated or overly defensive around tall men, although he has been slowly improving in both areas. I don't want to encourage any uncalled for aggression. Would protection...

I just spent about 2 hours reading your site, helpful but I still need some input if you have time. I have a 3 yr old German Shepherd of which has Rott mix. In the last year or so she has become VERY aggressive. In this last year there have been approximately 4-5 full fledged attacks. Four of them being towards my wife, and a few minors towards myself. The dog weighs about 80lbs and is female, spayed. She has not been obedience trained. She is, however, fairly obedient of me. You C...

I have a 5 acre farm and I wanted to adopt a dog to patrol it and keep the deer off. A good friend of mine who runs K-9 in central NJ let me know that he had a dog who was from Germany that belonged to a woman who paid $4000 for the dog, and when it was 2 years old it mauled her husband. When we went to pick the dog up we met the lady at a rest area. My friend said a neutral site would be best. He was muzzled and extremely aggressive. After 3 days of talking and walking the dog he seemed nerv...

I have 7 dogs. Two chows both females & 5 Keeshonden 1 is a female. The youngest Keeshond, 1.5 yrs. old, is going after the 2.5 yr. old male all the time. He goes after him if he picks up a toy, a treat or just for the heck of it. He does it going down the stairs & in & out the doors also. Last week he sat on the edge of the bed & stared at me with scary eyes. I wasn't quite sure how to handle this. I did the wrong thing I'm told to stare him down. He jumped off the bed & came to m...

My husband and I have a 3 year old pitbull-sheppard mix. He is our baby. We adopted him about a year & a half ago. When we first got him, he was not all that aggressive, but now he is getting worse and over protective of me. We have researched both breeds and they say that protective/aggressive behavior is normal for these breeds. He is fine with dogs that are smaller than him, but not with dogs his size: he attacked my brothers dog in my fathers house. He also has snipped at friend...

I have a 5-year old male German Shepherd that is very aggressive towards the others shepherds when my female is in heat. She is almost 10 and cannot be spayed due to congestive heart failure. I keep her in another part of the yard during heat but even during this time, my male shepherd will try to about kill my other males/females. I have 5 dogs total and do not breed them anymore. I am having him neutered next week but I was wondering if they made any kind of muzzle that he could wea...

Dearest Cindy, Thank you for providing an excellent resource such as your web site. All of the training tools that you have for sale on it make life very easy. Speaking for thousands of your viewers, we really appreciate you and Ed imparting all of your wisdom onto us. We are truly blessed! My husband and I own a 15 month old, 80lb, unneutered rottweiler named Sigma. He is a wonderful dog!...as per many peoples remarks. In addition to being very loving, he is very low in the...

Dear Ed, I have a 10.5 year old German SHepherd. I got her when she was 6 weeks old. She was diagnosed as fear aggressive very early on. I have had two trainers and a behaviorist. To make this as short as possible, I will give you the readers digest version. She does not like strangers or other dogs. We have had her on Prozac and propanol since she was 3 years old. We can walk her outside without trouble but we do not let her near others on the street. We have a fenced in large yar...