Most Popular Q&As

We recently rescued a starved emaciated female pitbull from the side of the road. I have been watching her closely to pinpoint any aggression issues; but so far she has shown no aggression to our dogs that she has seen but not closely encountered or people. She is very submissive and shy although hasn't even really thought about biting anyone even when poked and prodded by the vets. Evidently she was never trained on a leash. This is fundamental stuff she needs to know ASAP. I have tried to b...

Ed, We have a Rottweiler female puppy (born Jan 14th). We also have your puppy training video. Abby has responded well to our correction for jumping up on us. Thank you. She is outlawed from the house because she doesn't control herself and tinkles when she gets excited. Any hints for that? However, the main reason we are writing is because of her constant lapping. Abby loves people, and she laps thin air, hands, thin air, legs, thin air, clothes, and thin air. It drives us crazy. ...

I adopted a puppy at ten weeks, she is now about 4 1/2 month old Aussie mix, smart, driven, and loving. I've worked hard with her on basic training and socialization letting her interact only with dogs that are proven puppy friendly. Here's my dilemma. We take our older lab mastiff mix to get groomed at a place where they offer dog "socialization" (dogs pre screened and vetted). Elvis thrives in these types of places. I am much more cautious with my puppy, because she is a puppy. Today the ow...

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 an 8 month old spayed Doberman. I follow yours and Michael Ellis? videos for training, especially The Power of Training with Food. Here is the problem. Sami doesn't like people, acts very afraid or nervous and is uncontrollable when they approach when we walk at the track or in a store. She will not hold a sit or pay attention. I have used a variety of high value treats but she ignores them when she gets like this. She either sees them and then it is hackles up, somet...

Hi Cindy, I love the newsletter I get. It's very informative. I have a question. I have a 1 year old Malinois. I want to make him neutral to other dogs and I wanted your advice on how to do this. I have several of the training videos already. His recall is good with the ecollar on and off but when there are dogs around he wants to go and play. Do you think this is because of his age? Some times I have to give him a little extra stim because he wants to play instead of returning rig...

I have a question, I have a 11 month old pyr/berner mix and generally she's an all around great dog. She has had training since 10 weeks, finished 2 sessions, and knows all her basic commands. She views my husband as the Pack Leader and he just needs to point and ask her to do something and she does it. Not with me. I try to do all the same things he does, but she will only listen when she "feels" like it. I know she can do it because she only needs to hear his feet walking to the room and sh...

Hi there, We have adopted a beautiful dog, who likes to bite other people. In order to protect them and himself (from being destroyed) while we are trying to alter his behavior we are going to try a muzzle. I'm not sure of the which one to get and ask for your assistance. Also, before proceeding any further, do you post to Australia? Muzzle size: nose length from top (just below eyes) to end is 4", and circum (fairly snug) is 11". We have tried a plastic muzzle which was not the righ...

I am very interested in your new leash for prong/dominant dog collars. Great idea! However, Please clarify: When you previously have discussed the proper fitting of the dominant dog collar, you have stated it should be worn high on the dog's neck just below the jaw. In the video for the new leash, you show the dominate dog collar being worn well down the dog's neck. Is it safe to assume this is for illustration purposes and that both collars should be worn as you have always recommended? Plea...

As short as possible, I have a male dog,I also have his sister, both fixed at 9 mos. When they were about a year, I brought another male puppy to our home. The males were inseparable! When the new one turned a year, they began fighting, costing more than $10,000 in vet bills in less then 2 years. Over the next couple years, they still had fights, but not as bad. We knew the signs and separated them before hand. Now, all of sudden, they are at it again, BADLY! 3X in less than 2 weeks! The odde...

I was wondering how you get all these dogs. My GSD is an American Bred. From what I have read you do not particularly like that breed but Tonka is beautiful; he's not quite two, he still has about eight months to go, anyway I paid $150.00 for him and would like to breed him, but I can't seem to find the right female for him. Tonka is a very smart dog, it doesn't take him long to pick up on things. It's very hard to keep him focused because he's always looking for a new adventure. Some people ...

Hi. My family is having a problem with two of our dogs being aggressive. My mother and father have four dogs in total. One is a female we've rescued from a shelter. We have an older male dog who is very gentle, then we have two younger males (they're about two years old). Recently the two younger males have become very aggressive. They've attacked the older male dog about three times, nothing too serious but it was enough that we took Drake (the older one) to my sister's for a little wh...

Hello Mr. Frawley, I recently discovered your list of articles on the internet and have enjoyed reading several of them. The article about 'Dog Parks' caught my eye as I am a frequent user of a public dog park here where I live in Florida. I have two Dobermans, a 3 year old American-bred male from show and obedience lines and a 10 month old bitch I imported from Holland at the age of 10 weeks. My male has an excellent mind for a non-working Dobe. He has good confidence, is p...

I am writing to seek your opinion about whether, in your experience, a properly trained and handled personal protection dog can be an effective deterrent against an aggressive stalker. First, let me say that I don't want to impose on your professional time. I would be happy to pay you for a formal consultation over the phone. I am contacting you because you have consistently been suggested as a knowledgeable resource by trainers and law enforcement officers in my area. Also, I have...

Our puppy is very, very mouthy. It grabs my kids, my arms, my pants. What should I do to stop this?

I have an 11 months Border Collie and was introduced to your site by my dog's breeder. I've watched your DVD "Basic Obedience" and found it to be extremely useful and have practised the three phases approach to dog training as you've recommended. Though my dog has been through Obedience classes, but they all lack the "correction phase." Therefore the results have always been inconsistent. With correction built into the training program, I have seen a vast improvement in his consist...

Hi Cindy, I'm wondering if you could answer a question for me regarding socialization. When I take my 11 week old Malinois puppy out into new areas, should I be working on keeping her engaged with me 100% of the time and then putting her back in the car? Or should I allow her to explore a little with short periods of engagement work in between? She is still very easily distracted and I am struggling to find a good balance between exposing her to lots of new scents, sights and sound...

Hello, I have a two year old Belgian Malinois that I'm currently in the process of training. My only problem is that I literally can't keep him unsupervised without him getting into trouble. My yard is fenced in and I have to make sure there is nothing he can destroy when he goes outside. A table, chairs, etc. Because of this, I have to keep him in a crate when I'm not home or even when I leave the house just for a few minutes which makes me feel like a bad pet owner. So far, nothi...

Good Morning Cindy, My question is this: How do I deal with people who put there hands on/ want to pat my Shepherds? When I walk them (separately), and stop to talk to someone, many times a person will reach out to put their hands on the dog. Despite my telling them to leave the dog alone and putting the dog in a down position, this still happens. Example: I stop to talk to my neighbor, put the dog in a down position, and her husband comes over and puts his hands in the Shepherds face. He ...

I am having tons of fun training our Vizsla with your Marker training video. He responds very well to it. I am concerned though about the "end-game." Will he be as responsive if we're out and about, and I don't happen to have a treat with me, and his hunger drive is low? I am wondering if we're building in an expectation for him, to always have food, which is logistically difficult. Thanks for your opinion.