Most Popular Q&As

First I would like to commend you and thank you for sharing your great knowledge and experience in in such a easily accessible medium. We have tried local training classes only to leave feeling frustrated with the lack of structure and the inability to engage with our pup during the lesson. One question we have had as we have going through the Basic Dog Obedience course is whether we should use "Yes" or the clicker to mark. I know the answer to this depends somewhat on the dog, but I am wo...

Hi, I have found your website very informative. I ended up using a prong collar as a result, and so far I'm happy with the results. However, I did have one question. I have a large (3mm) collar for my german shepherd mix. Basically I took off enough prong-links that the collar fits around the jaw and below the ears, as it's supposed to. However, there's still just enough play that it slips down during walking/training. The problem is that if I take away any more prong-links, the collar...

I want to train my new puppy in Schutzhund (would rather to Mondio but can't find any help locally). I have started with bite work on my own and the basic obedience. Last Saturday, we went to a Schutzhund club for evaluation and instructions. I was told I should not be doing any obedience training whatsoever, just work on tugging and getting him to hold the bite. I was told to just let him be a puppy and let him be with no corrections, letting him be the boss of the house, and let him think h...

My puppy is a boxer mix. He is about 4 months old and is very playful and friendly with everyone. The problem is excitement/submissive urination. He will run up to someone with his tail wagging, but when they pet him he pees. I have raised 2 dogs now by a Koehler method with positive reinforcement. They were great dogs and eventually did not need to be on a leash to continuously heel and immediately sit when I stopped walking. Neither of those dogs had a urination problem though. He is ...

Hi, We got our German Shepherd puppy 2 weeks ago while my girlfriend was on break from school vacation. He has learned to go to the bathroom outside, but has an occasional accident. The question I have is that he will be left in the crate from 8 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday. Should he have access to water while we are not home during this period of time? We have heard several different opinions, but it seems a little cruel to leave him without water for that period of time. Obviousl...

Hi guys, What can you advise me to use for tick control that is safe and effective. I used to spray a chemical on my lawn until I lost a 6 year old GSD to cancer. I tried a topical but my female GSD had a severe reaction to it. It didn't bother my male GSD. After giving it a lot of thought I felt it isn't safe to put a poison on the dogs. I started using a spray I believe I purchased from your kennel called organic neem spray with pretty good success. This year after all the spring rain w...

Hello, I'm looking for advice regarding my 75 year old mom and her 13 year old miniature schnauzer mix dog. Her dog, since a pup, has been a biter, snipper, growler, barker, etc. not to mention overly aggressive. He has to date bitten my mom several times resulting in trips to the urgent care or Dr. She is slower to recover from wounds as the most recent was a day ago. My response has been to put the dog down because I don't see how he can be trained after all these years from bad bree...

Hi Ed & Cindy, I am new to training and have an awesome 3 year old GSD. I have recently purchased The Power of Training Your Dog with Food DVD and had a question concerning treats. It mentions using treats that your dog considers high value. I see a big reaction with my Shepherd with hot dogs, so I have begun using them starting this training. My question is, is there ever a time you would go back to lower value treats during training? Or do you always use what would be a high value reward...

Cindy, sorry this is so long, I just felt a background is in order. I am very new to training/dog sports (11 months, first dog ever) and now I have to face the facts and gather your opinions. I have a very shy female GSD (20 months old, we got her at 8 months old from a local breeder) I have found out through time this dog was never socialized in the first 8 months of life, all she knew was the breeder, his wife and the other dogs. I have been doing everything in my power to...

I came to your web site hoping to find some answers concerning my aggressive German shepherd. I was very upset to see your answer for almost all of the concerned people are to putting their dog to sleep. This is a member of the family. We've had our dog for almost 5 years now, and a lot of the behavior some of these people described relates to our dog (Baldwin). His behavior upsets me, and concerns me whenever anybody new visits our home. But I don't think putting a dog down is the answer...

I have a 15 month old Mal. I am very impressed with his abilities and he seems to love people. He does nip on occasion when excited. This appears to be a friendly nip as he does it to me. I do correct him and the behavior is under control. He is excelling in obedience, does well in public, does not show aggression with other animals and until today, no food aggression. I say no food aggression until today, because my older son texted me at work and said Chase just attacked him. He texted me p...

Hello Cindy, Question: If I am training heeling and a correction needs to be made while we are walking, is the dominant collar an appropriate tool and will it allow me to give enough of a correction to get the dogs attention or do I need a muzzle with the prong? If the muzzle is the answer, can you help me with the correct size the dog is 13 mths and 110 lbs. History: I have a male Black Russian Terrier that I am taking through obedience training. He is doing well in...

I have an almost six month old female German Shepherd that I purchased for my first working dog with high prey drive. She is not my first dog. I have a 12 year old shepherd too. They are never together. The pup loves food treats and she also loves to play ball. According to your videos she is a hard dog. When corrected she sometimes grabs your arm or hand in her mouth with a look like so what are ya gonna do about it? She has never growled . She has always been mouthy but we were able to ...

Hi, I am hoping you can give me some advice about how to handle the fact that one of our dogs has decided to take over as pack leader over our older dog who has always been the pack leader up till recently. I have two dogs a foxy/jack russell that is around 12-15 years. He is a desexed male. We have owned him for about 9 years. About 5 years ago we were given a female (not desexed) poodle puppy. They have got on well all these years and the male has been the dominant dog of the two. Lat...

Why on earth does your page say that you think neutering is bad for a dog's health? Suggesting to owners that they shouldn't neuter is totally irresponsible given the global problem of strays and unwanted pets being put to sleep. There is a dog welfare crisis in every country which isn't helped by this kind of misguided advice. Breeders likewise are responsible for much of this overpopulation and owners should be encouraged to adopt a rescue dog rather than buy from someone who's purely profi...

Cindy, I always feed my puppy who is 18 weeks old now, from my hand during his training sessions. I use kibbles. Once in a while I pour wet food (high value food to him) to his bowl but he growls at me when I stick my hand in it. He does not do that when I pour kibbles to his bowl. Should I interrupt his wet food meal and feed him again after he stops growling?

I just finished watching your Aggressive dog video with my family (significant other and 11 y/o boy girl twins. We bought a GSD at 6 weeks old. He is beautiful He was the Pack Leader and I liked the way he maneuvered the pack. But shortly after we brought him home he became a dominant aggressive and handler aggressive dog. He is very strong willed. When I discipline him and give him a correction he will pounce, snarl, spit and bark at me with fangs showing. He is very frightening at times...

Cindy: I have a 15 month old female German Shepherd that is extremely dog reactive. When I have her out for a walk and she sees another dog she starts screaming. I don't know how else to describe it. People come out of their houses because they think that a dog has been hurt. She also pulls and is only focused on the other dog. This is what I am currently doing to try and stop this behavior: I have had private sessions with a trainer and introducing her to other dogs...

Dear Mr. Frawley, I've been studying the DVDs you've made with Mr. Ellis, I'm missing the two last one's that I'll be ordering by the end of this month, but I'm a bit stuck. Can you direct me to a training schedule, or better said a training sequence, to work with the dogs from scratch? I know that there cannot be a rigid sequence and that all must be adapted to the animal itself, but thinking about a perfect world what would it be the best sequence to train a dog. I ...

My 11 month old GSD lays down on the ground and refuses to get up when its time to go in the car. Today she mouthed me hard (drew blood, it was on my cuticle) when I tried to pick her up and put her in the back of my SUV. I've tried the following: removed the crate and replaced it with a dog barrier. Treats (high value), toys, excitement, moving my car to a different location and even coming to the car from a different location. Once she's in the car, she's fine. No whining or pacing. S...