Most Popular Q&As

I have an 8 week old puppy & have been crating her since day 1. Although it's only been 4 days. She still gets pretty frantic after putting her into the crate. She sreams, howls & barks exsesivly. It can last from 1 solid hour to 3 hours off & on. We ignore her while in crate. I have tried placing the crate both in site of us (day time) & out of site (night time) with no change. I do put an everlasting toy/treat along with another chew in the crate with her. Also at night I place a blanket ov...

Dear Cindy, I've written in the past and appreciate the expert advice you gave. I hope you don't mind that I am contacting you again. I had a major crisis this morning, resulting in a death by pack-attack of one of my dogs and bite wounds to myself (I was trying to break up the fight). My mother passed this October after which, in my grief, I adopted a new small dog to replace the one I'd had and that had lived here for the last few years. The 9 pound rescue m...

The other day I was taking our 1 and half year old Basset Hound on a walk when the neighbor child (12 years old) ran up and started to hug him, I notice she was starting to try and kiss his forehead so I hurried up and told her not to kiss him and tried to seperate them but our basset snaped at her. She has a stratch on her face and a cut lip (didn't require stitches). We are not sure if he actually bite her on the lip or just manged to cut the lip with his claws. Our nieghbors (her parents) ...

I have a two year old Havanese. I have a few titles on him, but have problems with him staying with me off lead in the ring. Suggestions and when we are out side, he will not come to me. I need to put a leash on him at all times. Help!!! Thank you

I just recently adopted a 5 year old basset hound from a lady that is getting married and moving in September. She had a special request when I picked up the dog. She wants to let me have the dog but she wants to see the dog from time to time because she is very attached to the dog and she wants to transition away from the dog slowly. To give you a little background, the lady went through a divorce 6 years ago and she was awarded custody of her daughter, but her ex-husband took the dog. That ...

I am a dog lover and dog owner for most of my life. I currently have a 12 year old bullmastiff who I trained myself, and has always been very well behaved. My training methods have come from personal experience (trial and error) and from just about everything I try to get my hands on to read or watch - and Leerburg has been invaluable. My question is regarding playing tug with your dog as a puppy vs. correcting your dog for being "mouthy" when you are not playing tug. Obviously, you don't ...

I am so happy I found this site! My family and I are looking at getting a German Shepherd for our next dog. I would like to do protection training with him. I have been told to get a puppy and no, get an older dog so you know he is capable of protection work. We brought a German Shepherd home for a trial run from a local trainer. He was 16 months old and had early protection work done. We picked him from 4 dogs the trainer recommended for our family with small kids (2,4 and 6). A friend of mi...

Good Morning, I know you receive hundreds, if not thousands, of emails regarding misbehaved dogs, etc. and my question is most likely not any different, but we find ourselves in a difficult situation and don't really have the time to read countless pages of situations. Here it is, we have 3 dogs and have had them for years. We have a 5 year old St. Bernard-male, a 7 year old Golden Retriever-male and a 4 year old blond golden retriever-female. They have all been fixed. The St. Berna...

Hi Mr. Frawley, I have been reading many of your question/answers on your site (a link from my state SAR site). I wonder if you could help me with suggestions for my 9 month old GSD female. She is a GREAT trailing dog with SAR...the problem I am having is that she is showing some dog aggression towards the other SAR dogs. She rushes over to them with hackles raised, and looms over them. When they run and play, she runs after them snapping at their shoulders. When she is confronted ...

Hi Ed, I am a K-9 handler in Georgia and I have a two year old Dutch Shepherd that is a dual purpose dog. He does great in protection work and he does well in muzzle fighting. During the work he is pretty intense but when the training is over he becomes very passive and it seems like he becomes a pet. I wanted to know a way to get him to be a little more aggressive. I would like to get him to bark at anyone who approaches the vehicle right now he will bark when I am away but if someone co...

My pup is 10 months old. Is it to late too begin protection work?

Mr. Frawley I have a question about a puppy. She is a GSD, purebred, approximately 11 weeks old. I do not own her yet, but am considering taking her. The health concern I have is this: I have been told that she has MEGAESOPHAGUS. I have never heard of this before. Have you heard of it? I have done some research on it and was just wondering if you yourself have had any experiences with it, and whether she has a chance to live a long somewhat healthy life or will she end up dying fro...

Right now we have very big problems to make our puppy quiet, his whining and barking (he has a very loud and sharp voice.) Every time something is against his wish. What should we do to make him quiet? (Especially because we live in a block flat with neighbors that want silence!) Another question is about how to make him stop biting our hands, trousers, the leash, etc. (especially our hands)! And the last question I have is about the fact that he already drags in the leash (he is l...

Dear Cindy, Our Keeshond has been crate trained for 2 1/2 years, he caught on right after we got him; he is now 3. Recently, he will not enter the crate for my wife- he will run away and try to hide if possible, and if she grabs him by the collar and puts him in, he screams as he enters the crate. He seems afraid and acts flaky, as if he is conflicted. He will not go in for a treat. However, I still have no problem with him, he crates fine for me. Once he is in the crate, he behave...

I am the owner of a 1 year old rottweiler (male). I've had him since he was 12 weeks old. I found your web site about (8) months ago when I was searching internet trying to find more information on dog training. I have to complement you on the information you are providing to pet owners. I have purchased (2) of your DVD?s (your puppy 8 weeks to 8 months and basic dog obedience) which has changed my perception on how a dog should be handled and trained. My question is in regards to my rottw...

I have 9 week old GSD who chews on all leashes. I need short one for her drag in house. Any recommendations??

Hi, Can you give me some advice on how to get a faster 'down'? When I ask my dog to down, he is willing but always goes down really slowly. Do you have any tips to make it a bit snappier? He is a 16 month old Malinois with low/medium drive for the breed. Thanks

I have been a dog trainer since 1984 in law enforcement environments in SA. Why do some dogs show all the potential to become working dogs, go through training and pass the evaluation for working dogs (patrol and/ or sniffer), but when you deploy the handler and dog, some (a very small%) will report back that the dog doesn't want to work during operational deployment? Is this a mystery of dog training?

If I am feeding a raw diet, how much bone should I be feeding my female during pregnancy and after she has her litter?

I have a GSD who can be quite reactive when on-leash and who tends to 'check out' on walks. I've used a number of Michael Ellis DVDs for training so far and off-leash, he has good engagement, recall, and is not particularly reactive around other dogs. It feels like I lose all engagement once he is on the leash. I am currently using a check chain, which is helping to a degree with his pulling but nothing I do (pop the leash, walk another direction, ask him to 'watch') helps when it comes to...