Most Popular Q&As

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...

I have an 8 month old Rottweiler, who has an extremely good temperament. He is good with kids and people etc. I have been doing obedience classes with him with great success. At the classes I use a Herm Sprenger Fur Saver, which I bought from you. My question is: when I walk him, he tries to pull a lot and when he sees other dogs and people walking. He wants to go to them and play. It's not that he's aggressive, it's just that people get scared, and I want to stop that. I wanted to k...

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 ...

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?

Hello: Thank you for delivering this valuable information about vaccinations. My question is two part: 1. If you live in a state like we do, N. Carolina, that requires rabies vaccinations, how do you get around that so that you can still take your dog to the vet for other needed services? 2. Do dogs have to be vaccinated to protect from worms and parasites or does that over the counter stuff at Pet Smart work? Thank you, Linda and Brad

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 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?

Hi, I have a 14 week old Rottweiler puppy. She has a bone and when I went to pick it up, she went after me. I thought she was kind of young to do that. What would be the best plan to handle this?

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...

Hey guys, I am feeding my two German Shepherds a raw meat-only diet. I would just like to check this is healthy. Should I be varying their diet more is it ok to only feed them raw beef? Any help would be great. Thanks Ed and Cindy, and keep up the great work you are doing at Leerburg.

Is there a certain age where you should stop allowing people to approach and pet your puppy if you want this dog for police work or personal protection. My puppy just turned 6 months. I am not sure if you should continue to allow people to pet him and play with him. Thank you very much for your time. I have purchased 6 or 7 videos from you and they are very educational.