Most Popular Q&As

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...

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.

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

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?

Dear Ed and Cindy, I have a problem occurring between my 8 MO. GSD, and my 1 YO. Siberian Husky. This problem only occurs when I'm at the off leash dog park with them. The problem is when my husky starts getting ahead of my GSD, my GSD will chase her down and sack her. By the time my GSD catches up to the husky, they are traveling pretty fast. This is not a mutual, back and forth game that they play. It seems as if my GSD is preying, or maybe she just wants to be in control. Either way, I...

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...

I have a puppy that is 15 weeks old. I got him a month ago, and was able to housebreak him in about 3 weeks...at least I think so because he now sits by the outside door when he needs to go potty. I can even leave him outside of his crate during the night. He sleeps in the bathroom, and has never pottied there. He waits until the morning when I go outside with him. When my wife and I leave the house to do typical errands, we put him in his crate because we still don't trust him to be u...

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.

We are at the end of our rope, I am hoping you can help with your extensive knowledge of German Shepherds. We had a beautiful GSD 3 years ago and was not able to keep her because of a move and we were heartbroken. (We had her for a year). Well, about 4 weeks ago we decided to go and get another one and I will admit to you right off the bat we did everything wrong. We found someone in the paper and went and fell in love with the last puppy of a litter of 14. I think our minds were made up ...

So glad I found Leerburg.com! I thought I knew how to raise a pup, had done so successfully but with (in hindsight) luckily pretty soft dogs. Husband decided "it was time" to get a pound puppy, so an 8 week old lab/hound/shep/pit mix came home with us from the downtown Detroit Humane Society last March. Of course I knew I would raise it but boy did I get more than I bargained for. I have 4 kids and a husband in denial. No one in his family "trains" their dogs but they always have huge lab...

I take my 8-month dog to a professional trainer. He is very rough on her, (flanking her), to get her to show aggression. Is this OK for the dog?

We live in a small town and I can't find anyone to train us, mostly my husband and I. Laney (1 year old part chow part Shepherd) has many annoying habits: constant licking or jumping up on us. She can never just sit or lay by us while we watch TV or talk. She also play bites my husband, but never me because I have been firmer in the past with her. Last, she is too smart for us, we can never get her to come or leave the room, go to bed, go outside... When we try she always lays down, rolls on ...

We have an 11 week old puppy. He appears to be very dominant. We think we are having problems establishing our pack structure with him- we have watched all your videos but can't seem to find a solution. We are crate training him and he seems to have picked up on housebreaking pretty quickly. The problem is that he has a mind of his own. One of the problems is when he is biting something. We will tell him to stop- and he will stop. But then he will wait a few seconds and try t...