Most Popular Q&As

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.

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...

I have an 8 month old rottie. He is a good dog, however, I have some problems making him give me something (anything) he has stolen from me. He just looks up at me and curls his upper lip. I don't think he wants to bite or harm me, he is usually a very gentle dog. I can put my fingers in his food bowl, and even put my hands in his mouth, however, when he takes something he will not give it back. What do I do?

If you have time I would appreciate your opinion on the following. This was about 15 years ago. Our son, Derek, was nine. We had a GSD I had trained in basic AKC obedience. I would have trusted her with the boy anywhere, anytime. When people came to the house she would stand between them and the rest of the house for about 30 seconds. When she walked away it was OK for the people to come into the house. If anyone tried to walk past her before she moved away the dog would act very u...

Hi there... Love your website and everything you do and also as a customer please keep it up... I have a problem with my 11 months German shepherd, he is embarrassing me by humping on my leg or jump and hump on me or even sometimes with other family members especially while we are out for a walk in the beach or other places. Please let me know the correct direction on how to deal with it :(

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...

I have an 11 year old altered female Sheltie. I've had her since she was a puppy. Over the last two years, she has become increasingly yappy. Even more so since we adopted an altered 4 year old female German Shepherd. The Sheltie is the alpha of the two. Sheltie pretty much announces every move the shepherd makes, as well as most movements my husband and I make. Should we considered a training collar, or is there something else we should try? Patience is wearing extremely thin. Thank you.

I have two questions. I have trained and field trailed bird dogs since being a young boy. I now would like to get into Schutzhund. I am concerned because I have kids and did not know if this makes a dog mean to where it would bite or if they just do it on command as part of the game. The second question is that I have an eight week old shepherd. I just finished watching the ME video of training with food. Can you tell me which videos I need to do next and do I need the tug video if I...

Dear Mr. Frawley, Please forgive me for taking up your precious time but I think that I'm in over my head and don't know which road to go down with my Mason who is trained to be a Home & Personal Protection Dog. I purchased this dog from a company located in Petersburg, Michigan thru the internet solely on the owners word that the dog came out of a very good breeding, trained in humane obedience and protection program for 6-8 months, and properly socialized since birth. ...

Hi. When I order your Nosework Scent Kit and I run out of the pre-prepared swabs, how do I prepare new ones? I've heard to put a drop of the scent directly on each swab or put a drop on a cotton ball and put the cotton ball and new swabs in a container for 24 hours. Which method do you think is best? Thanks.

Hi Cindy, I have a doberman raised on Leerburg. So my dog and I are well trained on the Leerburg method as of 1 year. We are new and doing great. We were walking on a forest trail yesterday when our leashed dog was attacked by a dog whose owner was irresponsible and completely without any control. The dog was on a harness which was useless. My husband and I had to kick the dog repeatedly in the head to get him off. He was sinking his teeth in our dog's back and side, while our dog was ...

Thanks for a great informative site! With that said I have the DVDs on The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog and The Power of Training Your Dog with Food. I have a 6 month old GSD I am training for Schutzhund. When I tug back and forth for a bit and then let him have the tug, he runs away with the tug and is possesive of it. I tried putting a leash on him, and giving him small pops back to me, but Michael Ellis, in the video, was telling the trainers not to do that. How do I get the dog...

I have a Doberman puppy that came from a litter of 6. He was born by C-section, as mom was having problems getting the first puppy out on her own. All the pups were pretty uniform in size for the most part at birth. This one particular male has not grown much at all in comparison to the rest. At 4 weeks of age the others' average weight was 10 to 11 pounds and this little guy only weighed 4 pounds! I took him to our vet and had a full blood panel done and nothing looked abnormal, not even...