Most Popular Q&As

My Japanese chin puppy is 11 weeks old. I am trying to teach her to eliminate outside. So far she is doing OK when I am with her as I take her out every 1-2 hours and after her naps. She will go when I am outside with her. At night, we have to go outside once every 2-3 hours as well. Can she hold for more than 1-2 hours at her age as I read several advices that she should be able to? If I leave her in the crate for more than 2 hours, she will eliminate in the crate. I left her in the garage i...

Can I add drive to my dog?

A situation happened to me and my family a couple of weeks ago that has me puzzled about law enforcement. It started with my wife my, two children, and myself walking our 2 GSDs. We live in a small town and about 1 block from our house our neighbors 2 labs rushed us. They were both snarling with their hair raised up on their backs. We were on a public sidewalk and I grabbed my kids and put them behind myself and my big male GSD. My male did not growl or snarl and the hair never did raise ...

Hi Cindy, My 9 months old 60lbs goldendoodle when he gets overstimulated (e.g. by dogs or pedestrians during walk) or frustrated, he redirects (jumping and biting) me and my daughter which each time caused multiple bruises on our hands and legs. We don’t reinforce excitement. We work on exercise to establish leadership role everyday. We tried redirect with toys, used bitter apple spray as suggested by a trainer, all worked only for few days. May I ask what other methods that can help corr...

Hi Cindy, I have an almost 5 month old female golden retriever puppy. We got her 3 weeks ago. She pulls on the leash when we walk outside and I just started training her to walk on a loose leash this week. We started in doors and progressed to the backyard. She’s making some progress. My question is, at this stage can I still take her for longer walks before she masters loose leash walking? E.g. a walk in the park or in the neighborhood? If she can’t manage to walk properly with the di...

Dear Ed & Cindy, Today I went to choose the puppy we want out of a litter that I put a deposit on (GSDs). The website was detailed, reviews and references were all good. After my visit, I am not sure about them. 1) They live in a trailer in the middle of nowhere with the dogs in outside kennels (We live in SC). 2) I asked to go see the puppies and she said she would bring them to me because I would upset the moms and other dogs. 3) She said I would have second pick out of a litter of ...

We plan on getting a schnauzer puppy in April. I have received 3 of your DVDs to help prepare myself for house training, etc. the puppy. One breeder told us to get a belly band for the puppy in the house while house training--even in the crate. I haven't seen you mention anything like this. Is this a good idea or something to disregard? Thanks.

Hi Cindy! We are a young couple who will be getting a miniature poodle puppy and we are wondering if it is a good idea to let the puppy sleep in our bedroom in his crate for the first couple of nights so that his transition to his new home is easier. Would that be spoiling the puppy and making it want to sleep in our room for ever or would it be easy to move the crate to another area of the house after the puppy has settled in its new environment? If so, do you have any suggestions for th...

Two weeks from now, my 6 week old Dobe, is scheduled for ear cropping. The Doctor who will perform the surgery, is well known for his skill, but following the procedure, they plan to send us home with Rimadyl, for pain control. I know that you do not approve of Rimadyl, so do you have an alternative, or other advice for pain control; if necessary at all! Thank you in advance

Hi Cindy!! Well, Dexter loves his walkeez harness!! I may have to get one or two more in different colors!! :) We just started in nosework--we've had two whole classes! I was wondering what you guys think of using one certain piece of equipment just for nosework (say a particular collar or harness) that tells the dog "when you wear this you are working." I've heard guide dog and tracking people say that they only use a particular harness when the dog is working and they get the idea tha...

Hi, I'm trying to find a answer to my GD that has decreased his like in eating raw. He is going to be 3 years old in June. I got him when he was 4 months old as a rescue. He had demodex mange and was yellow from all the mess they had him on trying to treat the mange and his GI problems. I put him on raw and has been doing great ever since. He was never a big chicken eater. I went through the necks, back, thighs, leg quarters stage. That is he would eat it for a while, then not like it a...

Ed and Cindy, My wife and I got our first GSD 4 1/2 years ago (I got her BH last year and I've done some SHZ with a local club) and we are in love with the breed and will forever have a GSD. She is 4 1/2, our only pet, high drive and very obedient that primarily stays outside but a huge part of the family! We've trained her to be very calm in the house and has her "place" as you call it (dog mat) in the house where we allow her to come in the evenings, but she isn't allowed anywhere else i...

Hello Cindy, I have been following your training advice with my 18-month-old English Lab, gently starting when he was 8 weeks old. He is doing pretty well and we continue to work on commands and manners daily. I don't like for visiting, screaming, small children to have access to my dog, and definitely don't leave him unattended should family members bring kids. In fact, I remove him from the chaos when the kids enter the house. Friends with bratty kids believe there is nothing wrong with ...

Hello, I have a question regarding a 15-week-old female working line GSD. We are currently working on engagement on a leash, distraction-free. Although there is a slight glimmer of progress, shes got a ways to go concerning behavior on the leash, in public places. Next week she goes into Vet for her puppy shots. The last vet visit two weeks ago didn't go so well. She barked excessively at the receptionist as she kneeled to pet her. (let's see, the comment I got was, " what do your German ...

Hi Cindy, I have a 4 month Rhodesian Ridgeback (45 lb) who wants to sniff everything on leash walks, on public sidewalks and on my own acreage. I walk him 3x per day (10 min) before meals, in addition to various potty breaks. He eliminates on his own property (not on walks) and I would like walks to be steady. I try to redirect him to me, mark and move, followed by a high value reward. Often times he is not pushing for the reward and prefers his nose to the ground but will otherwise redire...

Not sure If I should call it defiance, but my 5 month old Malinois puppy has gotten defiant and bit and growled at me when I tried to correct him with a verbal "nope" command when I went to pick up a bag of trash. Typically the "nope" command works well. He started to drag a bag of trash that was sitting inside the fence that I was about to take out. I think he may have just gotten amped up into thinking it was a game of play because it seemed like he thought it was more of a fun game like tu...

Hi Cindy, I looked through the barking Q/A and didn't find anything on young pups - 12 weeks. Initially, regardless of how often I would take him out, my dog would poo while in the crate as he caught on that it would get him out. After isolating him for 24 hours and only taking him out for potty breaks, he figured out to poo outside with lots of praise and fun accompanying. I brought him back out into the living room to be part of the pack and he has been fine about this since. Recently...

Hi, we have a 9 month old Berger Blanc Suisse. She is so smart and we are just in love with her. It is our first Shepherd, and our first herding breed, so we are learning a lot! We are struggling with her confidence and building it up. We will be moving in a couple of weeks, so are excited to finally have that whirlwind over and get settled and really hone in on training. Not that we haven't been doing anything with her just not as much as we anticipated with everything going on. Is the Raisi...

I have a 2 yr old bloodhound/coonhound/newfie mix with low food drive, a sensitive stomach, and zero toy drive. He has no interest in chasing a ball or playing tug, and not a great appetite. Does the Power of Training with Food video deal with building food drive at all? I've done marker training in the past with other dogs but was stymied by this one. I need to build engagement, and am hoping one of your videos will help.

Came across your website while searching for help with regards to my 3 year old GSD. He's a well-bred, German line GSD, very high drive. He's very good with people but not so much with other dogs (only certain ones it seems). I deal with this by avoiding other dogs. However, my big problem, that I don't know how to handle, is his interaction with my 6 and 8 year old grandchildren. They live out of state, so we only see them a few times a year. He has NEVER shown any signs of biting or growlin...