Most Popular Q&As

Ed, Our great puppy, Xanda vom Leerburg (born January 16, 2000; call name "Rebound"), is progressing beautifully. She is almost five months old and has settled in as a full-fledged member of the family (which includes my wife, three children, our male yellow lab and me). I would like your thoughts on a particularly disturbing and dangerous habit that she has exhibited. During our walks in the neighborhood, she literally lunges at moving cars. In response, I shorten way up on...

Ed: First thank you for your great web site and training tapes. I have purchased your basic obedience tape and will be purchasing other tapes in the near future. The advice on the tape has helped greatly with the training of my Kangal. (I own several other breeds - 3 kuvasz, 1 landseer newf (old) (water rescue trained) and one very young sweet golden retriever, who will be using your training method on agility etc. of course on a very light level 1 correction - unlike my Kangal (al...

If I'm switching my puppy from kibble to Honest Kitchen should I do it gradually or it won't make a difference. I plan to feed him honest kitchen with raw meat. When I do feed the honest kitchen with meat should I only feed meat that has no bones at first or start with chicken wings with little bones until they get used to eating raw? Thanks in advance.

Hello Ed, I adopted 2 german shepherd sisters who were two years old from an animal shelter in 2004. They were so close, the shelter wanted them to stay together. It was a great idea. When I walked them, it was funny to watch how their bodies became one when smelling the ground, etc. Anyway, Tara, last night died suddenly. I wrapped her in a sheet. Angel, sat next to her practically on top of her and is very, very upset. They never had a fight and got along so wonderf...

Hi Ed, Since you have had many dogs, I am in a way hoping you have seen this before. My GSD started to lose some of his fur around the edges of the ears, following with the skin thickening and cracking and becoming quite painful. I took him to the vets and he had his ears flushed, had a skin scrape done all coming back negative for bacteria, yeast or mange. She suggested he might have a food allergy so we started the elimination diet and he is on fish and potatoes. He's been on thi...

Ed, Is it advisable to train an aggressive alert on narcs and a passive alert on gun power? How do I handle the idea of searching school lockers knowing there may be gun power etc. When I train on narcs I give a narc command and do not accept any other hit. How should I introduce guns and gun powder, etc.? Thanks, Mark

My husband and I have a 5 yr. old Rhodesian Ridgeback that we got at 6 weeks of age. He has been a wonderful pet and friend to us but we are now faced with a difficult decision. For 5 yrs. it has only been the three of us. Both my husband and I have loved and treated Maxwell (the dog) as our child, a person more so than a dog. The only training that Maxwell has received was puppy training, but he has always been very well behaved for my husband and myself, though he definitely has ...

We adopted a 4 yr old GSD female about 1 1/2 yr ago. (She is def. an Alpha female). We immediately enrolled her in a beginners and then intermediate obedience class. My son (28) started taking her to a local Schutzhund club weekly. She does well, but the comment was always "she's a rescue"- as an excuse for the possibility she would not do well. Now they exclaim "And she's a rescue" because she does well. (I purchased a GSD puppy for my son). The problem is with me... She is the lo...

Hello, I got a beautiful english lab at 7 weeks old. Now she is 7 months old. She is very smart, but dominant. Since she was a pup she keeps biting my hands, feet and jumps a lot. The biting has gotten worse. If my husband and I are watching television, she will growl and try to nip at us. We correct her but she then jumps back and growls and tries again to bite. Different levels of growling and running around our condo like crazy dog until she wears herself out. We have put a lea...

Hi, I have bought a number of products from you recently and was very happy with my e collar, etc. Now I need an advice on another issue- whining. My 8 months Doberman female has long whining sessions, that sometimes are difficult to ignore. We try to ignore her everytime when she is whining, but sometimes it is really hard especially when you are trying to work or talk on the phone, etc. She finds it hard to be left alone behind closed doors, I heard it is one of Dobermans' features, but ...

We have a Shorthaired German Pointer, he is 2 years old and we are having a problem when the dog takes something that doesn't belong to him. He generally comes near us or close to us with the object he would have taken and we won't be able to move from there because he tends to get aggressive. We think it could be because he thinks we are going to take the object back from him. Even with other things that he takes, he refuses to give them back. Is there anything you can suggest to help us dea...

Hi Cindy, I have a high energy 6 year old female GS. She?s gone through basic obedience but seems to have a growing issue with barking. My house backs up to a park and she often hears other dogs etc, which spurs the barking. I have heard the best way to control barking is to teach the dog ?when to bark? thus I would assume this works in reverse? If this is the case, can you give me some direction on how to control her barking when told?

Hi Cindy, I have a 14 month intact female Rottweiler. She was crate trained, and was relatively neutral in terms of her love of the crate. Suddenly in the last 2 weeks she is obsessed with the crate. There is no food or treat in the crate, and with the bedding removed her behavior is identical. She will spend more than half of the day inside the crate with the door open. She often runs back into it when she is out, with intensity. When she is taken outside her energy is great. Her appetit...

I purchased a cocker spaniel for my three children this past Christmas. I read many articles about socializing, selecting the right dog, and training. I typed in family pet on the Internet and found cocker spaniel. I had many conversations with the breeder and asked all the recommended questions. He was black and tan with white markings. Everyone who saw him wanted to pet him and told us how beautiful he was. My children have been asking for a dog for a long time (10 year-old and twin 9 year-...

My 80 year old aunt adopted a baby Rottweiler. When he got to be about five months she couldn’t handle him anymore (Da). I thought I was doing her a favor and I took him in but he had already developed bad habits and I think he is dominant. I’ve taken him to two trainers and finished basic obedience. Things are going pretty well. The other day I took him to the vet to get neutered and he attacked the vet and all the staff. I’m sure he was just scared and they were trying to tell them w...

Hi, We just rescued a dog and are trying to crate train her and are in your "foundation phase" of training (in a crate or on lead at all times). The first few times she went into the crate no problems. Now, even treats can't get her inside. She doesn't seem to have a strong den instinct. I started giving her all her food and treats in the crate, but she won't go in when she realizes that I am going to crate her. My question is, how do I get her in the crate? I don't want to physically push...

Hi Cindy, I just switched my dogs to Honest Kitchen. I was searching around the internet to find more information about the diet, what to add, etc and came across the video on your website. It was a good video I just have one question what proof do you have that you no longer need to vaccinate your pets for diseases? Do you have a vet that can back that up? It up sets me b/c being in the veterinary profession, telling people they don't have to vaccinate b/c of diet is miss leading!...

The info on your site is very helpful. I have been with my boyfriend and we have been together for 2 years. He has a 4 year old German shepherd that is 100 pounds. In the past year, the dog has bitten 2 different people. Ever since he bit those people, he has become more aggressive towards me. He hasn't bit me (yet) but he growls and shows his teeth at me everyday. My boyfriend does not discipline him at all and he constantly yells at him all night long to lay down because he paces around the...

I have a question regarding training your pup to walk on a leash. I have an 11 week old Boston Terrier who as he gets comfortable and settles in (almost 2 weeks now), his stubbornness is starting to shine more and more. There are many mixed ideas on puppies who refuse to walk on the lead. (Not pulling on the lead but digging in as best he can and pulling back, refusing to walk forward). From treat coaxing (doesn't work with my guy) to running with him (also does not work) to just pullin...

Ed, I have purchased several of your videos and 4 heating pads, all of which I appreciate. I am a breeder of Field line Labrador retrievers. Your site and products are listed on our recommendations we give to new pup owners. I have spent quite a bit of time on your site but still have a question about a how to rehab an extremely shy dog. We have a female, Trixi, that was attacked as a pup by another female which was in season. After this attack, I found your site from wh...