Most Popular Q&As

My son's 4 month old German Shepherd snaps or bites quite often. What should I do?

Hi, I feel terrible even writing this email, but I would like your advice on this. 2 weeks ago my fiance and I purchased a rescued 3 month old GSD mix. We were 3 weeks out from our wedding and about to close on a new fixer upper home w/ only floorboards in place. We thought this would be the ideal situation while puppy training. Well, the close on the house got delayed, so we are now 2 adults, 2 cats and an untrained puppy in my 600 sq/ft carpeted condo. The puppy naturally is having ac...

Hi Cindy, We adopted our 20lb cocker spaniel mix this past February. She is now about 1.5 years old. We noticed early on that she is selective about the dogs she'll interact with. She loves dogs that are about her size or smaller, but she is afraid of dogs that are bigger than her. Strangely, she also hates all dogs that look a certain way -- she barks and lunges at wrinkly flat-faced dog breeds (all bulldog-type breeds), regardless of size. If provoked by these types of dogs, she doe...

I have a papillon that continues to yelp every time I correct him with a prong collar, he still takes treats from me afterwards... Frankly it is embarrassing to have him yelp, but he doesn't seem that upset by it. Rebecca

Ed, You wrote, "I also NEVER allow a dog to come in contact with another dog unless my dog is 100% solid in obedience under extreme distraction (i.e. another dog is extreme distraction). Also I NEVER allow people to pet my dog." My question is how do you socialize the dog if the dog has never been pet by a stranger. If you don't take your dog around other dogs until he is 100% trained, isn't that a little late in life to begin socialization with other animals? Thanks, Vanessa

Blackie, a 5 yr old German Shp/Belg Mal mix military working dog (MWD) has sever aggression towards firearms. Blackie will stay in the heel or down position while the agitator or handler fires the firearm (.38 or 5.76) with little reaction (minor whining) but intense focus on the shooter. When the handler finishes and lowers the firearm he breaks his position and attacks the firearm. He has not shown aggression toward the handler only the firearm (with near misses of the han...

Hi, you helped me once before when I had a puppy with severe hip dysplasia. He was put down at six months of age. I am hoping you can help one more time. Two issues. First - 9 month old East German male, great dog, high drive for prey and reproduction. I have no idea if he has any defense or not, he is so bomb proof with nerves, he may show it later in training. Right now he is extremely good in area and article searches both on and off line. He is a great little tracker, still learning c...

Hello, While researching the effects that neutering may have on my 6 month old ACD, I came upon your page. In your response to a question regarding a Shit-zu that bit a 1.5 year old girl on the lip, you said, "...if the dog even growls at the baby it needs to have its but corrected so hard that it thinks it is going to die." I fully understand that a dog must know it is absolutely the lowest member of the pack. But your response seems to suggest hitting the dog. Why would yo...

I have a young pup who has a bad habit of eating his own poop. What can I do?

I have a pretty well-trained Belgian Malinois. He does explosive detection and tracking very well. He is also very obedient. He has no aggression toward dogs, territory, toys, people, etc. But for some reason when my dog has any sort of pain whatsoever, he becomes highly aggressive only toward me. I have been reading and have been familiarized with a lot of your training methods at Leerburg since I left K-9 handler school. But even in your literature or the schools, I can’t find anything th...

I have 2 huskies, one is 10 months old and the other is 2 months. I started feeding them raw chicken necks and backs about a month ago and they took to it well, but they eat it too fast. They're eating the necks whole without chewing and they can down 3 necks in matter of seconds. Any way to get them to slow down?

The smaller Educator collar for the dogs I am sure are nice. But unless it is significantly smaller I would prefer the bigger transmitter as I have big hands and most importantly the increased distance. What is the difference in transmitter size?

I taught my GS to come and sit in front of me with a treat in my hands in front of me. Does this great and does finish. Now I am trying to call her and sit in front of me with my hands beside me and no treat. She wants to go for my hands which makes her sit off to side. I am told that in akc obedience my hands need to be at my side. Loosing major points for this. Thanks, Andy

I have a four year old Mastiff and a one year old Great Dane. I got both as puppies. The problem that I have now is that the Great Dane will attack my Mastiff if he comes to close to his food, toy, treat. The Great Dane even attacked the Mastiff when he tried to come over to me. There was no advance warning like growling. I always let the Great Dane know that his behavior was bad, and also let the Mastiff know that he was ok and doing nothing wrong. Most times when these attacks happen, withi...

Good morning, I have a 125 lb male Malamute, that is extremely dominant. I've tried a pinch collar and that only escalated the issue. He does very well in basic obedience, but not walking on a lead. I can't get him to stop pulling. I'm currently using a Dogtra training collar, regardless of the setting- vibration or shock he just shakes his head when corrected and pulls harder. I'm looking at your Dominant Dog Collar and the leather slip collar. Which of the two would you recommend or both...

Hi, I have had both my females, a french bulldog and an Amstaff living together since they were pups for the last year. Neither have been spayed. Recently my FB had a litter and I had seperated her down the side. The Amstaff had been barking and jumping at the gate for days. I kept the FB seperate until she gave me signs she was ready to leave, which was today, so I let her out. The Amstaff kept sniffing her, and standing rigid to her with her tail erect. After running out for an errand, I...

Hello Cindy! I just got almost $500 worth of your good DVDs. I have seen 2 of them and they are the best. My question for you Cindy is: I have a 2 story house and is it OK for me to let my 8 week old pup go up or down the flight of stairs (about 20 of them) on leash - will this have the potential to mess up his hips and elbows? Or should I just carry him up or down until he is a little older? If this is the case, how old should he be until I let him up or down by himself? Also, is it OK to le...

We are getting a puppy next month and plan to eventually do protection work with him--this will be our first time. We have watched the following DVDs: Your Puppy 8 wks to 8 months, Basic Dog Obedience, Pack Structure for the family pet, Raising a working puppy, Building Drive & Focus, and the First Steps of Bite Training. I have spent a lot of time on the website reading and trying to put it all together but I am still so confused! For example, in one of the Q&As it says bite work can ...

I have just purchased an adult GSD who has earned her Schutzhund III title ten times. She also has earned FH title. In addition she has been surveyed with result "KKL1." She is truly a very well behave dog, very great temperament. The only problem is since her first day with me, I never heard her bark, not even once. When somebody came and knocked the door of my house, she just laid down on the floor as if she didn't care. When I look at her report card on her Schutzhund test, the ...

Hi Ed, I've spent the last several days reading as many of your Q & A sections, training articles and so forth as I can. Thanks for providing relevant and useful information, instead of just the usual sales pitch. My wife and I run a motorcycle dealership (as you might have noticed) that is located in the core of the city, and as such isn't always the safest neighborhood. We are not a 'tough-guy' motorcycle shop in any way, in fact none of our clients would qualify as a ster...