Most Popular Q&As

Hi Cindy: Thanks so much for all your wonderful work. I have taken to heart your advice about over vaccination after losing my beloved dog 2 years ago. I had to put her in a kennel (big mistake) for almost two weeks as we were leaving the country and had no one to watch her. At the time I was ignorant of all this and followed their rules about kennel cough, bordatella, parvo, etc. They required that all these be given before they would board her. Within a week after we brought her ...

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

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?

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-...

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, 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...

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

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!...

Dear Mr. Frawley, It is with much sadness that I write to you today, in search of professional guidance, to better understand what has occurred to me this past Sunday. I'd like to begin with a bit of history for your better understanding. We have a 2 year and 7 month old German Shepherd, named Tango, that we have had since he was seven weeks old. At that time, we purchased some of your videos, which we have found truly fascinating and appropriate, as listed below: ...

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...

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

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...

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