Most Popular Q&As

Hi Ed, I'm writing you to ask you how to train a dog with no motivation. My name is Jonathan and I have been training my pit bull for PSA. I have done a lot of work with him. His bite work is very strong. My problem is with obedience. He has no toy drive, so a tug or a ball is out of the question. I did all of his obedience with food and corrections. He is a lazy dog so everything he does is slow. The slowness is not my problem, because i know what my dog is and he can't be sped up...

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 Cindy, I work at an animal shelter and we have a very large Dane mix (160 pounds) with us at the moment. He's an unneutered male, just over 2 years old. He grew up without boundaries and pulled his previous owners off their feet several times, even broke their leg and shoulder. We trained him to walk nicely on the leash without distractions, but he is very reactive to other dogs (sex doesn't matter, so I assume it's not a testosterone issue). When he sees dogs he lunges like crazy, ...

Hello, I do obedience training with my 3 year old springer. When I practice with her she is very motivated and does what I ask. I am in open A CKC. When I go to a trial, she is in her own world and does not cooperate and sniffs and looks away. I have just purchased the Michael Ellis DVD Focused Heeling. I have practiced this a week and I do see an improvement. How long does this take, I practice a little every day? It almost looks that she is not motivated when I go in the ring? Do y...

I spoke to April in the office about this and she recommended I write to you. The new slow down feeders offered by Leerburg, are they effective with dogs that eat their raw too fast? I have a dobe male and he likes to eat his food fast then horks it up and re eats. I went to your raw feeding pic and saw the bowls all lined up very clean and nice. I feed a variety of meats and textures as well has have purchased your kelp powder. I use Olive oil as well. Any suggestions or hints? Do you think ...

My son and daughter train 3 year old border collies for 4-h they are starting their 3rd year. The dogs are from the same litter. My son has the female Ruby and my daughter has the male Zeke. Last year Ruby got bite by another dog and she has been dog aggressive ever since. Once she starts this behavior then Zeke also becomes aggressive. The volunteers at dog practice feel exposing them to the other dogs during a meet and greet exercise will help where my children need to correct their dogs be...

Hi Cindy, Our trainer recommended we use a prong collar on our 4-month-old German Shepherd puppy. In her assessment, she said the puppy did not respond to leash pressure with neither a flat collar or a martingale collar. So a prong collar will make sure we get her attention during our walk outside. We are concerned that it might be too early to introduce it to her that it would shut her down in her decision-making. We tried walking our puppy with a flat collar with some success when the...

I’m trying to get my 12-week-old Aussie puppy to focus on me using Michael Ellis’ methods. I want us to have a good relationship. The problem is, she is tepid about me but she ADORES my older Aussie. I started keeping them separate at all times (which is hard) but whenever she’s out of her crate, the puppy goes straight for the big one. And when they are together in person, they are relentless players. The puppy shows ten times the enthusiasm for the old dog and she does for me despite ...

Is there an indicator on the Educator receivers and transmitters showing low batteries?

My dog gets agressive when people play fight or wrestle. She bears teeth and it seems like she is going to bite someone involved but has not. When my kids were playing and she did this, I corrected her and I think I fixed the problem because I haven't seen her do it again. But, I wonder if I did the right thing. I wonder if now someone actually is a threat, if she would intervene. What is the right thing to do when the dog can't distinguish play fighting from real?'

I have a Red heeler/GSD mix. He is 12 weeks old and has been a perfect puppy. He sits before we go out and come in. I have established I am the pack leader. He does not listen to anybody but me. I'm a little nervous about that because I have roommates. My problem is that when we are playing he sometimes bites and when I sternly say NO. He stops but then "talks back" barking and moaning. I have to say NO 2 more times for that to stop. What would be the reason he is doing this? And how can I co...

I'm dog sitting for a friend and they have 5 dogs. I added my 1 year old to the pack since I'm watching them and the house. Yesterday the Alpha female who is a pug and my dog which is a large mixed breed female got into a bad fight over toys. They have NEVER had a problem before. As I went to break them up and get the pug out of my dog's mouth I got bit by the Alpha male who is a boxer. I know that he was just trying to protect the female so not holding a grudge. I'm not sure what to do at th...

I am a new K9 Handler on a SWAT team for my city. I was ordered to carry my long gun, and draw down, when approaching a suspect while the dog is apprehending him. We do have two other officers that do have lethal cover at the time I am approaching. Is it safer to have the long gun or unsafer in that situation?

What Do You Feed Your Dogs? Can You Send Me Some Menu Plans?

Hi Cindy, Two weeks ago we started our one year old dachshund/terrier male on a raw diet. We adopted him in October and he was very underweight and had dry flaky skin as well as a mild case of demodedic mange. He is eating chicken necks in the am and Oma's Pride raw mix at night ( we live very close to Miller Foods in Ct where Oma's Pride is made). We are supplementing with sardines, eggs, cod liver oil, olive oil and O'Paws fundamental vitality, which is a powder supplement of vitamins ...

How can I tell when my bitch is through having puppies?

I have a three year old male Rottweiler, we don't have papers on him but he is purebred. He has a stable temperament, loyal to me ,friendly to my friends and family, but protective when the need arises. He is easily handled, controlled and trained by me and I'm a very small female. He is a gorgeous dog, nice brick head, fairly short back and powerful legs, but not stumpy or leggy. I'd like to breed him, I am confident he can produce both great trustworthy family companions or a SchH or pro...

I have noticed that it is getting harder to find naturally processed chicken. The leg quarters from Walmart now are "enhanced" Everything has been injected or is "enhanced" with some type of chicken broth/solution. Is this okay for the raw diet - How much sodium can dogs have? I have also read conflicting info on pregnancy - increase bone (eclampsia) or increase more muscle meat? One last question - do you continue heart worm medicine while pregnant? Thanx for your help. Chris

What is the best vitamin to give a pregnant GSD?

Hi, I love your info! I have a five-year old female basset hound who killed two of her pups at birth. This is the second time she has killed pups. I retrieved two of the pups and am hand-raising them. I will retire mama, but am considering keeping one of the pups for breeding. Is the instinct to kill the newborns an inherited trait? I certainly don't want to continue this if it is. I got this basset as an adult, and she did just fine with two litters. I'm really stumped as to why ...