Most Popular Q&As

I have two maltipoo puppies. One is 7 months old, one is 8 months. I am still having trouble getting them house trained. They are in the crate at night and sleep all night without accidents. They are taken out first thing in the AM and usually both go pee and poop. Once they eat, they are taken out again within the hour. Sometimes they will both go pee and poop again... sometimes just one will. Here is the problem. They do NOT tell me when they have to go out. I have them confined to the fami...

The problem in a nutshell is aggression towards people. I need to decide how to try to handle it, or return the dog to the breeder. About a month ago my wife and I adopted a 2 year old female bouvier. She is the 3rd bouvier we have owned, all from the same breeder, all adopted as adults. This dog was originally in a home with 3 other bouviers, and reportedly had developed aggression towards the other dogs which is why the original owner gave her up. She reportedly had never exhibit...

We have a Welsh Springer Spaniel who is three years old We are the dog?s third owners. Cooper is basically a sweet loving dog, but definitely has some very defined aggressive characteristics. 1) He will growl and show his teeth if I ask him to get off something or move. If I continue, he will lunge at me until I walk away. 2) He will growl and show his teeth if he is sitting on a chair and my husband comes and tells him to move (same behavior as above). ...

Hello, I'm really hoping you can help me. I am a cat lover and have a 6 month old kitten/cat, we are about to move in with my partner who is a dog lover, he has 2 french pointers, mother and daughter. The mother is highly aggressive toward smaller animals, she is a rescued dog who has never fulfilled her hunting nature (we guess because of whatever was done to her when she was small, he got her when she was just 1 year old, she is now 4). She has killed and eaten/torn apart 3 cats tha...

Hi Cindy, My sister and I both have dogs at home that tend to bark when we are at work. We wanted to purchase the collars for both dogs but are concerned that this may limit them from playing with one another since they growl and play bark. Do you have any suggestions? Would keeping it on and off confuse the dogs? Thanks for your assistance.

At what age do you start introducing leash pressure to a puppy? And what equipment do you use? Thanks

My working dog has started to typewrite on the arm, and has since develop dirty biting techniques because of previous poorly trained agitators. As a result of this, I cannot trust my dog off lead. Any suggestions on how to re-train her to bite the sleeve correctly and hold. Thank-you.

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...

Hello, I want to start off by saying I thank you all so much for all the training content you all give to dog enthusiasts like myself. I went to college at UW Eau Claire and heard about your website through the grapevine and have been hooked ever since. I have a quick question regarding raising a puppy. My wife and I are both teachers and work full days. We are getting a puppy mid July and will be starting school come September. I was wondering at what point (with diligent crate traini...

Hey Cindy! I’m sure this question was asked but I don’t know where it is. I’m trying to find a way to make my own dog treats that are high value but affordable. Do you have any ideas on what I could do or a recipe?

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?