Most Popular Q&As

How to train the human to break up a dog fight? I normally don't have more than 2 or 3 dogs. I've rescued and adopted mainly German Shepherds, but ventured off into the Doberman Pinschers for 7 years now. Never had problems until my alpha female attacked my 18 month old female while playing fetch. My mistake after the fact. All calmed down. They got along since, until I brought in a 3 month old puppy and after 4 days, they got into again, and like normal, I put my hands to their heads to b...

Hi, my name is Natalie. I have a Lab/corgi mix,Ginger, who is 6 years old. This year my husband and I had a baby and she is now 8 months old and crawling. Ginger has recently started to stand over our daughter's head when she is on the floor which is something she use to do with our black lab mix, Shelby, before she died. I have been told that this is a dominance thing. My husband yells at Ginger every time she does it but I don't think it is helping. I don't want her doing this to our baby b...

You had stated that to train puppies to do protection/Schutzhund, play is important. Tug-of-war and fetch ball are recommended. Now it is said to play tug with them and let them "win". But isn't it a contradiction because if you let them win, then in their minds, they just became Alpha. How can you become pack leader and let them win and play-train for protection? Thank you

I have Golden Retrievers, and in most of them, there is not a strong drive to play tug, rather they are driven to retrieve balls, sticks, etc. I have your DVD on training dogs with food, but would like to go further and start using toys. My question is: do I need to get your DVD on retrieving and just go with their natural tendency, or should I work on more prey drive and try to teach them to play tug? In any case, I would need to teach them to "out" the object, so which DVD would be most ben...

Hi, I know you guys have a pretty strong opinion about people taking their dogs to dog parks. I thought I would share this story with you as a good example as to why you should never take a dog to a dog park. http://fox13now.com/2012/03/03/two-dogs-hospitalized-after-incident-in-dog-park/ Amanda

Hello! My puppies are 11 days old we have been feeding them the formula off of this page since they were 5 days old because the mother got an infection. We have also rubbed the cotton ball on them and they always urinate but I never see the babies poop, could they be constipated? The puppies' bellies are really round but they do not cry at all, but they do randomly twitch while they are sleeping and when they are done eating. Help please! Is there anything wrong with the babies?

Dear Ed and Cindy, I want to first think you for all of the great help you have to offer on your website. I have learned a lot about working with dogs from you. I'm writing because I have a new problem that I would like your advise on. I have a 5 month old male GSD that is aggressively biting me and spinning to get away when I hold on to his collar. I have tried many different corrections but it just seems to make the situation worst.

Hello, I've recently adopted an adult male rescue dog (4-yr old-Dachshund) who I'm told was turned in most likely by a local breeder. I currently have a 3.5-yr-old female Dachshund. The new addition is very sweet and submissive, but seems to have had no housebreaking (or anything else) taught to him. He pees everywhere in the house, and will occasionally poop in the house as well. I've read about your isolation method, which appeals to me. Is this the right path, and if so, what's next...

I have a 3 year old Shepherd. Is he to old to train in search and rescue? I have a trainer willing to train, but is it really worth it? He is a great dog, but I'm not sure if he's to old.

Hi Cindy, I tried to look for precise answers on your website, but I couldn't find them. My trainer says I should always have my GSD in a crate when he's in my SUV and we're on the road. Then, he tells me about the ins and outs of car jacking training. Would you please tell me catagorically, if possible, whether a dog should ALWAYS be in a crate while I'm driving, or is it acceptable to let him loose but put him in a "down" in the rear portion of the vehicle. After all, how the hell ...

Hi, I have read your website with interest and do have a question that is not quite answered on the site. I am not a huge dog person, and have never owned one, although I am ok with well trained dogs I know and like. Planning on having a baby, and my significant other wants to get a purebred German Shepherd and do schutzhund. I have no issue with either of these, but he wants to not get the dog fixed. He is quite good with animals. I, however, do not have a lot of dog experience and this m...

Can you tell me how long it takes for my female to have puppies after she is bred?

Mr. Frawley, My Golden Retriever just had a litter of 12 pups. They are 4 days old and seem to be doing fine nursing, but I am wondering if or when I should start supplementing and bottle feeding? Can her milk dry early or can she run out? I don't know if it's like a human body, when the baby nurses, the milk lets down. I don't know if she 'let's down' each time they nurse or not. I have been weighing them and they are slowly gaining weight. Any feedback you can provide on this issue wo...

We have been breeding Cockers for 9 years now. We have had a lot of litters over the years with no real problems. We got a new stud dog earlier this year with a WONDERFUL pedigree and temperament. He is a real beauty inside and out, but he is completely clueless as a breeder. He grabs the back leg and humps that. We have tried to guide him in but haven't had that work. We ordered one of your AI kits and tried to collect him but he only ever extended about an inch and only produced a clear, pr...

Hi Cindy, I just love your newsletter and have found it enormously helpful. My beloved 12 year old Collie also panics during thunderstorms. I don't know what I would do without Rescue Remedy. I use it always when a storm is coming for fear that she could have a seizure or worse if I didn't use this. If for any reason, I have to go out and leave her by herself when a storm is imminent, I give her some Rescue Remedy and put her into her crate prior to going out though I do my best to...

After finding your website today I have discovered I have been doing a lot of things right when training our new stray and I have even more to learn. I plan to order the basic training DVD as well as one of the books. I loved when you said "Don't take a completely untrained dog to obedience class!" I had planned to wait about a month, or until he masters sit, stay, come, lay down and leash walking with me in the house, neighborhood and yard, and many of your comments confirmed what I ...

How do you train the 90 degree corner in sport tracking?

Hi there, We have a 9 month old police German Shepherd bitch that is due to commence a 13 week course to get licensed, and have hit what appears to be a major hurdle. The bitch is from top stock and has amazing drive, nothing has fazed her until recently she has developed an aversion to walking on certain surfaces. Her reaction has varied from tentative movements on the surface and reluctance to walk on it to out and out refusal to go on it. The surfaces involved range from glossy ...

Mr. Frawley, My name is Justin, and I am a K9 security Officer at a hospital in Scottsdale AZ. I have a question about outs, recalls, and a rear guard and bark. My partner is a 3 year old Malinois that was trained in IPO. His bites are very solid, but he does not want to out. When he does out, he will go into a rear guard and bark (for the escort, like he was trained before in Europe.) We had an incident last training night where Robbie got "Dirty" when he was in the guard and bark...

Dear Mr Frawley, My german shepard likes to come up to me as soon as I sit down in a chair to put my shoes on and will not leave me alone while I put my shoes on. When I push him away and tell him no, he barks at me. Not in a mean way, but barking to be noticed I guess. How could I fix this problem? I bought your Basic Dog Obedience DVD already but only have got to the intro to markers. Thanks for your time and help. Mike