Most Popular Q&As

Cindy, hopefully you can help me with a simple question. I have two dogs, brother and sister, they are half American Bulldog and half Bull Mastiff. They are not aggressive towards people at all, as a matter of fact, they have never aggressed on a person. I currently keep them inside a six sided pen inside my house when I go to work. But, I want to start leaving them inside the house alone, but I don't trust them not to chew the furniture/walls once they get bored and figure out that I ...

Dear Ed, I have a 18 mo. old GSD. I'm so attached to him It would just kill me to have to put him down. Before him I had a pair of Dalmatians that lived for 14 yrs. Before that I had a beagle who lived for 9 yrs. All of my dogs were very well behaved dogs. However I didn't do enough research on German-Shepherds before I bought one. The one that I have has been very hyper from the very start, We thought this was cute. He has always been a little crazy. But he is also the most loyal,...

I have a 3 year old weim and my neighbors are giving me a hard time about his constant barking when he is in the back yard. Now, I don't really have a problem with his barking. I like a vocal dog. It makes me feel better when I am not at home to have a loud dog that distracts burglaries.. etc. I think it is safer for my family. However, back to the neighbors. I remember the way that we used to stop dogs from chasing cars by throwing a bucket of water out of the car. Would that work for th...

Ed, This may be a stupid question but I am wondering if I can purchase a "trained" dog for my family's protection. I live in a desolate area and worry about my family when I'm gone. I have two nice dogs but they won't even bark when people visit (they are lab and ??? mix). If it weren't for the deer that feed near their underground fence (by the way it works great) and geese that fly in to feed on acorns I don't think you could get a bark from them at all. I love them but travel wi...

Thanks for you wonderful website. I have a question about the dominant collar. My dog is a black Labrador. He is 10 month old. Since 3 months, we have been working with a trainer. Niki, that's his name, is VERY stubborn. It's taken time and hard work to "persuade" him do something. He keeps testing the boundaries every day. One problem we are having is that he pulls us (me and my wife) while walking him on a leash. It's even a bigger problem when he sees a cat/another dog/something he ...

Hi, my name is Michelle. I have a kind of complicated question to ask but I don't have anywhere else to turn to. I've been searching and went through a lot of different dogs trying to find the right dog to be a service dog for me because I have anxiety, depression, social phobia and I black out. For some odd reason most dogs I go around seem to perceive what I have as threatening. So my boyfriend saw this add online for a litter of rescued bottle feed 3 week old puppies and thought maybe me r...

Hi Cindy, Reading your website I see the importance of the dog having defense genetics, I have just received my third Bouvier (4 y.o.male) and am considering personal protection training for him, to protect our home. Do you consider the Bouvier Des Flanders a good breed for this?

Hi Cindy, I recently boarded my dog at a kennel, and when I picked him up three weeks later, his voice had changed. He would normally greet me with happy, excited barks and roo roo roos. But instead, he greeted me with happy, excited squeaks. The kennel owner told me that he had squeaked that way for her and her husband since the first day. He continues to have a deep bark for strangers, but his happy bark is now a squeak. He also used to be very chatty, especially when he wanted attention...

I really admire what you do with your dogs. Your a great inspiration to anyone who loves this breed. I have several German shepherds and have decided to breed a litter (all my dogs have passed their health screening; meet the breed standard; have the correct dispossession and drive; and have exceptional bloodlines). My problem is that the two dogs I'm trying to breed are both, in lue of a better term, virgins. My female has been flagging our male for 2 days (days 7 and 8 of her cycle) b...

My wife and I have an 18 week old Bull Mastiff (our last dog was also a BM). We have had him for 8 weeks. We purchased your video on puppies from 8 weeks to 8 months as well as Michael's video on training with food. We also have your Basic Obedience video. All of which are excellent. I have watched and re-watched. Today I ordered Michael's Recall, Tugging and Motivation videos. I read your eBook on marker training and totally agree with the concept and have been trying to apply the principle...

I've had my 7 year old pitt mix since she was 4 weeks old. I took her through obedience classes and she follows commands nicely unless she is excited about visitors. She's never been aggressive towards anyone. The only aggression I've seen is towards other dogs who approach us while walking and towards a friends toy poodle who constantly harassed her. Up until now she's been great with my son who is 16 months. He loves petting and hugging her and I truly thought she liked it as she's a...

Hello, I have a five month old GSD that I got at eight weeks. On walks, if she is not pulling, is allowing her to walk in front going to be a problem in establishing pack structure? I find that once our walk gets headed back she likes to be in front and can be quite polite about it. The walk stops if she pulls. Thank you.

Hello, I was told that if I ask you a question you would answer them to the best of your ability. If I was told incorrect information please accept my apologize. My question is do you have any idea why when I try and put my dogs halter on him to go for walks he freaks out. He is a cocker spaniel and when we try he will run all over the house until we get him cornered and when we do get the harness on him he will try to rub it off. I have checked under his leg for soars and there is none af...

My 4 month old rottie might have picked up on his feeding schedule. He tends to make a big fuss 1/2 hour before feedings. Is there something I can do to have him wait patiently until feeding? He'll start whining non stop until I come out with his food bowl. Actually, another problem we're having is that anytime he catches the slightest glimpse of me he starts to whine. Last weekend I stepped outside to get something from our outdoor fridge at about 12:30 am. He started whining nons...

Ed, I have an 11 month, almost one year, old German shepherd. Great dog, me and my wife love him to death. I have been working with him a lot on obedience lately and he is very eager to learn. He does a good job, I think he should have been a stand in for the energizer bunny though. The problem I have been having with him is I think he may have a bit of a separation anxiety issue. We have been trying so much to help him with this problem but it seems as thought nothing is working. Gun...

Hello, I live in Floral City, Florida. I own a car lot in Inverness, Florida that has been broken into several times. I recently purchased a 4 month old dobie. I am looking to send for training for two reasons 1 protection for me and family and 2 for protection at night at the lot against robbers who jump the fence. Do you provide this kind of training?

I have a 10 1/2 month old female German Shepherd. Is it possible to over socialize a dog? If so, I think I did this. My dog LOVES everyone. I take her to meet a lot of people, and there're are a lot of family and friends coming to our house on a daily basis. She does not bark when our doorbell rings, and when it does ring she runs to the door tail wagging and ears pinned back. My problem is that I do want her to start protecting the house w/o being a killer dog. (I have 3 children). She t...

Hi Ed, I have a problem with my 2 year old male GSD which I bought approximately 3 months ago. We started obedience training approximately 1 month ago but I am still having problems getting him to heel in direct alignment with myself he always wants to be approximately 1-2 foot in front of me. I started using right about turns which made him take notice of me then It was almost like he had eyes on the back of his head he could tell when I was turning so he turned. So I said fine le...

Hi Mr Frawley, I went through your website about some tips on my dog's behavior. My dog is 18 months old mix of Portuguese Mastiff, Estrela Mountain Dog and Portuguese Cattle Dog, according to the vet, as he was given to me as a Lab. He is not neutered. He has always been social friendly with other dogs untill about 2-3 months ago, which he has become aggressive. In my opinion, the reason is the age. He used to be play, pushed by others and never answered back but was friendly play. Was...

Cindy, I have a 27 month old intact male Doberman. My problem is probably not breed specific, but I mention it knowing you have a history with them. He is a very dominant boy. I bought your e-collar DVD and an e-collar when he was 8-months. I can not tell enough people who have stubborn dogs how great a tool this can be. Using Ed's #1 through #10 correction rule, I can tell you that a #10 correction doesn't phase him. But there is something about the tingle of a nick that gets his ...