Most Popular Q&As

Hello Mr. Frawley, I read through your questions and answers on fear aggression but still had some questions; I hope you do not mind that I am e-mailing you. You are doubtless busy, but I would appreciate a reply if you have the time. My family purchased a Kuvasz puppy, our first, about four months ago, and she is now six months old. This female, named Sapphire, seems to be very territorial inside the house and in our backyard, which is somewhat normal for the breed, except ...

Dear Cindy, I have been reading your Q&As about fearful dogs but still need help! My dog suddenly became extremely fearful. I don't know if its a "fearful stage" but he is definitely going through something. (6 mo. old) He has become SO fearful that even walks to go potty are a hassle. He tries to back out of his collar or run away when he sees cars driving by, hears voices, hears a radio, sees a person far away, loud noises. I am trying to just ignore it and trying to reinforce confidence...

We have a two year old dachshund spayed female named Frankie. We rescued her from a dog breeder when she was 5 weeks old. Her mom died suddenly when the puppies were just 2 weeks old and the owners did not care for them properly. The littermates all died but Frankie and her brother. She weighed under a pound when we got her. The owners got tired of feeding the puppies canned food and they were going to put the remaining two puppies to sleep. I heard about this situation and took both of the d...

I have a 6 month black lab that I want to train for Schutzhund and police work. Would you recommend against a second handler for the Schutzhund only? The second handler would be my wife. Would this cause a problem? re-enforce her role in the "pack" order (above the dog)? Is two handlers in Schutzhund a bad idea?

One of the dogs that I have, a German Shepherd/Husky breed named Tera (approx 2 yrs old), is always looking for an opportunity to get loose and take off. I have taken her to obedience school. She does respond, inside and when on a leash, to the command "come." However, when she is off of the leash she takes off. Eventually she does come home. I thought, at first, that it was because she knew there where cats that lived at a neighbor's house, which is true. When she does take off that is u...

Dear Ed, I have a Pit, Shar Pei mix that I rescued who is about three years old who is still intact. My wife wants me to get him neutered because she is afraid that he will urinate (mark) in the house and on the furniture. Would getting him neutered prevent him from marking in the house since he is already in the habit of marking? Kind regards, Frank

First let me thank you for opening our eyes to a whole new way of looking at our dogs, training and leadership. After a lot of work we still have a problem I would like your advice on. We have two Portuguese Water Dog males (10 and 3yo) We have had aggression problems with the young male (Pete)since he was about 1 1/2yo. These include fights with the older dog, aborted attacks while on leash on walks and biting us (mainly my wife). Things are MUCH better after buying and applying y...

Hello, Cindy. I have a 14 months old GSD. He is usually very playful. Loves training and engages fairly well at home. About 6 weeks ago we moved out from our house due to remodeling. His normal routine used to be spending all day next to me while I worked at my desk, play in the evening. Since we moved it changed. At first he was fine with our moving. In couple of weeks he started to get cranky and edgy, even snaped at my son. I corrected him very strongly. By slapping him on his muzzle and p...

Dear Cindy, I feel hopeless. I have a 5 year old Dobe that is completely disengaged in me when we show/match and most of the time when I train if he can help it. I'm willing to do the time to retrain but there is so much information out there, I just don't know where to start. Where would you suggest. I'll try anything. I'm tired of him avoiding me. I know it's due to my stress in the ring partially but no more excuses. If I want to be a great trainer, I need solutions. Thank you so much f...

Hello! I have a 9 month old male cockapoo who was recently neutered. He is almost fully house trained, but recently has been jumping up onto my couch and bed and urinating. He is fully eliminating, and has done it about 5 times. I am wondering whether this is a dominance issue, or an issue of insecurity. I have tried to keep him off the furniture but he will run into the other room and do it before I can get to him. I live alone but have a serious boyfriend who is usually around. I am unsu...

Question if you would be so kind, I have a ten month pure bred West German show line German Shepherd from German lines. She is starting to rebel and a little difficult to control. On her walks she likes to bite her leash, jump and go after my ankles. I recently have started to tell her no bite, give a little more lead, and ignore her and she stops. But now on the walks she does this two or three times. Not sure if this is just a rebellious stage, play, or if she is challenging my leadersh...

Hi, I have an apricot colored GSD, she will soon be 7 years old. She is adorable with people. In fact, so much so, that I have to pen her when we have visitors after a while, as she wants a fuss all the time. My problem is I can't trust her with other dogs when we go out to the local woods for a walk. She lives with a greyhound, and I lost my male GSD a year ago. She is wonderful with them, and is very good with a stray cat that has adopted us. Although I keep an eye on her with the cat...

My dog, Max walks perfectly on a leash. I can walk him for miles with one finger holding the leash, so he really is not a "puller." BUT... when he see's another dog, he goes crazy and rips the leash out of my hand, causing considerable pain and injury. The other dog and it's owner see this giant thing running towards them and they panic. I really need help with this problem. The last time I walked him was the day after Christmas. I didn't see the dog and Max took off after him and...

Hi Cindy, I recently sent you an email about my 4 month old Dachshund absolutely refusing to wear his collar. I really do hate to write to you again regarding the same problem, but I really am pretty desperate right now. When the collar goes on him, he refuses to do anything. He won't eat, drink, pee, poop, play, or do ANYTHING at all. All he does when it's on is go in his kennel and lay there the entire time. You suggested that I handle this problem with "marker training." ...

Hello Cindy, Will make this short and sweet as requested. I rescued a 1 1/2 year old female blue pitbull from being put to sleep. Sweetest dog I have ever had. She responds well to training as she loves to please. I used to train and show dogs but have forgotten how to stop her from jumping on people. The old methods are no longer used and I think they used to suggest putting your knee in the dogs chest when they jump up to greet somebody. Any suggestions?? Thank you, Jeannie

My name is Ralph. I am the Owner/Head Trainer of my own dog training business in Charlottesville, Va called Atlantic Coast K-9 Training Service. I have been a professional dog trainer for 10 years and spent several years before that involved in Search and Rescue work, so I am by no means an amateur. With that being said, right now I'm a little bit lost and need some help. I'm currently in the process of training a 10 month old Shepherd/Chow mix who is Dominant aggressive. Unfortunately, even ...

Hi, I just received my shipment of alfalfa and kelp powders. The dosage is for small, medium and large breeds. What is considered medium and what is considered large? I have an American Bulldog that weighs approximately 90 lbs. and want to make sure he is getting the correct amount. He scratches a lot (to the point of making himself bleed) and breaks out in red bumps every now and then. We think he may be allergic to grass, plants, etc. (we live in Arizona). We currently g...

Dear Mr. Ed Frawley: I found your website on the Internet, and I was hoping you would be willing to help with some advice or maybe a referral to someone who would be able to help us. I am sorry to say that we are having a problem with our Jack Russell Terriers. We have a 5-month-old male Jack Russell Terrier who we bought from a friend who bought him from a pet store called "Just Puppies." We have had our male dog for about 1.5 months. My husband bought me a 12-week-o...

Hello, My 6 month old chihuahua has a very annoying habit and I am hoping you can help me teach him not to do. When I first got him at 12 weeks old, he was perfectly fine around everyone, but one day about a week later out of the blue he just started to get extremely afraid of my dad. He will not sit in the same room as my father and he will pace around the house watching to see were he is. If my father gets up and walks into another room, my dog will start to bark and run upstair...

Hi Cindy, I have a 13 month old, 45 pound australian shepherd/border collie/lab mix that is great on walks during the day, but at night, he gets so scared and nervous! For some reason when night rolls around, he just shuts down and starts to cower, which I find odd. It all started on memorial day, when my family and I took him to the parade, he heard the guns and bands, and then he shut down. Whenever he heard a bang after that he freaked out! But I was able to get him out of that, wheneve...