Most Popular Q&As

Hello Cindy I have a 3 year older female Border Collie and am hoping to get a new puppy in the future. Do you have any advice on how to introduce them successfully? For example, should I keep them separated in the house for the first few days so that my adult dog realises that she is not missing out on anything and can gradually get used the idea of sharing the home? My adult dog ignores strange dogs outside, except when they come rushing up to her or me, in which case she charges at ...

Hi Cindy, I have an almost 5 month old female golden retriever puppy. We got her 3 weeks ago. She pulls on the leash when we walk outside and I just started training her to walk on a loose leash this week. We started in doors and progressed to the backyard. She’s making some progress. My question is, at this stage can I still take her for longer walks before she masters loose leash walking? E.g. a walk in the park or in the neighborhood? If she can’t manage to walk properly with the di...

Would you recommend Honest Kitchen Preference + meat for a 10 month old German Shepherd weighing in at 80lbs? Would this be balanced for a growing puppy? Or is it best to feed one of their "balanced formulas" until he reaches full maturity? If so, is it OK to just add a variety of cooked meats with it and that is all? I would also supplement with fish oil/vitamin E, as usual. Thank you!

Hi Cindy, My husband and I have a spayed female mix, approx. 1 - 2 years old, we adopted 5 months ago. We have a dog door that gives our pooches 24/7 access to our fenced backyard, so they are able to go out to do their business as needed. Our two older dogs never defecate or urinate in the house, and this younger one does not about 95% of the time. It's that other 5% that I'm trying to figure out how to resolve. It would seem she knows she's supposed to do her business outdoors, as that'...

Hello, My otherwise very sweet, well-behaved and house trained cavalier puppy (9 months) has started urinating on our bed frequently. Especially when I'm washing the sheets and the duvet and mattress are bare. She is crated during the night but is allowed in the bed for snuggles. I've ruled out medical issues as she seems fine the rest of the time. Is this a dominance issue? What should we do? Thanks

We have a no vac, raw fed male who is 4 years old. His Dad was no vac but his Mom was given vaccine. He is strictly a pet. We have one of your E-collars. Recently he decided he would NOT go for a walk with me. Only if my wife goes will he go out the door for a walk. If I try to take him, he flops down and no amount of stern commands, yanks on the prong or delicious treats will get him up off the floor and out the door. Would you recommend using the E-collar to break this habit? Put...

I got your puppy package of 4 DVDs and enjoying them. High quality production values and great info. I am on marker training one now.... one piece of info I have not yet found.. is how much time to train on a daily basis? I am retiring and getting a 3 1/2 month old standard poodle... I have lots of time to walk, train and be with him AND I do not want to over train. How much time each day should be spent "training" as he grows up? Mark

I have a 5 month old Goldendoodle that picks up everything he finds. He swallowed a 12" long stuff-less toy about a month ago that had to be removed surgically. He loves socks and underwear, and yesterday he got ahold of one of my daughters headbands, but fortunately he vomited up this morning. We try to keep things picked up but he just seeks them out. What can we do? I don't want another $2800 vet bill. Thanks, Tim

Good morning, I am needing some new ideas to help get one of my dogs through a particular situation. I teach puppy socialiazation classes and am very familiar with clicker training. I also show in conformation and this is the arena where I am having the problem. About a year ago one of my young females was terrified by a judge in the ring just as he was coming up to her for her exam. During this year I have used the clicker to help her with focus and to have people come up to her and pet ...

Hello Cindy, I have been following your training advice with my 18-month-old English Lab, gently starting when he was 8 weeks old. He is doing pretty well and we continue to work on commands and manners daily. I don't like for visiting, screaming, small children to have access to my dog, and definitely don't leave him unattended should family members bring kids. In fact, I remove him from the chaos when the kids enter the house. Friends with bratty kids believe there is nothing wrong with ...

Hello, I have a question regarding a 15-week-old female working line GSD. We are currently working on engagement on a leash, distraction-free. Although there is a slight glimmer of progress, shes got a ways to go concerning behavior on the leash, in public places. Next week she goes into Vet for her puppy shots. The last vet visit two weeks ago didn't go so well. She barked excessively at the receptionist as she kneeled to pet her. (let's see, the comment I got was, " what do your German ...

Hi Cindy, I have a 4 month Rhodesian Ridgeback (45 lb) who wants to sniff everything on leash walks, on public sidewalks and on my own acreage. I walk him 3x per day (10 min) before meals, in addition to various potty breaks. He eliminates on his own property (not on walks) and I would like walks to be steady. I try to redirect him to me, mark and move, followed by a high value reward. Often times he is not pushing for the reward and prefers his nose to the ground but will otherwise redire...

Hi Cindy, We have a GSD puppy, now 15 weeks, got her at 8 weeks. We bought an expen from you, and the video by Ed on raising puppies. We had a previous GSD male who we lost to a brain tumor at age 8 last year. However, we got him at 4 months so did not experience some of the challenges with a younger puppy. 1. She gets quite aggressive late in the afternoon, about 4 pm, and is all over my wife when they go out for potty, etc. she bites, grabs legs with both paws, etc. Dinner is about 5p...

I am trying to teach leash pressure and when I put pressure on the leash to guide my dog backwards, he always sits rather than move backward.Advice on how to change that?

Hello Cindy. In 3 months I'll be getting my 2nd Cane Corso (pup). Recently my 10 year old Cane Corso passed away. I stayed on top of his training from day one with the help of your DVD and online articles and the result was a dream of a dog and companion. My question is about teaching a pup that YOU own the food. I have read you say that you leave your pup alone with their food and once it's down, you do not touch it. So does it all have to do with age? I would have thought you'd want t...

I adopted a GSD about three months ago. He is about a year old, and arrived emaciated, and an anxiety disorder that left him chasing and yelping for his tail, and when caught, proceeded to bite it bloody. Your content, including media and prose, provided tools that perhaps saved this dog’s life. Thank you. I have gained a strong interest for protection sports, and would like to introduce my dog to it. I am unsure of the distance we will reach, but our determination is unwavering. I notic...

My question is about Michael's explanation in the video Training the Recall with Michael Ellis when working with the e-collar at the 39:36 mark. Michael explains what needs to be done. Turn on the collar.Call the dog.Guide the dog with the leashAfter the dog turns into our direction, we will turn off the collar.So my question is: Why do we stop the collar immediately after the dog starts to turn to our direction, and not just after the dog standing near us? Couldn't it be that the dog ...

I take my dog to a training group where we train for an 1hr once a week it's mostly fun stuff, since we finished out good citizen scheme. But I still struggle a lot with her food drive and after about 45mins at training she just switches off and refuses all the treat I offer. She also will refuse to play at all at my training club. I've worked a lot on engagement, making her work for her food. She just has very little interest in food (sometimes she doesn't even want breakfast or dinner after...

Hi Cindy, I train dogs in the UK and have recently been helping a family with a 7 month old Frenchie. When I first went round it was because he was showing aggression over food and objects but not just his own. If anyone had food he could show signs of aggression toward them. The family was getting ready to move house so there were boxes around and he started to guard the boxes. He was a nice dog but he jumped up, pulled on lead, barked at dogs on lead as well. We stopped all of those t...

I was wondering if you could provide some more information about the Michael Ellis On the Road event that is being held at Leerburg in December. How does this program compare to the various courses offered at the Michael Ellis School for Dog Trainers? Is there a certification offered after completion of this event? Does the format of the class include both lecture and hands on work with dogs?