Most Popular Q&As

Below I have put my thoughts in email after reading your section on dominant dogs. I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas. I broke my comments into sections. My dominant dog: 1. Bedroom: My dog slept in the bedroom for first 6 months She is now 18 months and has been sleeping kenneled for the last 12 months downstairs away from master bedroom. She is not allowed to be in our bedroom. 2. Toys: She will 'drop' a toy if I command her to. She used to fight for it. This seems...

I have a German Shepherd (not from you), he is 14 weeks old. After 9 weeks both of his ears stood up, not straight up, they actually leaned towards the middle quite a bit. However, a few days ago his left ear just went down and has not gone back up. Does this mean that he has a broke or lame ear now? This has me really worried since both ears were up, but now one won't stand. Is this normal, or did he hurt it some way? Will it ever go back up or not? Thanks for your help, and answers. Otto

I recently bought Michael's DVD on teaching the retrieve. She's all about retrieving, but she chews on the dumbbell. I switched to the PVC pipe like Michael suggested in the DVD. I've been working with her for two weeks using the PVC pipe and I'm not seeing any change in the chewing. I've tried reinforcing the hold by giving the command again and using my hand under her chin to hold her head up. She still continues to move it around in her mouth. Also, she's a maniac when she runs out to retr...

Cindy, I had emailed you quite a while ago with a question about a GSD female that used to love tugs and bite work, but suddenly stopped. You mentioned seeing the vet and chiropractor, which I did but still didn't seem to fix the problem. What it ended up being was a hormone imbalance, she had a "deformed" ovary. She had been left intact until this past week, and when performing the spay the vet noticed the problem. It was very large and misshapen. It was biopsied and was not cancerous, bu...

I have a problem with my three week old Yorkie. He was weighing 14.5 oz three days ago. I started your formula yesterday and he loved it. He gained weight. I was so happy, but he is still twitching and has lots of seizures. I feel helpless. I called the vet and they said he might have a shunt liver. Is there anything I can do to help him? I really don't want to put him down. I don't sleep, I feed him every two hours. Please help my babie Yorkied (AKA Peewee).

I have a new puppy. She is approximately 3 months old, HavaPoo. I have noticed in the last few days, she is showing some food aggression tendencies. I have a 15-year-old Yorkie/Poo and both are fed separately. Puppy fed in expen on the opposite side of the ex-pen from where the older dog is fed, which is outside of the expen. I want to thwart this immediately.

Do you have any training or suggestions to train my dog how to go for the ball and not the rope when using the ball on a rope toy? I have a Rottweiler with a huge toy drive. I would like to use the ball on the rope as a training aid for reward when training him. Right now, he keeps going after the rope and not the ball. I purchased the ball on a rope with the handle at the end from your site. I was hope you can point me in the right direction. Thanks.

Do you have any videos for working with super high energy dogs (usually happy, exuberant pit mixes in my area), perhaps a video with systematic protocols for helping clients? Thanks again!

I understand the reasons why a normal family or protection dog shouldn't be socialized by having strangers touch or feed them. My question is: how does a person socialize a puppy to be a therapy dog? This will involve being touched, hugged, handled, petted, fed, etc.- by children especially- (since the dog will be a READ therapy dog- http://www.therapyanimals.org/R.E.A.D.-Program.html#Q5150). Do I still just keep puppy in the vicinity of others and her attention focused on me, or do I nee...

Hi Cindy, I searched your site and could not find info specific to my situation, so here it goes. I bred a litter of pups this time last year. The pup I kept from this litter is 10 months old now. We have been having a difficult time housebreaking her. She continuously eliminates in the room were the ex-pen was kept were the pups lived until 8-10 weeks old. Right on the same spot (area) in the pen (when it was up)for poop/pee. The ex-pen was divided with sleep area, play/eating a...

I have a yellow lab which I'm trying to breed for three days. My family decided to breed her and vet told us that the fertile days are 9-13th. We tried the tenth day to breed her with another 2 year old lab, but he didn't know what to do.He licked her and did all other stuff, but he didn't hop on her. We were trying with that lab for three days in a row, but nothing happened so we tried with another 5 year old black lab. His owners said he mated before, so we thought it's going to be easier. ...

Hello Cindy, I feed my female GSD raw: meat & bones only. I started a week ago. But I am not sure if I could mix meat of different animal in one meal. For example I give her chicken quarter & ground beef together. Or chicken thigh, chicken gizzards & beef liver all together. Could you tell me please if it is OK. She seems fine & very active, but I always doubt my actions when it concerns her health. I also noticed in your menu that you do not give many bones. I give my girl chicken qua...

Hi Ed, I have just come across your great and informative website. I have a question that I have asked many GSD helplines but never really got the answer. I own 2 German Shepherds that I bred last year both at 3 years old. My bitch was contracting for several hours and ended up a C- section. We brought her home with 10 huge healthy pups . I put the pups on the bitch every 2 or so hours as she did not seem to know what to do with them . After 18 hours and several feeds she seemed to be acce...

Mr. Frawley, first let me start off with I am a big fan of your training videos I have 2 right now and plan on getting more soon. My question to you is this I have a 9 month old German Shepherd purebred who is in great health except he is very skinny so much so that i can see his ribs through his coat pretty easily. The vet doesn't know why he wont eat. I have him on a strict eating schedule. 9am 3pm and 7pm. I don't leave his food out for any more than twenty minutes tops. As of two weeks...

I noticed that on your website it says that the Honest Kitchen brands verve, force and embark are not made with intense heat? does that not hold true for the keen brand that Honest Kitchen offers? I've also been reading up on the harmful effects of vaccinations and I'm seeing it's not good for my dog? but this is my problem? When I take him to the kennel they require that he be up to date on all vaccinations. I have not seen any kennel that does not require that, at least anywher...

I'm pretty much at my wits end. I'm what I would consider an experienced dog person; my age, my life, etc. I have a foster Golden; 6 yr old, SF...she came to me with some serious issues. She is storm phobic, has "separation anxiety," etc. etc. A behaviorist nitemare. If left outside longer than she wishes, she will rip the siding off our house. The timing can be five minutes, or fifty...the trick is figuring out how long is too long...letting her in BEFORE the behavior starts. She ha...

Hi Cindy, My new 2 year old GSD/Malmute rescue is frightened of the crate (possibly used for discipline) for reasons we can only speculate. He is gentle and well-mannered, but our real problem is when we try to leave him at home for several hours alone. He has a "temper tantrum" and the house we return to is a mess. Is restricting him on a leash when we go out a option? Any ideas? Thank you, Alan

Mr Frawley, I understand you get lots of emails with questions on dog training. I admit I need help. Here is my story. We adopted a puppy from a rescue almost 2 years ago. Our older dog is of unknown breed, we where told collie/hound mix (female), but I do not think this is true. I have worked very hard with this dog, and she is truly a wonderful dog, but from reading most of your articles I think we need to revisit some training. which I will do gladly. We have adopted another dog, 2 m...

Hi Cindy, I hope you can help me with an issue. I have a 4 year old American Staffordshire Terrier who has her TDI and CGC. She is a rescue that I got at 10 months old and when I got her I was advised the rescue group used to let her play with the young dogs and puppies, because she was soft with them. My brother and his girlfriend brought home a male pup from the HSUS about 8 months ago. The pup (Harvey) was about 4 weeks old and already neutered when they brought him home, so he defi...

Mr. Frawley, I have a raised and sold a litter of nine working German Shepherd puppies. I feel eight of the puppies had good temperaments. They were what I would call pretty HARD. They are not sensitive to correction and come back at you when you correct them or play rough with them. One pup is very sensitive. She has the most INTENSE prey drive and also is VERY food driven. However, she is very sensitive and will respond to a sharp "NO" or a quick shake on the scruff (this ...