Most Popular Q&As

Hello, I have a male GSD that has just turned 3 years old last month. He has been worked by me as a Police Dog for the last 1.5 years and has proved himself in all areas of Police work other than actually biting anyone. He has had a number of opportunities to bite both on and off the lead but on each occasion has not taken the bite. He has jumped up and investigated the arm of a feeing criminal and has barked aggressively at an approaching criminal but failed to move forward and bi...

I would like to get a German Shepherd, but I am out of the house for about 12 hours a day five days a week. I would have to leave him locked in a crate until he was fully house broken. What is the maximum amount of time a dog can be left in his crate? Thank you, Mary

Greetings; I have recently purchased a GSD puppy. I'm keeping him at the kennel I bought him from one month ago. He's now 5 months old. He's the alpha male of his litter, and very protective. Whenever any dog comes about 2 meters from us (him and I), he starts barking uncontrollably. I haven't trained him yet, since his breeder considers 6 months being the ideal age to start obedience training. He barks at any dog he doesn't know, big or small. Another breeder told me his barking reflects ...

I have a Australian Shepard/Rottweiler mix dog, he was born without his right eye. I picked up from the pound because the previous owners other dogs were too aggressive towards him. I was married when I got him and my ex-husband was not very nice to him, I never saw him hit Jack but Jack would stay down stairs until I got home. Shortly after my husband left me Jack started nipping at peoples ankles. He would sneak up behind them nip and run with his tail between his legs. When I'm not hom...

I just read your article about breaking up a dog fight. I loved it and thought the information was wonderful. I wish I had read it 6 mo. ago. We had 2 sister females, had 2 terrible, terrible fights and finally had to put them both down for being too aggressive. The fight wouldn't have lasted nor been as traumatic to the family had we had your information. Aside from this, I'm hoping that although this has nothing to do with your web page, praying that maybe you can help. I cant find any info...

I am a 40 year old woman who has always had dogs - all kinds of dog. I particularly like dominant dogs in that I want protection (I live alone). My experience has been with Dobermans (females - love that breed). Recently I rescued/adopted an almost 2 year old Giant Schnauzer who was apparently left to his own resources for 20 months. He did not have proper human bonding, was belligerent and arrogant when first here but has come around somewhat. I have worked him daily with obedience; I pr...

I know you probably don't hear a lot about these dogs, but here goes: I purchased him from a private breeder (mother very sweet, siblings all looked fine-clean home, etc - husband and wife stays home with dogs. We brought him home and everything was fine. He would play bite was the only major thing I noticed in like the first month. About a month after we got him, some relatives came to stay for 6 weeks temporarily with us. They have 2 children, ages 2 and a half and 6. Both of the childre...

I have a Dutch Shepherd and a Malinois that I train for usar and ring sport. Is the Educator ET300 appropriate for them? The picture of the bichon and the '5 lb and up' makes me a bit nervous that this model may not be the right choice. Can it be effectively used on large dogs? Thank you.

I adopted a Boston Terrier from FOHA a week ago. He is a sweet little guy to everyone he meets, and loves to give kisses. He loves car rides, walks, toys, sleeps in a crate and is not food aggressive. He plays well with my 4 y.o. F Boston, but snarls at my 15 y.o. M Westie. He is estimated 5 y.o. and neutered. But, HE BITES!! The 1st night home, he jumped up on my daughter to be petted and he was licking her face. Evidently she touched him somewhere on his back or belly and he swung around...

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...

I currently use a prong collar with my german shepherd and it was in the back of my mind that these could come apart. I saw your video. I also saw the video on fitting the dominant dog collar. My question is, in using the two together, in case the prong should separate, would you get a dominant collar that was a little larger, since it is being used as a backup and not for correction? Or is there another type of collar that could be used? Thank you, Kathy

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...

I'm suffering terrible from guilt. One week ago I put our 9 year old Fox Hound to sleep. He was a wonderful dog to the family. We got Gage when he was 5 months old from a local animal shelter. He was very fearful of people. When we brought him home he stayed in his kennel for 3 days, except when we physically removed him to go potty. Once he warmed up to us he was great! Very loving. However, he was always very shy around people. When he was 1 we took him to the vet, because we not...

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...

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...