Most Popular Q&As

Ed, I read your article on dog on dog aggression and I must say I agree with you 100%. I have owned and bred Kerry Blue terriers for the past 20 years. I find dogs I raise myself have very little dog aggression but when they do they are usually on leash and seam to be trying to protect me. I usually just use the leave it command and they fall back into heel position. I am VERY protective of my dogs because of the once bitten twice shy affect. Plus the fact the althoug...

Ed, We have a 7 year old Beagle and a 14 year old Cocker Spaniel at home. We've had both since they were puppies, but we got the cocker first. They have gotten along up until about this past year. Lately, the Beagle has been attacking the Cocker Spaniel. She's a hunting dog, so she's fast and gets a good grip on the other dog. Out of the blue, she'll lunge at the other one and attack her, without ever letting go. When we try to drag her off, she takes the other one with her. It doesn...

Hello, I have recently rescued a 7 year old Staffordshire Bull terrior/Jack Russell, her name is Penny. She is well behaved and has understood from the off that I am master. I was told she was dog aggressive and I am confident enough and usually able to distract her we she sees other dogs whilst out on the leash. However, yesterday as I walked round a blind corner another domesticated dog came with it's owner, Penny instantly lunged and bit the dog around the snout before I could react, th...

Hi Cindy, I have used some of your videos and they are great. I have a 3 year old Shiba Inu and I am having problems with putting flea treatment on him. I know that you are not advocates of flea treatment, but I haven't been able to control the fleas through other methods. Last time I put frontline on his neck he was very distressed, snapping and crying. I think its fear rather than aggression. Overall, he is a well trained dog, very polite, and a pleasure to live with. He was stubb...

Hi, I have a 4 month old GS puppy that since 8 weeks, has been eating his poop. We follow him and clean up, but sometimes he gets some we didnt find. I feed him Blue Buffalo, and give him GNC brand No Poop pills. He seems to have a sensitive stomach, as I changed high value treats to your red barn and he gets diarrhea. For this reason, I am hesitant to change food. Thanks, Melissa

Hi, I have a nearly 4 year old female spayed GS. She seems very high drive, as explained by the breeder. Bloodlines from Europe. She aims to please and is very good and trainable. We want her to bark at cars and people coming to yard. She barks at the night critters but never people or cars. I once saw her bark at my Dad that was unexpectedly in the trees one day. She is always loose on property, never runs away, and has a beaten trail around the house that she seems to be protecting. Whi...

Two weeks ago we adopted a 3 1/2 yr. Golden Labrador dog for free, from a reputable kennel. Before deciding on the dog, we asked: - Is he well behaved around people, other animals? Since we have 2 children, 2 birds & a cat, the dog had to have an excellent temperament around other animals and children. - Knowledge of commands, what? - Name, Address & Number of previous owner. - Medical History, shots, neutered, dates shots were last administered. - Exact breed lineage. - V...

What is the best way to teach a puppy the "stay" command?

We are having difficulty getting one of our dogs to stop counter surfing and going through gates which he has now learned how to open. In almost all cases he is doing these behaviors in search of food. We do a pretty good job of keeping food off the counters but this guy is relentless. What sorts of things can we do to address this nuisance behavior? I don't want him to eat something and poison himself. His appetite seems to have no limit. He has already eaten himself sick once when he broke ...

Hello, and thanks for your wonderful website and training materials! You have already made a huge difference for us in dealing with our 3.5-month-old GS/Rottie mix. Sorry if you have answered this question elsewhere but I couldn't find anything on it. Our problem is that our puppy happily poops and pees on our property, but she will not do anything away from our property! We live in a pretty rural area and there are lots of places along our walking route where she could relieve herself, but s...

Hello, I have an 8 month old 80 pound labradoodle. He is intended to become my service dog, but for 4 of his 8 months I have pretty much been unable to train him in any manner that requires physical interaction on my part. Yes, he can be out of control, but in general he prefers the attention I give him and behaves himself. He is very energetic and hunts out all possible items he can chew, then literally eats whatever he may find. This includes his harness!! Simon has chewed through 3 h...

I have a 2 year old black lab mix that chases any thing that moves and will take off and not come back until he is ready. I do not want to use a prong collar. I think it is cruel. He doesn't pay attention when he sees a bird or anything else. HE listens to come when leashed but when unleashed he doesn't. What can I do.

I have an extremely aggressive 2 year old Brazilian Fila male and a shy female of the same breed. The problem is the male. He is very sweet to the family, you can take his food when he eats, he wants attention like a puppy but when seeing strangers he becomes wild and dangerous, almost out of control from anger. I physically stopped him a couple of times in the past in the middle of an attack. I worked with him when he was younger on the basic commands, 'sit', 'come', 'down', but not enou...

Hi, I searched your site and couldn't find an article that pertained to my problem so I thought I'd just e-mail you. I have a 4 y/o border collie/gsd mix and a 9 year old chow mix (both rescued at 9 mo). I made the mistake of introducing Wicca (BC) to Tuesday (chow, who was 6 at the time) the old fashioned way (muzzle the both of them and let them go at it). But what is done is done. Now, they have lived pretty happily together for 4 years, but they do have a lot of dominance issue...

Hello, My name is Deanna and I have a question about the dog my fiance and I have. He is a two year old mix breed, possibly has Lab and Springer Spaniel along with something else in him. He weighs about 80 pounds and for the most part is well behaved when we are home. We got him when he was approximately 11 weeks old from the Humane Society in Menomonie. We made the mistake of not kenneling him while we are gone. We close off a back porch where he stays and put his kennel back ther...

Cindy, I talked w/ Donna today and she requested that I write you for advice on which e-collar to purchase for my dog. Charley is a 15 month old miniature poodle, about 12 pounds. Charley is a an extremely active, athletic dog. We do a 3 or 4 mile run most days. He?s not aggressive, very social, a poodle, but a ?soft? dog, mild and loving most of the time. He?s probably the best dog I?ve ever had. I am working w/ Charley steadily on obedience training, aiming for trials for CD ti...

Dear Mr. Frawley, After reading most of your articles and email answers, I did not find anything on point that would help with my dog's behavior. I have a 15 month old spayed Black Lab named Lexi. My husband specifically picked her out of the litter because she was a very confident dog. We knew she was going to be a dominant dog and immediately crate trained her and joined the local dog obedience club. She was the star pupil in every puppy class and is the most well behaved dog whe...

I have a 2 year old non neutered belgian malinois. He is 95 pounds and is very over aggressive. He is 75% narcotic trained. He just bit a child, not a sight I would ever want to have seen. Luckily he didn't break any skin, however he has become aggressive to a maximum. I don't want to get rid of him, but I have no choice. The only other option I have is to send him to some doggy boot camp. He follows my commands all the time, except we he is aggressive. The only way I would keep him is if...

Hi Cindy, I've purchased all of the Ellis DVDs and the Basic Dog Obedience DVD and the Marker Training DVD but still am unsure how to train the basic "stay" command - whether in a sit or down. All of the DVDs seem to assume the "stay" command has already been taught to the dog. Anyway, can you assist in how to teach the "stay" command so that I can move on to some of the more skilled obedience commands in the DVDs with my Dutch Shepherd? Thank you!

I have a 1 year old Old English Sheepdog. We originally wanted to get one because of how they are supposed to be good with children and other pets. All was well until he was 10 weeks old and was attacked by a Boxer adult in the town. He was dog shy for quite a while after this. At 5 months we took him to "Super dog" recall training classes, as with all other training (sit, tricks) he would listen, but not come or stay when called. This class took 6 weeks, once a week, and we continued the ...