Most Popular Q&As

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?

Hi, I just wanted to let you know I read almost all of your site. I was trying like mad to find out what to do after our dog nipped our neighbor. Our dog was a 2 1/2 year old cattle dog. She was a humane society dog and took to us right away. We extensively researched the breed before adopting and were prepared for all possible problems. I'm a decent runner and jogged the dog about 12-15 miles a week. We have a fenced yard and did a stint of organized training. She has never been g...

I have a 7 mos old giant schnauzer female, my third giant -- so I'm familiar with the breed. My problem is that she has suddenly started barking and growling at people (who aren't accompanied by dogs). But it's unpredictable. In a large crowd, she accepts strangers and tolerates the attention. It's typically when only one person approaches, or passes by even at some distance, that she will bark or growl. Also, it is unpredictable: first she'll let three people pet her, and then suddenly ...

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...

Hello Ed. When is the most appropriate time to start Training a golden retriever basic commands? I have read a lot of your articles on training and don't want to do any damage to her personality. We have been working on getting her to walk beside us during short walks around the block but we were told to invest in a choke collar to get her to stop pulling on the lease. She she is now 16 weeks is it to early for all of this? Thanks in advance. Lisa

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...

Does the remote collar hurt my dog?

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...

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...

Hi, My name is Lisa and I have been training dogs for about 40 years, I'm 48. This is an issue I can't figure out and of course it's my own dog. We bought our Mal 2 1/2 years ago. Great dog. very high drive, sweet temperament. Great at obedience and agility. Here is the crazy part. We bought new furniture 2 weeks ago, the day after I got home from the hospital having surgery (I was in hosp. for a week). We got a couch and 2 recliners. Dirk (our dog) is terrified of the noise the recliners...

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!

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...

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 ...

Hello Mr. Frawley, Thank you for all the advice you provided a few months back. We did get the dog back from the pound after the biting incident and got a crate, a prong collar, your training video and one of the books on your web site. We have been training him, but my husband feels the prong collar is cruel and makes the training sessions with it difficult because he says 'I use excessive force on the poor bastard," I think not. He behaves a lot better after a training session wi...

When I use my electric collar can I have my dog's other collar on without it effecting her? She would be wearing either collar a prong collar or a fur saver collar. I would assume it would be okay. But id rather be safe than sorry. Thank you for your time.