Most Popular Q&As

Cindy, I just ordered a bark collar from you all, and I have a question about fitting it properly. My dog has a lot of extra skin around his neck. I want this to work, but am unsure about where it place it on his neck and how snug to make it. I've read the articles, but I didn't see anything about dogs with excess neck skin. I look forward to your help! ~Ann

We have a four-year-old lab that in general is a very likable dog. She has developed an aggressive behavior that is quite odd. On her background, she came from a very reputable breeder of field Retrievers and has had solid obedience training. She is quite active and strong. She is friendly to strangers and children in our yard. About twelve months ago, I noticed one day after the gardeners had been to our house, she was acting odd. I inspected her and immediately noticed that she h...

Hello! My 6 month old cockapoo is nervous when walking the trails in the park. He also does not like to walk in the neighborhood unless someone else is with us! I have tried to use treats and praise him when he gets to a certain point with no luck! He is VERY smart and loves people and other dogs... no matter the size. He has a big space in the back yard to run and chase the balls and gets plenty of exercise without the walks. What can I do to help him be more comfortable on walks and i...

We have a 110lb. Doberman. He is a 2 y.o. At night after everyone goes to sleep he goes through the house and tears up everything. We put out dozens of toys and rawhide chews to keep him busy but to no avail. During the day he has a half acre fenced yard to run in and when I am out working on the farm he has run of all of our acres. We tried the nylon fabric collars that Petco and all of the stores sell but he pulls them off within minutes and destroys them. This time I hooked the clasp aroun...

I am in serious need of your advice, I emailed you a few days ago about the blisters on my dog's face due to his muzzle, the muzzle itself isn't causing the blisters, it's the fact that he rubs his face on everything from the couch to my legs. Any who, I am considering removing all his teeth as a last option, but before you judge this decision let me give you a little background on my dog. Like I said in previous email about the muzzle my step mom contacted you at the first of the year regard...

Hi Ed, I have a 16-month old Boston Terrier and I bought your basic dog obedience training video. My BT obeys my commands very well when he is off leash at home and on leash on the street. He can stay on the street for 10 min. and the distance between he and I is about 50 feet, but I have a problem when I bring him for a walk and try the off leash work. My BT tried to run away. I trained him with a 20-feet long leash before and reduced the length of the leash to 3 feet and at last ...

Dear Cindy, I hope this email finds you well. I am inquiring on the concept of full crate submission. I recently adopted a 3 y.o cattle dog mix this past April. He has come a long way with his training but still has a long way to go. Every morning before class, he gets fed and we go on a 25 minute walk. When we get back, I make breakfast for myself and watch some TV before class. Right before I leave for class he gets put in his crate. Because of this routine, he knows when he will be p...

We have a wonderful, caring 4 year old male Belgian Sheepdog. I've done obedience training with him professional trainers over time for general commands (heel, with me, etc.). He can be oversensitive to stimulus. He is great with adults and now is dealing with his first exposure to a young infant (our grandson). He is becoming quite protective as he darts at our other dog if he goes near the baby. He even darted toward me while I was shaking a rattle in front of baby's face. He was going...

My 2 y.o. German shepherd female is getting bored when at home alone... even if just for a few minutes. She gets plenty of exercise and eats well. She is a very high drive working dog. Any thoughts on things I can do to curb this undesirable behavior? I have taken video while I'm gone and some of the things she does : she dumps the laundry, chews on a brush, takes a kids permission slip, and chews a couple foam ornaments.

We have a spayed female shepherd/lab mix named Sandy. We got her from these people at 1 year old, now she is 3. Every since we got our 7 month old husky puppy, Zoe, she has been acting weird. When we first got her, she ran away a lot, but was friendly to dogs. Now she runs away and picks fights. Her last fight we saw. We witnessed her in a yard and the dog that lived there sniffed her for a greeting and then Sandy just started fighting. She came home with a bitten ear and now she is starting ...

Mr. Frawley, I just read your suggestions on how to break up a dog fight and found it very informative. My problem is that I would like to know what to do when a big dog (German Shepherd) attacks a small dog (Yorkie Terrier)? My husband was out with our son and our Yorkie, Hoss, when a large German Shepherd jumped over a 7ft wall and attacked our dog. The German Shepherd had just clamped its mouth down on our dogs back and was getting ready to "shake" him, when my husband pr...

Hello, I have a three year old American Pit Bull. He has had Schutzhund training with a trainer in my area. He was a very good trainer but now has retired.My dogs training is not finished and not many people are willing to work this breed in Schutzhund. He is a great dog with solid nervs and has done a lot of bite work. My problem is he will not guard the yard. He loves everyone! I have encouraged him to bark at the door when someond knocks and he does. It seems like the only time ...

I have a 10-month-old Beagle puppy. I got the dog from the SPCA when she was two to three months old. She is a terrific dog, very friendly with all people and other animals. I have trained her and although stubborn she responds very well and listens. My question - I have seen her on three occasions since owning her become somewhat aggressive and always under similar circumstances. Each time it involved her finding some candy or sweets and attempting to eat it. The first time she had a piece o...

Hi, I have watched numerous videos from your website, including the Michael Ellis videos. I'm new to this type of dog training and everything else was perfectly clear to me except the transition phase. Moving from continuous rewarding to a random/variable rewarding schedule when training with food. I'm using the 'yes' marker, because I prefer it over the clicker, but I just want to make sure that when I switch over to a random (and then to variable) reinforcement schedule, will I stil...

Dear Ed, I have 1 year old black lab. I live on farm and she chews on everything...I don't like the idea of having her chained up all the time but every time I come home from work she has brought stuff from the Machine shed out into the yard and absolutely tears stuff to shreds...even when the door is shut she finds things to drag out and chew on...how can I stop her from chewing on everything without chaining her up all day long?

Ed, Training my pup for a patrol dog. Do you recommend when doing the drive exercise that I use the bite command when the dog is chasing the ball and when I reward him for focusing on it? Rick

My husband and I just had to have our 3 yr old English Springer Spaniel put to sleep. This was one of the hardest things that we have ever had to do, but for the safely of our grandchildren and other family members it was necessary. Our dog was purchased at 8 weeks old and was a loved member of our family. As a young puppy he displayed a fear of the dark that we could not comprehend. I have never had a dog that was afraid of the dark. He also would aggressively attack the vacuum cl...

I have a dog that panics during lighting storms, to the point you will never get her attention, you can tell by the look in her eye, like a drunk that has blacked out. I put her in a crate, but she has chewed the bars on the door, broken a lot of them off as well, her K-9 teeth are broken, mouth gets blooded from chewing on the inside corners off the create and bars. She digs in the crate as well during the storm, she shakes so bad her teeth rattle like a very cold dog, maybe she is in sh...

What was your opinion of the German Shepherd that was in Westminster last night (02-13-2001)?

Dear Mr. Frawley, I have a small (29 lb) Border Collie who has nipped several people when she's been off leash, and I obviously have to do something about it. I bought a shock collar for her, but that doesn't work beyond about eight feet. I assume I need a muzzle for her, but I don't know if that's the right way to go, or simply to keep her on a long leash. We have a nylon muzzle that we've tried, but she simply tugs and squirms until it's off. It's kind of like trying to muzzle a porpoise...