Most Popular Q&As

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

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 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...

I have been reading your web site and everything else that I can find on aggressive dogs. Sassy just turned 2 and is a golden from very good show lines and also according to the breeder from good temperament lines. She has had some food aggression problems in the past that I have worked on with her since we had her. I thought we had it pretty much fixed. I took her to training at 10 weeks old because of this and we have enjoyed it and been in training ever since. She has passed her therap...

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...

How do I get my high food drive GSD puppy to except food reward more gently?

I have an 11 month old husky puppy and am having an extremely hard time house breaking him. When we go for walks, he will not relieve himself until he gets to our backyard. Even when we take him out in our backyard a lot of times he won't do anything, but once we get into the house a couple minutes later he will pee in our walkway (one of two places that he will pee in the house). He knows he does wrong when it happens because he runs to his crate, no matter how many times we take him out thr...

Hi Ed, What is the difference between a dominant male alpha puppy and a high drive alpha male puppy? Thank You! Jerry

Hello, I got your email address from your website. My husband and I have a 4 year old yellow lab who recently started chewing again. We tried to keep her in a crate when she was a puppy, but when we would come home, the carpet was tore up, webbing and nose bleeding. Fairly painlessly she grew out of it for about 1.5 years. She then about 9 months ago started chewing the dining room furniture while we were away and the baseboards in the house. Bought a plastic crate so she couldn't...

Hi Cindy, Thank you so much for your very quick reply. No, the instructor does not allow prong collars in her class. She likes the gentle leader and feels she has had success with it. Her daughter is training her new dog in this class and she is using a gentle leader on him. I gather this is a personal preference issue among dog folks. But, I am more prone to your thinking. I think we will only have a problem if something excites Dante enough for him to lunge as he did yeste...

I have a 2 year old shih tzu who is can be unpredictably aggressive - she growls, shows teeth and then bites. she weights about 13 pounds. I was wondering whether a muzzle would be appropriate for her and, if so, which one should I use? Esther

Hello Cindy, It has been a very long time since I last emailed. I ordered several of Ed's videos and searched his site on quieting a barking dog. Simply put, my 15-month-old Doberman is very obedient thanks to your videos but for some reason if he hears the slightest sound outside, upstairs or even if my wife opens the basement door to talk to me for something he just keeps barking. I don't mind him nor will I correct him for barking at strangers walking by or hears noises ...

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 nightmare. 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 h...

I have a 7 month old GSD with loads of prey drive and is also displaying defense drive already. Training is going really well except for one area: Grip! I have inadvertently allowed him to have a chewy grip by throwing a ball for him as a reward during other types of training and allowing him to run back to me carrying the ball to commence a game of tug. During this run back to me he has been mouthing the ball, without me taking much notice and now that I want to do grip training I...

We have a six months old cockapoo that we got when he was 10 weeks old. We crate trained him from the beginning. He cried for a couple of nights but then took to it just fine. When I take him out of the crate, I take him outside and he will pee on command. I take him inside and give him free time in a confined room such as a kitchen or family room or on a leash. He will then go in the house again even if it has only been 10 min since he was outside. 90% of the time he had an accident in th...

Can you tell us how to housebreak our puppy?

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...

Having probs: Maybe the egg yolks on rewarming the formula. Stuff is sticking in the nipples and both the pups and I are getting frustrated. The nipple gets clogged with the fast flow vent nipple. My son sees no reason for evaporated milk if you use the yogurt/water. HELP Can you just use the yogurt/milk and drop the egg for the next week? Some of the pups seem hungry. Some will take the bottle and others fight. New mom being a pain.10 GS pups at risk DOB 4/3 Judy

Hello, I have a five-month-old Shepherd pup. I'm having issues crate training my dog. When I have to go to work, I have my pup crated. So he is crated for four hours, then I come home and take him out and walk him for an hour, then he's crated for four hours, and then when I return home at the end of the day, he's then fed, walked, and played with. Originally my problem was with him escaping his crate and then tearing up my carpet. Some trial and error, a blanket under the crate, and ...