Most Popular Q&As

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...

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 ...

Dear Ed, I am a first time dog owner who recently purchased a toy poodle puppy at 8 weeks old. She is now 12 weeks. I got a toy breed because I live in an apartment and because this is my first dog. I chose a breed in which I thought would be easy to train and be a good house pet. Even from 8 weeks, I started doing basic training at home, and she very quickly learned to sit, down, stay, and come (although she really only comes consistently when she knows I have food). She seemed li...

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...

I have a year old German Shepherd, and seems to be aggressive towards little kids. I have had him since he was 7 months old. There are no children in the house, just 3 adults. He has not been professionally trained, just basic trained.. like "No," "sit," "shake" etc....He has never showed any aggression towards adults, just kids. He will bark and try to bite kids. I hate locking him in a room while little kids are around. I think it might be the voices of the kids, that he doesn't like. He is...

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

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)?

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...