Most Popular Q&As
September 30, 2023
Should I let strangers pet my puppy that is in training as a Search & Rescue dog?
I have a new 5 month old Belgian Malinois that I am training with the goal of her being a future search and rescue dog. Just like many Malinois, my pup is super cute and thus everyone wants to pet and give her treats (even with a vest that says working dog do not pet) but I personally don't want her to see every human as a treat and pet machine but of course, she has to be "socialized" as one day she will be tasked to associate finding people with her toys/rewards.
In the future I want he...
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August 1, 2023
My puppy stared at me when I pushed her off the couch, is this a sign of dominance and if so, how should I handle it?
I have a 5-month old malinois mix as a house pet. I want a calm submissive dog in the house. I use your streaming service to build trust and engagement. She loves games, waits patiently at all doors, makes eye contact, and is crate trained, and has learned the “place” command. I also let her jump on the furniture at her own discretion. I watched your video on Pack Structure and I’ve decided I only want her on the couch if I allow it. She jumped on the couch (and on me) and I told her ...
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September 29, 2014
If we feed our dog raw chicken and he happens to bite one of our free range chickens will he associate the food in his bowl with the live chickens on our property?
If we are feeding Natural and Raw diet, we would like to know if we feed chicken and our pup/dog should happen to get his teeth into one of our free range chickens on the same day, would he associate what he ate in the bowl to what he just tasted that was alive. We understand that he needs to be trained to ignore them and plan on doing that, just curious if he would associate the food bowl chicken with the live chicken if he tastes both during the same day. The pup is a GSD.
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April 14, 2014
My 6 month old GSD doesn't have any interest in biting a tug or a towel. As an 8 week old puppy he was very good at biting. Should I forget about doing Schutzhund?
I have a 6 months old GSD Working Line puppy, at 8 weeks he was very good biting, but now he doesn't have any interest on biting tugs, a towel or something else, I have been using the techniques on The Power of Training Dogs with Food and he is chasing the food very nice and no issues with the food, tones of food drive, what should I do differently? Should I forget about him been a Sch Dog as the protection work might be an issue? I watched a video from Michael Ellis saying that some dogs sho...
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October 24, 2013
I've been working engagement training for 2 months and my dog whines a lot. Should I correct him for this?
Ed/Cindy,
I have worked for past 2 months using your "engagement" methods, which I feel is the right way to train. But my 17 month, high energy male lab mix whines far too often that is very disappointing. He whines in the house, he whines when we visit neighbors while he is on leash, he whines on walks on leash. Is it still all about "engagement"?
To date, I have not really corrected his whining, although I really feel like some very hard corrections is what is needed, is it? I use a ...
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July 11, 2013
Two of our males bred our female in heat, will the litter be viable?
We breed Coton de Tulear puppies. We have the mother and father. We also have a boy from the first litter. The female is in heat. We were keeping the boy separated but mother and son locked last night. The sire has locked before and after. When the female and sire mate they usually do several times. Is the litter not viable? What do I do???
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June 13, 2013
I have 2 puppies (age 6 months and 3 months) and everyone seemed to think this was a good idea. They are fighting quite a bit and I'm not sure what to do. Should I give one pup to a friend or is there hope?
Hi Ed and Cindy,
I read your article on why not to get two puppies. Very informative. Unfortunately I have done this. I got one puppy first, waited until he (male) was 6 months, and then adopted an almost 3 month old puppy (female). They are both maltese/yorkshire terrier mixes. Almost everyone I talked to said this would be a good idea. I was wondering if you had any extra tips as they are not the exact age and not from the same litter or parents. You mentioned in the article to never lea...
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January 7, 2013
My dog has a bad hip, can I still play tug with him? Is playing tug hard on the joints?
Cindy,
I'm interested in purchasing The Power of Playing Tug to help grow my training with my cattle dog. However, he is 7 years old, had been in an accident with his previous owner, and has a somewhat bad hip. I was wondering if playing tug is hard on the joints?
Thank you!
Ellen
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December 5, 2012
I have an 11 week old GSD puppy from strong working lines and he's very smart and catches on to things quickly. I'm interested in training him to be a good companion and personal protection dog, which videos would you recommend? You have so many, I'm a little confused on where to start.
I have a 11 week old GSD that comes from strong working lines. So far he's one of the best puppies I've ever had. Super smart and catches on to everything very fast.
I see you have a ton of videos... And I'm interested in purchasing whatever ones I need, but I'm a little confused on where to start. I was thinking your video "Establishing Pack Structure with Your Puppy."
I did notice he's a little more "nippy than other puppies I've had."
Can you recommend the videos I should start wi...
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October 18, 2012
I am thinking about purchasing some tugs for my 4 month old. Which tug would you recommend?
Hi Cindy,
Thank you in advance for your advice. I very much appreciate the help.
I have a 4 month old border collie/aussie and I am thinking about purchasing some tugs for her to play with. She loves to chase a long rope and catch the end of it, and she is very quick, but it is hard to get her to out the toy. Would you recommend using the furry fleece tug (she loves furry animal toys), the synthetic puppy tug or the leather puppy tug?
Thank you.
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September 4, 2012
My female was spayed 3 days ago while she was in heat. She also had a hernia repaired and a rabies vaccination at the same time. Is it normal for her chest & stomach to be swollen?
My dog got spayed about 3 days ago. While she was being spayed, the vet said that she was in heat and had to get her hernia repaired. She also got her rabies vaccination. Is it normal for her stomach and chest to be swollen up?
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August 31, 2012
How do you introduce a puppy to a flock of chickens?
Cindy,
I have a client who just purchased a super nice male pup from us. They have 25-30 chickens and want to introduce him to the chickens... What would you suggest as the best way to do this? Thanks in advance.
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August 17, 2012
What if you protect yourself from a charging dog and the owner accuses you of animal cruelty?
I am referring to Ed's article, What Would I do if Attacked by a Dog?
After you pepper-spray a threatening, loose dog from charging at you and your dog, what if its owner denies his dog was unleashed and accuses you of animal cruelty?
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March 12, 2012
My 10 year old dog recently started showing signs of aggression towards our 11 month old son. We don't want to resort to get rid of her but his safety is more important. Is there anything else we can do?
I have read your article about introducing dogs and babies and I found it helpful but I still have a question. We have a dog who is about ten years old, Lady. Lady has never shown signs of aggression towards anyone until recently. My son is now 11 months and Lady has suddenly started growling at him almost every time she is around him. When she isn't growling it is like she completely ignores his presence, she even jumped on top of him when getting into the car one day. We don't want to resor...
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October 31, 2011
My dog is totally disinterested in other people. She'll obey others' commands when I'm in the same room, but becomes withdrawn and slow when I'm not. I'm unsure if this is a problem or not and if it should be corrected.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Frawley,
Firstly I would like to give my thanks for your website. The free articles and videos have been an immense help in training myself and my dog. I was clueless about training dogs, and my dog took full advantage of my weakness in that area. After reading your Q & A sections and your training videos, I immediately set down rules and began to enforce them. I noticed a significant change even after the first day and the improvement since then has been nothing short of...
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August 4, 2011
Our 8 week old puppy is a voracious eater and is growling and guarding his food. Should we correct him for this?
I recently purchased a couple of your training streaming videos (Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs). They are very helpful and we enjoy learning from them, and I'm sure I will be pursuing others over the next several months as we train our little guy.
I recently received my new Malinois puppy and he just turned 8 weeks. He is a voracious eater and is guarding his food and growling. At 8 weeks old should this be corrected and if yes what would you re...
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June 13, 2011
My beagle got an English bulldog pregnant. I would like to have one of the puppies but the owner of the bulldog said they will be selling the puppies and not giving me one. Do I have any rights to the puppies?
I have a pure bred beagle that got an english bulldog pregnant, which belongs to someone else. I would like to have one of the puppies since they are also my beagle's puppies. The owner of the bulldogs has told me that they are going to sell the puppies and will not be giving me one. Do I have any rights to the puppies?
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May 30, 2023
I have 2 dogs. How do I handle situations where one of my dogs inappropriately overcorrects the other one?
Hi Cindy! I have a 7 year old female fixed lab mix who is balanced, social, and all around great dog. I also have a 3 year old male hound mix (fixed) who has struggled with reactivity. I am very proud of our training with him - he is now neutral to dogs, people, and other previous triggers and his obedience is very strong. In this training, we did a lot of groundwork to provide structure and leadership in our home.
However, infrequently (once a month or so), my younger dog will correct my ...
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May 23, 2023
My Puppy Won't Recall When He Has A Ball?
Our puppy has developed the habit of not coming when lose in the yard (fenced) at home. He is especially bad if he has a ball. In Obedience and agility, he has a pretty good recall - actually listens quite well in class... Then when he is out with a ball he has no interest in treats. Our trainer/breeder did suggest giving him his daily food only by hand as a reward. If he does not do enough to get rewarded with his normal food portion - do we feed him the rest at the end of the day?? Do...
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April 12, 2021
I have 2 questions. Is there a difference between the “leave it” command and the “yuck” command? Also, I was watching your video of teaching Meru to swim and I noticed you offered a reward to have him release his ball instead of giving him a command. Was this because of his age?
Hi Cindy.
Thanks for your videos. Exceptional! I have two questions:
I'm trying to determine if there is any distinction between a "leave it" command versus a "yuck" command. I've done some cursory research, but there is divergent information from sources that do not adhere to marker-based reward training. I trained my last Shepherd with "leave it" as a universal command to, well, leave it. So, is there a difference?
Also, I was watching your video training Maru to swim, and I noticed ...
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