Most Popular Q&As

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...

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?

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 ...

Hi, We need guidance. Our lab is struggling with leash reactivity (due to frustration), and we are trying to set him up for more successful approaches/greetings with other dogs/people. Off-leash he is much better but those off-leash environments are few and far between where we live. Please recommend a DVD or academy that addresses this topic. Thanks.

Good morning. I have a situation that I need help with please! I have 2 female dogs. The dominant one is Spanky (lab and Dalmatian mix) who is 12 years old. She has osteoarthritis in her hips and does have pain. She isn't aggressive at all to people but she has increasingly become grumpy and jealous with my other dog and the cats (just growls at the cats and they walk off). Sophie who is 4 years old (Great Pyranees & Australian Sheppard). She is a big baby and just loves everyone. She has alw...

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 ...

Hi Cindy, we have spoken before. We are getting a Malinois puppy probably the first part of March. I am interested in ring sports, mainly mondioring. What characteristics should I look for when being first introduced to this or all puppies? Not all dogs are suited for this type of sport, thus my question.

I have 3 yr old shepherd, in April our 12 year old Belgian Shepherd passed away. Since then our 3 year old has had increased anxiety and is aggressive toward outside people coming into the house (not family). At one point, she did not walk any further than 5 houses away on our block. I have gotten her back into walking. Prior she was great personality, friendly to people coming and going (comfortable in her fur). She has anxiety attacks. Any suggestions would be great. I had 4 prior shepherds...

Hi Cindy, I have a 15wk old Shepherd pup. He has decent possession and will chase a ball, rag, sleeve. He arrived at 10wks of age and would grip and carry toys/objects well. As he's developed he has become very chewy, especially on the jute puppy sleeve. This has transferred to the leather rag but not the softer squeak toys. I can pull the sleeve/rag out of his mouth with only minimal effort. Obviously I do not want him to learn he can't win or that the sleeve is always going to be ripped ...

Hi Cindy! Thanks so much for all the helpful info you've shared. We have a 2.5-year-old male GSD who has always been a major barker when he hears someone outside our house – especially other dogs. We and our trainer have been trying to train him out of it and thought we were seeing progress up until recently. He developed a scary habit where upon hearing someone outside, he not only barks but quickly goes after our other dog (a 3-year-old Malinois) as if she were the threat, even if she ...

My 17 month old dog has travel anxiety, she pants and won't relax in the 2nd seat of our SUV. She is in a safety harness and can lay down. I tried a name brand herbal calming product which did not seem to help, I'd like to avoid Benadryl or vet Rx. Chew toys or treats are ignored. Would it be o.k. to use the e-collar to break her thought process, say as part of saying down, (she ignores commands when so agitated) or would a tap or click make things worse? She didn't have any trouble tra...

I am getting a 8 week old Belgian Malinois pup in a couple of weeks. At what age do you recommend that I begin feeding him bully sticks?

Here's one a good many of my friends, both general owners and breeders are having. It doesn't matter if the offending Male dog has been fixed since it was a pup or if its still intact. The problem begins with an obsession with a female dog in the household and then you have a male suddenly lifting his leg and marking. How do you handle this behavior to put a stop to it?

Hi, I have a question on our new puppy...his name is Toby and is 9 months old. We recently got him free from another family. He's a great dog, just having small issues with him. #1 and main issue, he hates all males (human). He can't stand my boyfriend (he lives with me) and this is from when we picked him up. He shakes uncontrollably with fear, barks, howls, growls and will even bite him when he goes to pet him, walks in from work, is anywhere around. We've tried giving him treats when he...

Who manufactures the Educator collars? Is the company known to honor their warranties with reasonable labor costs and/or handling fees? Does the company stand behind its products?

Hi, First I would like to thank you in advance if you take the time to read this! My boyfriend has two three month old american pitbulls. They are brother and sister. They always want attention at the same time and you can never be with one but you need to be with both. Even if you are with one, as soon as the other one sees it will come over. The problem though is that the female dog, is extremely dominant over her brother. To the point where she will always being the fight, take his f...

Hi, I am about to get a second dog and I was recommended by a trainer to train the second dog in a different language in order to avoid command conflicts. I would like to know how do you guys feel about it? Thank you for your time

Hi Cindy, I have a 3 month old female Rottweiler, she was weaned onto kibble by the breeder. After reading your website (among others), I switched her onto a raw food diet and she's loving it. Best thing is to watch her open an egg for herself! I'm a bit worried about feeding her fish. I know it's good for her, but does the same thing apply to fish bones as to other meat? That they're safe when raw, but brittle when cooked? What I'm getting at is can I feed her whole mackerel-type fi...

I just purchased Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet DVD and I don't understand what 'full crate submission' means. My dogs are going in & coming out submissively, however they still have moments when they cry/bark, especially at night. Jane

Hi, I have been training dogs for over 40 years, both in obedience and in conformation for show and now I'm stumped. We have two dogs, a 7 1/2 year old Bullmastiff male and a 10 1/2 month old Mastiff male. Both dogs are still intact. The older one was recently diagnosed with first stage renal disease and neutering is not an option. The younger one is a very good show prospect so neutering him is also not an option. Neither one have ever been used as a stud dog. The older dog was trained...