Most Popular Q&As

Hi Ed and Cindy, I will keep this brief as I know you are inundated daily. I have three of your DVDs (have watched 1.5 so far, as my pup keeps me very occupied and TV time is zero nowadays). I am trying to teach my 4 month old mal the place command. Well, I am trying to start that training. We have used "yes" as his marker and he knows "yes" is a good thing. I put his kennel blanket on the living room floor to start the training, but he avoids it at all costs. I've trie...

Hi Cindy, I've watched a few of the videos I've ordered from Leerburg recently. I'd like to say nice effort on your and Ed's part. I'm wondering if you can explain something as marker training is new to me. In the past I've always used "ok" as my release command. Using "yes" as a marker seems to be a little more motivational in terms of it's auditory presentation and I'm considering that. In your Basic Dog Obedience dvd Ed uses "ok" as a release. In the Michael Ellis DVDs, i...

Hello, I rescued and 8 yr old Akita from the animal shelter about a month ago. The first week was perfect and he was a great dog. After that, he has started to tear down my vertical blinds in my front picture window. I believe it is due to the mailman walking in front of it to get to the next house. In the process he has also knocked over an antique lamp which was my grandmother's and broke it. That was my fault though for not moving it. I am trying different things to prevent this...

Hi I have a 17 year old collie/ husky mix. I have owned my dog since he was 6 months old. Snoopy is very much a family member. He didn't much like when we added our daughter to the family but got over it as soon as he could follow her around and steel cookies from her hands and birthday cake from her at the dinner table. He is having a lot of issues now he was fully trained to go outside and now is leaving messes all over the house. We walk him now almost hourly since my hus...

Hi Cindy, I have begun my ecollar training after viewing the DVD several times. I have a 10 month old standard poodle. I am using a 20 ft long line during the training and feel comfortable with the stim level I am using on on her. During the outside training she responds appropriately, takes treats and toys during our 5/6 minute sessions. When we come in the house and I leave the collar on her she retreats to her bed, goes to sleep or hides in the shower and this goes on for hour...

I've looked in every subject line I could think of on the Discussion Board (which has a wealth of information), for my particular problem. The answer is probably there buried in other discussions, but I decided to go straight to the 'horse's mouth'. I have a 17 mo. Siberian Husky that is CGC and Therapy registered, and we are also training in Agility along with Competitive Obedience. With that said, she is quite smart, responsive to training, and eager to learn new activities. We r...

I own fila brasileiros and need to know a test to give them to see if they can make dope dogs. I have a litter of 10 pups 8 weeks old and wonder if they can be tested at that young age. Please advise on information or video for testing purposes. I know they can track not all but some and need the test to give and at what age. I thank you for your time. Henry

Hi Ed, My name is Niamh and my husband, Glen, and I own a 70 pound neutered bitch named Sena. To explain our situation I will give you a little background on us. I had a previous dog, Grady a male neutered black lab/rottie cross. Grady was a huge dog and at age 12 and at 120 pounds he had to be put down. Grady was put down quite suddenly due to failing organs. He was a gentle giant who in his senior years didn't want to do anything but lay at your feet. My husband and I went out tw...

Hi Cindy, My question regarding the electric collar is that I used on my dog (18 Months Pit bull) and he does fine when he is wearing it. He responds to commands but when I take it off he does not respond the same way. I got the video and collar from you can you advice what did I did wrong or how can I improve the use of the collar? Thank you. I love your news letters and web site. Adalberto

Hello, I need your expert advice in regard to one of my dogs (who is a 4 yr old male rottweiler) a few months ago my mother was walking him in an open area in the north of England, He left her side to investigate a german shepard who was been walked by some guy, the investigation became a little hostile and soon turned into a fight. The owner of the German Shepard kicked out at my rottweiler in response my dog bit his leg. Later we found out that the dog walker was an off d...

Hello, I have sought help from numerous sources (too many to mention here), including my vet. I have one huge problem with our border collie, named Oreo, she is 7 yrs old, we've had her since she was 10 weeks old. She is a wonderful dog all the way around... for obedience, etc. no problems. The problem is she is showing aggression towards our daughter who will be 4 yrs old in February. She used to be able to go and pet Oreo and help me feed her, etc. However over the last co...

Cindy, I have written you several times about my GSD, and my distraction problem with him away from home, when we try to work and I am working on this. He will do some very low key obedience away from home but with none of the energy or drive he shows at home. We were doing a little obedience work this morning in a pet store and he was his usual distracted self. I tried something just to see how he would react, here's how it went. At home I have done a lot of scent work with him, not track...

Hi Cindy, I bought a bark collar from you about 4 weeks ago and I have been using it on my pit bull because he barks a lot when outside. Soon after I started using it he has slowed down with the barking but his aggression has seemed to increase and he seems scared when wearing the collar. I was wondering if I did something wrong and whether the collar might be increasing his aggression. He was use to wearing an e-collar before I bought the bark collar because I have been training h...

I got one of your prong collars for my mother's Springer Spaniel. This is a very hard dog that does not respond to ANY level of correction on a choke collar. She is now 7 months old - at 14 weeks when I first tried correcting her by shaking her by the back of the neck it had no effect. I have one major concern. This dog (bitch) is very dominant and the prong collar is very useful for correcting her since the normal choker had no effect. I have to snap the collar very hard to get a ...

My dog chases her tail round and round constantly. Her tail is one wet mess. Is there any way to stop her from doing this? I would appreciate any way to solve this problem.

You have a very informative site. Thank you for your open and honest opinions. I will implement some of your suggestions if I ever find myself a witness to another dogfight. I notice that you seemingly have little hesitation at telling people to kill their dogs when you have no other remedy for their situations. Have you any experience with natural medicine, i.e. herbs and homeopathic, in treating some of the symptoms and causes of those symptoms, such as fear? For the patient and consistent ...

I am wondering if you can help me on a training issue? I have a GSD out of Czech working lines and am not sure what the best form of correction for her is. I am told you can mishandle these bloodlines and cause the dog to become handler aggressive and later be taken to the ground by the dog. I do not want to mishandle her and cause her to be handler aggressive, or her to be scared of me or her to continue doing what she is doing. I want a dog to want to be with me, want to work for...

Hi Ed, We purchased your puppy & obedience tapes before we even got our dog. We have followed them very closely with very good results. Our dog is crate trained and loves his crate. About 4 months ago we have been leaving him out of the crate, and he has been perfect ....until today. He tore up some boxes and papers in the basement (that he knows he is not allowed to touch). I came home to a mess and corrected him harshly. Problem is I don't know if that was the right reaction and ...

After watching your puppy video, we are working to crate train our GSD who is now 15 weeks old. I work at home, and I keep the dog in the crate in my office as I work. I take him out a couple times a day to relieve, eat, and for a short walk. When my wife gets home, about 4pm, she takes him upstairs. She does not crate him (even when he gets pesty), because she feels that the dog is more attached to me and she feels that if she crates him, he will like her less. Do you believe this is tru...

Hi Cindy, Our puppy Lucy is 15 months old, she is a very smart dog we are of course still in the process of training her. One thing that really bugs us is she will start to bark and bark it seems for attention especially if we have guests over. She seems to be doing it for attention because we are just conversing with one another and she'll bark and sometimes jump on our leg, it seems to get our attention. How do we break her of this bad habit? We do say no bark to her in a firm vo...