Most Popular Q&As

Good morning, I've just recently adopted a 8 month old female husky. Her precious owners were Hobbie breeders, and she was kept in her kennel constantly. I have no other behavior issues with her beside when she is kenneled and I'm not home she becomes frantic and will try to destroy the kennel. What is the best way to recreate train a puppy that panics in their kennel? If I am in her eye sight she will lay in her kennel with the door open or closed with no issues. She will engage in relax...

Hi Cindy - I am a new student of Michael's videos for my puppy I pick up on Monday. He is a 10 week old German Shepherd. Should I buy him a Kuranda bed he will grow into or start small?

My 15 wk GSD is confused and I know I caused it. She takes the down as I am trying to use spatial pressure to push her into ‘back up’. I don’t name it til I love it, so I have successfully Named/marked ‘Down’ with her . It’s just the movement toward her that I think confuses her. What or where should I ‘Go back’ and focus on to truly distinguish this for Her.

Hi Cindy, I‘m about to get a male puppy in 2 weeks and the breeder told me now that the pup has a small umbilical hernia which is not congenital. Would you still consider getting the puppy or not?

Hi Cindy, In the Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 12 Months video, it is described to use the exercise pen for the puppy. At what age is too old for the pen? We used ours up until 4 months of age and then stopped but started again 2 days ago. What age is it recommended for while in the house? We are having considerable issues with hierarchy struggles with our puppy and lunging/biting. (Puppy is 18 weeks old now). Thanks!

If I have two dogs and separately they know their names and respond to commands, how do I get them to respond to commands when together depending on whose name I called out? For example, if they're in a sit and I say "Lexi, come" I only want Lexi to come and Roxy to stay seated. They're getting confused when I attempt this. I want to keep the motivation high and not use "no" every time the wrong dog responds.

Hi, I am looking for a video on how to teach a dog to fetch (retrieve an object, bring it back to me and drop it in my hand). I hope to be able to teach that dog to retrieve all kinds of objects, even a set of keys. Would you have that?? Thanks

I am interested in purchasing the Training the Retrieve with Michael Ellis DVD. Particularly to get my dog to be better at delivering to hand. I am not a fan of "force fetching" and a trainer recommended this web site to me. My question is: If I am not familiar with "marker" training, will I need to to buy 2 DVDs? Or is there another way to learn "marker" training without paying another 65 dollars? Also, how much time would I need to dedicate to marker training before I could start th...

Hi, I have a female two year old Daschund that we rescued from another owner. She is a wonderful dog and gets along with my other two dogs. The problem is that she poops in the house. She will pee outside no problem but for some reason, as soon as she enters the house, she will poop on the carpet. We don't have a fenced yard so we take her out on a leash, many times a day. It has gotten to the point that we walk her straight from the door to her crate. That is no life for a dog. Please help!!

Cindy, I recently switched my 2 GSDs (a male, 3 years old & a female, 10 months) to a raw diet. It's been 3 weeks now. I have no issues w/poop, etc. Both love it. My 3 year old's teeth are already white again! And his coat is softer & shinier. I feel pretty confident in my meal prep, but I do have a question? Have you heard of dogs being allergic to chicken? I ask, because both are scratching like crazy, especially at night. Today I remembered that when I got the male, the breeder had ...

I have a question regarding my three and half year old Belgian Malinois. I got her when she was about two and a half years old wandering the streets. When I first brought her home over a year ago, she would urinate in my kids' bedrooms and my closet. I assumed house breaking issues so I purchased your eBook on housebreaking and followed the steps there several times, always having to start over. I recently got married and that has made the problem worse. My wife found that she had urinated ...

Good Morning Cindy, My 2 year old female was bred to my male (1 tie) and she had a false pregnancy. Vet said I could try again she is in good health otherwise. I have been researching the issue and have read conflicting information, some say yes it is safe to try again, others saying false pregnancy will happen again. My female has Leerburg breeding on her 5 generation pedigree stormfront on her 3rd. Have you ever experienced false pregnancy and if you have, have you had success in a secon...

Can a dog get a blockage from raw legs? Someone I know has fed raw for years and her 10 year old male just got sick and died. Vet said it was a bowel blockage? I started feeding this way and now am concerned.

Hi Ed, I just ordered a dominant dog collar and a 3 series DVD that you had recommended in one of your Q&As. My question is, my husband doesn't like to have a huge crate hanging around in our house, is it possible to substitute the crate for a 6 ft lead tied either in the dining room or our bed post, to follow your instruction on establishing pack leadership in our house. The only other option is to have the crate in our daughter's bedroom. I want to start from scratch, even though w...

We have an 8 month old Golden Retriever that is training with a prong collar. We are happy with the training results, but hate the dark ring and the broken hair that results from this collar. I have been on your site and wanted to know if you think the curogan collar might be the answer for us. Thank you.

In the Leash Reactivity video, Tyler talks about frustration as one of the sources of leash aggression, but never mentions how to fix it. The reviews on the paid course say that it is not addressed there either. Can you give me some suggestions on strategies to help a dog that is confident and secure, and just wants to play very badly with every dog he sees? Or point me to any resources?

Hi Cindy, I have an 8month old female Belgian Malinois. When I take her out of her crate to go outside, as I go to put on her harness or lead she jumps around and sometimes mouths my hands. I would like your advice on how to best handle this situation and if I need to put a slip collar on before she gets out of her crate? Thank you in advance :)

Hello! I love your videos and guidance. I do have a question though. My 14 week old Boston Terrier puppy ONLY jumps on my two year old nephew, and in her excitement, she scratches. It is hard to train her out of this because we see my nephew only every few weeks. I know we don’t use positive punishments, but in the moment she’s jumping, what can I do? I don’t want to put her on a leash and pull the leash and make her leash shy (we rarely use the leash and so she doesn’t have enough po...

First of all, I want to express how thankful and grateful I am with the content that I've purchased. It really improved my game and the bond with my dog. I have a question about luring; my dog keeps licking my hand extensively while luring him (trying to get the reward, or at least taste it, I think). How can I stop this behaviour without damaging the lure work? I would like my dog to just touch my hand with its nose during the lure without licking my hand. Many thanks in advance.

Hi Cindy. I hope this question makes sense. I am looking for a little guidance on how to use what I've learned in Michael Ellis's e-collar course. I think I understand his process of introducing it: verbal command, followed by stim + leash pressure, escape upon compliance. However, I haven't really used leash pressure to teach any of the behaviors ME suggests using leash + e-collar for: foot targets, down, back. We taught those with luring and shaping only. I do use a prong and leash pressure...