Most Popular Q&As

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...

Cindy, I have read the article about introducing new dogs into the home. At the current time, my girlfriend and I have two adult cats, and an 18 month old male collie. The collie is playful and energetic and not dog aggressive. I am considering getting a male GSD puppy around 8 weeks old to add to the mix. Would you anticipate the same rank structure problems with this age difference between the two dogs, or am I going to have to get a female? Thanks, Jeff

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.

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...

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...

I have had my rotty male puppy for 1 week now. He is 9 weeks old. His puppy biting is getting more vigorous and when you try and calm him down he comes back even harder. To me he is showing a lot of prey drive but how do you think I should control this biting. Will most probably do Schutzhund with him. Over the years I have purchased dog tugs, etc from Leerburg which I still have. At night around 6 pm is when he gets out of hand. I redirect which works but then he gets fixated on bare hands a...

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...

Hi. Watching Power of Food. Watching Michael luring to a stand and then sit. I understand the lure and reward, but I don't hear him say sit, just the motions. Am I missing something or not hearing it? Thanks.

This is a follow up question to using a tug for reward. To this point, my 1 year old lab engages well, takes the tug on command and enthusiastically plays and outs well. The problem I'm having is the return. As long as she is on a long lead, she never bales but her returns are unenthusiastic. She will also try to play keep away or stand in place and shake the tug or drop it a few feet away from me. I tried to shape with food but the moment she realizes I have food she drops the tug. I have...

Hi Cindy, We have recently acquired a GSD girl who is 12 weeks old. She is a good girl and learning but becomes very excited and wants to play when my daughter brings her 8 month old spayed female dachshund over to visit. She also wants to play, but the GSD stands much higher than her and mouths her. I have kept her leashed and don't allow her to continue the behavior, but the dachshund bears her teeth. We want them to eventually become friends, just after some advice. We also have an olde...

I live in Maine and have a 22' x 32' indoor kennel building with concrete floor and walls. There are 12 individual kennels inside. The building is heated and has floor drains. I have found in the winter, I get lots of moisture build up inside. I'm wondering if you have experienced similar problems and how you have dealt with the excessive moisture.

We have 3 male dogs. We have purchased your DVDs and learned SO much information on those and through your website. (Apparently we did a lot wrong in the past but we are moving forward thanks to you.) We feel your information isn't mainstream enough and that everyone who gets a dog should watch your DVDs. We would like to get a prong and then e-collar for our 10-month lab/coon dog mix, Duke (he's one of two we recently rescued). We don't feel clear on if we should get a prong collar, and how ...

Good morning, As always, all your reply emails help us make our pup a better pet and working dog. First I would like to say that the idea of a Leerburg University sounds great. For folks like my wife and I, I think it will beat having to purchase DVDs. On another note, I have a question about verbal commands. I'm aware some choose to teach their dogs in multiple languages. I was in search of another language for my verbal commands as I feel my dog doesn't always know we are talking t...