Most Popular Q&As

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...

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.

I'm being considered as a new patrol K9 handler with my agency. I've never worked K9 but I do have a 7 year old retired K9 at home as a family pet. When I got him he was very anti-social and wouldn't let anybody get close to me. Now through extensive training he's adapted very well as a family dog and is great with my wife. One major issue with him is that he displays his type- A personality towards other dogs in an aggressive manner. My fear is that if I am to start working a new K9 dog, ...

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...

My question concerns rewarding for an odor 'find' during NW. I am having a disagreement w/nosework trainer who is certified in NW, but does not have an obedience training background. My dog is conditioned to my verbal marker, and when I give it he instantly knows he's giving the correct behavior, and that he can expect a food or toy reward momentarily. Per my trainer, we are not to give direction to the dog during NW practice, but she apparently believes this includes verbally marking the wan...

Hi Ed, I just ordered a dominant dog collar and a 3 series DVD that you had recommended in one of your QAs. 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 6ft 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 we had...

Hi, I had a quick question about a health issue in my 10 week old puppy. He has only dropped one testicle (cryptorchid) the problem is I don't want to have the dog castrated. He is a GSD from working lines and I bought him the intention of doing personal protection work with the dog. I am also working with a professional trainer. I have tried talking to a couple of vets including my own. The only solution they offer is time. It will drop or it won't is all they say. Vets are very eager to ...

Hello Cindy, After trying all training methods, at what point should an owner consider using a bark collar for a younger dog? The dog I'm considering on adopting is an 8 month old English Cocker spaniel. The current owner has allowed me to keep him for a trial period. I don't reprimand when he briefly barks for his dinner as he's a typical Cocker and loves his food or when he's outside and sees other dogs. However, I've filmed him while I'm at work and have observed him barking most of th...

I have a 5 year old intact male Shepherd (30 inches at the shoulder and 110 pounds)who is aggressive toward other dogs, both while we are walking and when he is in the yard. Part of our yard is well above street level and Liam uses it as a vantage point to watch for dogs and to a lesser degree, other passers-by. He will become totally focused on the approaching dog and will charge in their direction, so I keep him on a long line to be sure he stays in the yard for that reason. When we are wal...

My 9-month-old Cavalier King Charles has been eliminating outside successfully for the past two months. He rings the doggie bells we have on our door or barks when he needs to eliminate and he generally defecates at the same time (morning and before bed) everyday. Recently, after we took him outside to play, when he came back into the house, he defecated on our carpet (this was mid-afternoon, and we had not changed his feeding schedule). He gave no signal that he had to go out - no bell ringi...

I have tugged a number of times with my dog, but I am hesitant to fully develop my dog's tugging skills because her mouth always bleeds slightly when we tug. She acts as if nothing is happening, and she continues to tug. Even when I tug lightly with her, she still bleeds. Is it common for dogs's mouths to bleed while tugging? Is this something I should go to the vet about? Thank you.

I recently purchased the DVD "8 weeks to 8 months" which has been a great training aid. I wanted to ask at what age does Ed typically recommend to spay his female shepherds? Thanks in advance, John

Ms. Cindy, Which of the prong collars is the sturdiest? I plan on purchasing a 2 clasp lead when I purchase the prong collar so that I will have a lead on a backup collar should the prong collar fail. I'm working with a 10 month old 170# English Mastiff that is still 100% puppy but also incredibly strong. Anyway, please let me know which prong collar you feel will handle the most stress. Thanks, Brad

Hi Cindy, I would like to ask what is the appropriate feeding temperature of a raw diet? That is, do I serve it straight from the fridge or at room temperature? Thanking you in advance. Best regards, Dennis