Most Popular Q&As

Id like to ask a couple training questions: Can you use the clicker and 'yes' together to mark? ie. Dog's butt hits the ground, you "click", then say "yes" pause and feed? Is this ok? Are there there certain commands where the clicker is better than 'yes'? Can I mix up training during day - start sit, then move on to down, move on to - stand. Mix in 'nose' or 'place'...then go back - all while being different timings of trainings and not confuse the dog? If no, then how long do you stay at...

Can an ex-pen be used successfully with an adult dog that has never been in one? Our GSD rescue 1 1/2 yr-old neutered male loves his Vari-kennel, sleeps in it at night, and goes in to rest. I rarely leave him unattended in the house and never with our other dogs, but would like to be able to use an ex-pen instead of or in addition to the VK if we travel or have guests.

Hi! I have a 10 month old gsd and we have been working on our tug game to eventually incorporate it as an obedience reward. I have purchased the Michael Ellis dvd on the Power of Playing tug with your dog and I am continuing to study it. I am very pleased with the course. The issue I am having with my dog is he won’t bring it back and I have studied the video where Michael demonstrates to tug a few times, let him have it, and encourage him to take even 1 step toward you, mark and play ag...

Hello, I have recently rescued a German Shepherd. He is male and approximately 15 months old. I have had the dog for two months and we are bonding fine and he is responding well to marker training, however, he becomes aggressive when approached during feeding, and this morning he growled at me after being put in his crate. He had not finished his food, (unusual) and crated himself (he usually does this once he finishes his meal). When I went to pet him (while he was in his crate) and invite h...

Greetings, Most of the puppy toys are not made out of burlap, I assume not to associate possible tooth pain with the texture of jute. At what age should a Schutzhund puppy be introduced to burlap? Thank you much for all the great work you do!!!

Hello, my dog has a very high food drive, which has aided us in the obedience training we have been doing as he is very motivated by it, but often, particularly if I am using a high value reward, he tends to ?hand mug? or bite at the hand to get to the food. I have been teaching him by offering the food, saying ?no? and pulling it away repeatedly if he snaps and ultimately feeding him when he is gentle. It?s not been highly effective, though. What do you recommend?

Hi Cindy, FIrst of all, thank you so much for answering my previous question about multiple people in the household and inconsistencies when training a puppy! You were incredibly helpful. I've now purchased 3 of the DVDs from Leerburg (started with "Raising your Puppy" by Michael Ellis) and am now working on Ed's, "Basic Dog Obedience" DVD. Next will be "The Power of Training Dogs with Markers." I'm so appreciative of this material! Ok - so question is, my puppy automatically offer...

Hi Cindy! I'm excited to learn more about engagement! My question is in regards to using food/toys. I understand when first teaching engagement, it is necessary to use food and/or toys, but what do you do afterwards? If you're at an obedience competition trial, you can't use food/toys in the ring. How do you encourage and maintain engagement when you don't have food/toys? Thanks!!!!

Looking for information/article/video on teaching our dog to out an object. We have 3 dogs and 2 are great at releasing the object when given the command out, however our 1 1/2 year old Mal is not so good to be nice. Any help recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

I am using dog boots on my Border Collie. How long can I keep then on her without doing damage to her paws?

Have the Educator units held up well for you...? Are they rugged?

Cindy, I have recently purchased the videos "dominant and aggressive dogs" and "e collar training" from your site. I have a 9 month old alpha female Doberman and a 4 year old golden retriever. The Doberman shows handler aggression, aggression towards our golden retriever and toward her bones/toys. I have watched both videos and we have implemented the back to basics approach where we ignore the dog for 2 weeks, keep her on a leash with us in the house at all times, removed all of the toys...

Hello everyone at Leerburg! I feed my 2 1/2 year old doberman female raw (and kibble once in a while, due to limited storage capacity in our little house). The question is: is it OK to only feed the dog once a day, instead of 2 times a day? She is about 80 pounds and I feed her about 2.5-3 pounds of raw. Would it be too hard to digest all at once? I would like to do this to increase motivation during training. She is a crazy bitter and she loves tugging but at times I need to use f...

I have an 8 month old that HAD 1 testicle that never dropped. I do not want to get him neutered. Is there a test we could do to see if he only has 1? If I do not get him fixed after 2 years is it dangerous for problems to arise?

My Lab gave birth three weeks ago. It is her first litter, and it was unplanned. She had 10 puppies. She didn't have very much milk to begin with and it doesn't seem like she has much more than she did. She hasn't been feeding very often nor does she stay in the whelping box very long. She is starting to act depressed she is loosing her fur, and is still discharging. We had her to the vet when she had the pups and we have her on a calcium vitamin and we feed them goats milk to try to take som...

I thought at one time I read that I could watch the on demand version on line from your site and if I wanted to purchase the DVD, I could for an additional fee. I have looked and I don't seem to see this info unless I am looking over it and that is possible, but is that the case? Can I do the on demand and if I choose, can I get the video on DVD for a small fee? Not have to pay full price again to get it? Thank you.

Have you ever heard of a grain based diet being the cause of Pano in giant breeds? I have cut back on kibble and adding a raw meal a day per your menu pup isn't limping as much anymore. I am trying to feel comfortable taking him off kibble completely and using your 7-menu plan he weighs 100 lbs at 6 months and is lean we can feel his ribs, but wanted to input if you think Pano is caused by excess grains or a combo of bloodline or distemper vaccines being administered to early at 7 weeks...

Dear Cindy, I'm very excited I found your website; it's so informative and helpful. I have a so-called long-hair GSD (technically still a puppy, he has just turned 8 months). The only problem that 'I'm still trying to solve is feeding. He is not a good eater. We really have to crawl after the dog on all fours around all house and try to hand feed him. He wouldn't eat from his bowl, it's a stainless-steel bowl and he is drink his water from exact same one mounted right next to the one wit...

Can you tell me what I can do to improve my my stud dogs performance?

I have a 8-9 month old 45 pound Australian cattle dog-mini bull terrier mix she is in heat. I want to breed her now at her first heat cycle to a 50 pound male chocolate American pit bull terrier. Both dogs are good protection dogs and guard dogs-good pray drive etc....Iam trying to make a designer attack/Protection dog called a "BULL HEELER " should I breed my dog at this age....what are the dangers of breeding at this age?