Most Popular Q&As

Hi Cindy, first off, thank you for this wonderful service that you and Ed provide! My question is : I have a 16 week old australian sheperd/poodle mix. She plays too hard and approaches other puppies/adult dogs friendly but then wants to pounce on them and play very roughly. Some pups view her play tactics as aggressive and want nothing to do with her. We are enrolled in a 6 week puppy class that allows playtime and the trainer is working very diligently with my puppy. My puppy is on a ...

Hello, I have a question about 2 female rescues we adopted a couple years ago. They are supposedly littermates, and at the least have been together since they were puppies. They've had a history fighting, but lately they have become much more violent. A fight yesterday required a trip to the vet for wounds. I've read on the site that adopting two dogs from the same litter can be problematic. But given we are already in the situation, is it worth trying to go through the "Groundwork to beco...

Hi Cindy, so my working line GSD he is 5 now. He’s is trained, I would say intermediate level/ But he has this issue when we are at home only. He will grab a rock in his mouth from the backyard then goes and place it in positions all around the back lawn and digs. Some of the trenches are 500mm deep. The only way I stop him from doing this is by locking him in the laundry when I'm not home. Although he is less likely to do it if I am not home. But if I get home let him out the back ...

Hi Cindy, I recently acquired a German Shepherd pup at 7 months of age. He was started in obedience work and drive development from the kennel I purchased him from. He was originally being developed for police work or high level sport. I just want him for family companion / protection work. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to develop this pup from 8 weeks old into my training and drive development or capping where necessary. When I received him he didn’t have bite inhibition o...

I recently got a male Doberman and he's 3 months old now. Yesterday I got a golden retriever (2 months) but my Doberman keeps standing over him and biting him. My golden retriever and Doberman seem to be fighting over food as well (even though I give them both separately) I don’t know what to do and he (my dobie) doesn’t listen when I tell him to stop. Please help.

Hello-I have a 4 month old GSD and I am very aware that they can be vocal/whiny/barky however, I am determined to prevent this behavior via management and controlling his environment. When he sees certain dogs in the neighborhood (large, fluffy) he does a bark when he is not engaged in something/activity. most of the time he sees a dog, looks and easily can move along, but certain larger fluffy dogs can elicit a bark. So far the bark doesn't turn into anything more(it's a bark or two and I ca...

I have an 5 yr old rescue with the impulse to ingest inappropriate things he finds - like bark mulch chips, etc. He has puked up sticks the size of my thumb and I am worried he will cause himself a lethal internal injury. I have tried the standard "leave it" and now he just swallows faster. How can I get him to understand that this is undesirable/unacceptable behavior? He is muzzle trained so that I can permit him some off-leash time but other folks treat him like he is Hannibal Lecter. Ot...

Hello Cindy. I really hope you can help us. Less than a week ago, we got a 9-week puppy cockapoo. He is wonderful in many ways, but he really bites when putting into a crate. He also very nippy and saying ouch does not work. Today during playtime outside, when the puppy was on dog run, he started to run around like crazy and growl. Could you please advise me on how to deal with this behavior. I worry for my children. Thank you

Hi Cindy, About a month ago I adopted 10 month old intact male Min Pin. For the past month I have worked on just like trick training for fun and stuff like that to build a positive relationship. He is exceptionally food motivated and catches on to things very quickly. However I'm really struggling with loose lead walking (flat collar). He is very inquisitive and has a ton of energy. I don't have a large yard for him to run prior to working with him. Should I carry him to the park and exerci...

Our German Shepherd pup is 14 weeks old, now, got her at 8 weeks. Bought the Leerburg Come When Called video, and your puppy video, 8 weeks to 1 year. Recently , off leash, mainly outside with distractions and around our horses, puppy is ignoring the come when called command. Suggestion? Too soon for off leash? Goal is a family pet, that comes when called.

Hi Cindy. All is going well with the Dutch Shepard pup thanks to your support. In an early segment of the video you recommended. An ex-pen is recommended. Unfortunately the pup has been able to climb out so it keeps trying. Would you recommend an even higher one (ours is about waist high) or another method for keeping the dog around activity but not always trying to escape. Many Thanks,

My puppy is 10 weeks old and is already engaging really well, even in new places and with small distractions. I plan to continue socializing him by going to new places and doing engagement, with progressively more difficult distractions. He's an Australian labradoodle and obviously doesn't focus as intently as the high drive malinois I've seen but I imagine it continually improves with practice. I'm wondering when I should start luring and shaping behaviors like sit, down, look, etc and in...

Hi again! I have a dog that is 7 years old. I trained him at Petco and he passed the Advanced Canine Good Citizen test 5 years ago. I was never taught how to fade food rewards. He now only really listens to me when I have food rewards and checks out after I reward him. In the Basic Obedience Course, Frawley stated that if I hadn’t moved to a variable and random reward schedule after 2 years of a fixed reward schedule, that I would not be able to fade the rewards. Will I need to use food r...

Hi, Cindy. I know you guys bred GSD for many years. I have your Whelping video and I am watching it again. I am building a kennel and training facility and I would like to ask for your advice. How important is it that the Dam be completely separated from the presence of all other dogs during whelping? What I mean is, can she be in the same structure and within earshot, but totally separated and secured from other dogs or do you still feel this is too stressful for her? It would be...

Hi. I'm trying to choose a tug toy for my 8 month old GSD. He is a tough tugger. I want something strong, yet small enough to stick in my pants pocket to have on me during training. He has a pretty good grip. There are so many to choose from!

Hi Cindy, We have been primarily using prong collars with our pups since early spring. We live in Canada, and a part of Canada that gets extremely cold. One of our dogs is a big powerful guy, who we are working through reactivity with. The prong has been a great tool. I was thinking today that cold metal might not be the best idea in the winter, and I believe a plastic pinch may become fragile in our temperatures as well - probably not good for our e-collar batteries either (ca...

Cindy we got a German Shepherd puppy at the age of 4 weeks we were told he was 8 weeks old back in August of last year every time we correct the puppy he pees on the floor as well as now is chewing up items that does not pertain to his toys what could be the cause of this. I have a feeling it is separation anxiety. He only choose things that have our scent on it. He is now 11 months old will be a year next month on the 26th what can we do to prevent this from continuing any suggestions or ide...

Hi - I have a 1 yr old Brittany and she digs on her bed -most dogs do the scratch n circle and then lay down - but she scratches/digs and doesn't lay down. This is worse when she is overly tired. How do I help her / correct this behavior? Currently if we go to her and hold her paw and calm her she finally relaxes. Thank you

I have a now 4 month old (European) Doberman puppy. We have done a fair bit of crate training, and he sleeps in there at night, and readily jumps in with a treat. He doesn't "hate" the crate - but since day 1 when he came home at 10 weeks old, he HATES being locked up and not being right by you or what interests him. Barking and throwing a fit since the day he came home unless he's flat out exhausted, and sometimes even then. There is plenty of play, exercise, training, enrichment, etc. H...

Dear Cindy, we have 2 dogs (a 5-year old Beagle/GSD mix and a 4-year old Australian SD/Lab/Black retriever mix, both males) which have been exhibiting increasing aggressive behavior issues over the last 3 months. I am not sure how to identify what type of aggression it is (fear, frustration, or simple prey drive) and therefore what type of training/counter conditioning would be the most suitable one. Indeed, I suspected fear aggression. However, I learnt in one of Michael Ellis' videos that ...