Most Popular Q&As

Hi Ed, I am contacting you from England. Boy, I wish I had seen your website before we bought latest dog. We have a 10-year-old female black lab and a 4-year-old male lurcher/labrador/collie cross, when we first introduced him to her I was told by many people never to put a male and female dog together, however we were very lucky and apart from a few spats at the beginning they have lived together quite happily for 2 years. Both are very placid dogs and although the lab shows aggression...

I am a civilian trying to learn how to train my dog for search & rescue work. I have already spent quite a bit of money on instructors, videos, & classes. I have an 11 mo. old GSD who learns very quickly. The problem I'm having are so many opinions on how to teach tracking, air scent; AKC, SCHUTZHUND, etc. Who's right??? After reading some of your articles it seems to me you make the most sense. Fortunately, my dog hasn't had enough training with any particular method of search training as I ...

I have a 2 year old Border Collie mix rescue that is extremely nervous and fearful. I got her at one year old, and have been working with her for the entire year we've had her. We do not have any history of her before we got her, other than she was very underweight. She now weighs a healthy 65 lbs, and is on a raw diet (with Honest Kitchen). While we have made some really positive progress, and she has gone from a dog that was almost impossible to live with to a (mostly) very enjoy...

Can you define fight drive for me?

I came across your site on the Internet and found it very informative. I was wondering if you might offer me a suggestion for my scenario. I have a 9-month-old female Weimaraner that I just recently had spayed. I have taken Sierra just about everywhere that I can. Since she was 8 weeks old (she recently completed her CGC training...which turns out to be ironic). Sierra is very protective of my home and barks when she sees anything close to our yard. Recently I have trained her to bark onc...

Dear Ed, I live in Shadow Hills, CA, a livestock/horse keeping area in northeastern Los Angeles City. This is a foothill area and there are lots of horse trails connecting through open areas. I have shown dogs, trained them, and bred a few litters so I understand the variations in the breed temperaments. I would like your opinion on this situation. Last year we suffered a dog attack on our rabbitry losing 20 animals. The dogs came over 2 fences onto our property. Within a few weeks our ...

Hi Cindy, I have several Michael Ellis DVDs purchased from Leerburg and really enjoy them. My problem is I have been working on the retrieve and send away (Michael Ellis way)?but recently, when I tell my female to "bring" the dumbell, she thinks all she has to do is go out and touch it (like in the send away) and come back for a tug reward. She was doing good until now. I think I will quit working the send away until she gets the retrieve down better but I am looking for help to solve ...

Hi, I have a 2 year old female GSD that is almost ready for her BH title. I say almost because when she bites the sleeve or decoy, she becomes extremely aggressive. When she goes to bite, she starts growling and tries to shred the sleeve or suit or she tries to pull whoever is on the receiving end to their knees. She has gotten a hold of the handler/decoy few times on purpose also. Her obedience is excellent, but this level of aggression isn't acceptable for a Schutzhund trial. You can't t...

I've watched many of your vids on youtube. I thought about protection training and decided I was afraid that my dog maybe a liability. Recent events: my ex, a recent former pack member, broke into my residence in a violent way. My 7 month old german shepherd did not react like she does with a stranger. She is very high drive and intimidating by barking and lunging at doors and windows. He beat me for a long period until the police arrested him. I know she was confused but she did not ba...

My GSD is 7 months and I am starting protection training. Is it a hindrance to the dog to have on a agitation collar vs agitation harness? I just want to get the best out of my dog when he is doing bite work. Thanks

Ed, I don't know how many experienced handlers start with a puppy vs. buying a started dog for Schutzhund. Personally, I rarely have the patients to raise a puppy in the hopes that I picked the right dog, and don't have any prohibitive health issues. I have bought and studied all the dvds through retrieve training, and feel like these are great DVDs, but are basically geared to people raising pups. I was wondering if you and Michael couldn't devote an entire DVD to converting adult dogs co...

Hi, Last year a family member rescued a mini-dachshund vet estimated him at 4-5 months old from an abusive situation. The people in the house were being rough and generally neglecting him, allowing him to run loose and get into garbage, he was regularly "spanked" and smacked upside the head. In short these people lacked all common sense. When I got this pup he was obviously extremely submissive, submissively urniated at the drop of a hat and flopped on his back if a person even stood up...

Hi Cindy, I have a 13 week old female German Shepherd. I have the Michael Ellis DVDs, and overall she is doing great with them. Currently we are on the engagement stages still, and she is doing better and better, but still has some focus issues. She stays focused most of the time, but I have to watch her closely or sometimes she will check out and it takes direct interaction to get her back (Eg, food passing nose, small pop on leash, etc). Note that this is in familiar environments...

Hello Ed, I am training my puppy - an 11 month old GSD - in SAR, and I am a beginner at this. A few days ago she did something very bad - she ran after a deer and was gone for 15 minutes. I know that this can only get worse, and I want to nip it in the bud ASAP. Do you have an article or a video that addresses this? I have received conflicting information from other trainers and the internet, ie: 1. Get an e-collar and correct her. (Sounds good, but how do I get a deer to coop...

Hi Cindy, sorry to bug you, I need a little advice, I was doing some imprint work with my 4 month presa canario this morning using a clatter stick and leather rag, and as I was doing exagerated movements with the clatter stick my pup accidentaly leaned into the clatter stick , and I hit her eye and muzzle, she didn't wimper or get hurt but her prey drive was gone immediately and she became shy of the leather rag, I'm not sure how detrimental this could be, what would you recommend I do ...

I know you are busy but I would appreciate some feedback from you regarding treat rewards. I am currently training my two year old rott/shepherd mix, a family pet, and will soon start training a GSD for police work - I'm a deputy sheriff in Oregon. I've done my homework on many different types of training methods. Most seem to be useless for my purposes. I doubt a strong tempered/dominate dog would really respond to those types of training which are geared for the politically corre...

Hi, I and my 17 week old GSD pup are in obedience class. I have been working with him in healing as well as trying to get him to keep his eyes on me. I have been using bits of hotdog and dropping them from my mouth when he looks up at me, as well as saying "watch me." He does this more when not moving, but not all the time on a heel. What do I need to do different? Or do I need to continue this as I have been doing. Thanks, John

Ed, You are a wealth of knowledge and we are "lucky," yes lucky to have you... Thank You. I am asking for your knowledge and wisdom today... Here's my problem... 2 days ago I was in Emergency with my 18 yr. old son getting his faced stitched up after Dragon bit him. Dragon was lying on my bed (don't even say it... I know about the bed). Jeff was walking into the room, at about a foot away from the bed he lunged up at his face and did a full mouth bite to his face. ...

Hi, I've been watching your videos and they really helped me to realize what is normal with puppies. We have a 6 month old female Rottweiler we also have 5 children ages 15 to 6. We did puppy kindergarten at 8 weeks and then at 16 weeks we did a 4 week training class where we dropped her off 4 days a week and brought her home every night at 4pm. We still go back for training 2 times a week together for a half hour. My problem is when her leash and prong are off she forgets all her training...

Hi Cindy, My 1 1/2 year old Shih Tzu has just tied with my male 3 times over the past 2 days, which where all due to not being under my watch I may add (husband and children). Will she have a large litter? I'm concerned because it has not been a year since her last litter. She only had 3 that time, but they where between 6-8 ounces at birth.