Most Popular Q&As

Hi Ed, Wanted to thank you - I am a big fan of your website and DVD offerings. I wanted to ask your opinion on a particular stumbling point I am having with my mastiff puppy who is now 12 weeks old. It is the steps, she seems afraid of them, and despite my coaxing with food markers refuses to follow a come command to follow me down them or even go to the top of them. Which until today, I've passed off as something she will overcome. However, it is becoming more and more app...

Hello. I have a lab mix who will turn 2 years this October. When I first got him I took care of him inside 24/7. Since then, he has been completely an outside dog. I will be moving into an apartment in August next year (2006), and I will have to keep him indoors. I was told by family it was cruel to do that to a dog. I was told it would be taking away the "freedom" he's had. So...my first question is...Is it cruel to change an outside dog to an inside dog. Second is it okay to crate train...

My almost 5 month old miniature schnauzer puppy has been in puppy obedience class for 3 weeks. She is doing very well with her commands (sit, down, come) and up until this past Saturday has interacted well with all the other handlers and dogs in the class. However, at our last class, she growled at and bit the training instructor when she touched her feet. The bite did not break the skin or leave any red marks. I was very surprised by her reaction since she has never before displayed any ...

Hi My mother got a white German Shepard.She is 73 years old and lives alone.She wanted the dog for protection to let her know when someone comes up.She has a problem with the dog jumping on her and skinning her arms up. and nipping at her shoes. When she walks.She wants the dog but I don't think she can handle him.He's a smart dog. I thought about getting a shock collar. I have seen some from 90.00 to 450.00.I don't know which one would be best for her. She is on a fixed income. any help woul...

Ed, I have a 1 1/2 year old working male Bouvier who is defiant about taking the platz/down command. He knows it, but is giving me the finger. Any ideas? 1. Use the e-collar and MAKE him 2. Use his dinner as the food reward 3. Prong the piss out of him 4. Wait until he gets through this stage... I respect your knowledge of working dogs and this is why I am writing you. Thank you. Sincerely, Howard

Hi Cindy, Two quick questions..... Just bought two bully sticks from you.....and yes I know what they are and it makes me smile to think of it as I know a few people that might need the same treatment......but that's another story... What do you recommend for a year and a half medium - large size dog (60 pounds) who is a very aggressive chewer. Bones (real or artificial are out) rawhide bones are ok, cheap bully sticks last two seconds, and she guts stuffed animals....

Hi Ed and Cindy, I adopted a female GSD (then 6 months old) from another family a few months ago. She is now 10 months old. Her previous family trained her in search and rescue at a very young age, and I think they did this without even training her in basic obedience. When we got her, she was practically pulling my arms out of the sockets during walks and sniffing the ground the entire time. They also taught her to "speak" when she wants something, and now she is constantly whining and ye...

Hello Cindy, I was wondering if I could get some help and advice. I have a German shepherd puppy who is a few months old. Still a baby of course but we have started marker/clicker training as I do with all my dogs. The shepherds I have had in the past all matured slowly but they at least showed some form of prey drive as babies. This puppy comes from good working lines and is high energy. However, I cannot get him to chase ANYTHING. We have put various tugs on a string, including buffa...

Cindy, I'm amazed by the focused heeling video that Ed just sent out. I have a few questions. My dog has only food drive, though it's a very strong food drive. Will this be a problem for that training? Will tugs be involved in the focused heeling training? The site has jute tugs that you can put food in, would that be a good to teach my terrier mix to like tugs? I'm also wondering if the DVD would be good for dog owners not engaged in any competition training. Thanks. -Ben

My Sheriff Dept. is considering starting a auxiliary K-9 unit to be staffed by some reserve officers, to be spread into the county areas to assist the regular K-9 unit. Because the reserve officers are routinely called out to back up the zone officers we feel this will greatly enhance our k 9 dept since our k9 unit also work regular zones and not strictly k9. The Sheriff wants the dogs to do tracking and narcotics search and not really specialize in "bite," what type of dogs should we look fo...

We have a New Hope Borough officer who has been in K-9 training in Bucks County, PA for drug detection. The program is reimbursed by the County (drug forfeiture funds). The dog completed his training, and goes for monthly refresher courses. Our borough Council has yet to approve the dog for active drug detection, citing that they have found that there can be serious "liability problems" with having a K-9 program. No further explanation is given. There are many citizens who f...

Hi Ed! I'm having problems stimulating my current work dog on "passive attack." Once the stimulus is there no problem, just he does not seem to understand that "command" means action before the stimulus from the perp. Any thoughts that may help on this? Regards, Nick

Hello Cindy, I have a 2.3 year old "trained" German Shepard that need some re-training, two bad habits jumping up & trying to drag you where he wants to go (like into open door in house or auto). We got him from an older couple that couldn't keep him any longer. We've bought 3 of your DVDs (all excellent) and we've picked out some more for later. We've bought a Dogtra E collar, and a quick release prong collar Extra heavy. Currently ordered your Leerburg Dominant Dog ...

Greetings Cindy, Really appreciate all your help you guys give us. I was wondering your opinion of using a DD collar for someone that is smaller in stature but has a big dog that pulls. Historically I would automatically use a pinch. Can one replace a pinch used for pulling, with a DD collar. P.S. I really enjoyed the video on proper sizing of the DD Collar. James

Cindy, I'm trying to determine the proper size prong collar to order for my 7 month old border collie and had one question. Based on your sizing instructions, he measures a snug 14 behind the ears; this is the size I'm ordering my dominant dog collar in. However, I'm not so sure about the correct prong collar. Should I buy the 14? and add links, or go with the 18? and remove links to start? Does the difference in thickness of the links make more sense to order the larger collar as ...

Hi Ed: I just received my dominant dog collar and am wondering whether I can keep it on my GSD 24/7. I am training him with a prong collar under the guidance of an accredited trainer. I bought the dominant dog collar to have on my dog as a backup to the prong collar. But there are occasions in the house where he needs correcting and I don't want to use or leave the prong collar on him. Regards, Dick

I have a 6 month old dobe puppy that is a very good dog ,but he is lacking courage. As he gets older will he become more alert and want to defend the family? At this point he barks but if someone keeps moving towards him he wines and runs away. Is there any way to make him develop his courage. Please E-mail me with some advice. p.s. He has good lines. One of his grandparents was a police dog and another was a schutzhund champion.

We just bought an 8-week pup for family protection. We also have an older dog, (10 years), will it be OK to leave them together?

If I take my pup to protection training will I be able to have people come over without putting my dog away? I want him to protect us but not have to worry if my neighbor or friends come over. I was told that you can train them to look at you to see what to do when someone comes over. My neighbors and good friends will knock and I will say come in and I would not want that to stop. Is there a difference from guard dog and protection dog?

I have been working my dog through the DVD (The First Steps to Bite Training). We have worked our way up to the point where she is staked out and I am swinging the puppy tug in front of her building the intensity of the bite. she has been doing so well at this that I have been considering intoducing a helper to work the tug. Today I took her out to have a training session and she did well on two bites and countered good;but after these two bites she lost her desire to bite and counter a...