Most Popular Q&As

Cindy, I've read all of the articles on your site and have viewed the "Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months" DVD. My puppy has been through groundwork, is crated, and is always on leash. I always make him/wait sit before we go thru doorways BUT... Lately, he has been going wild on me when I take him out to my yard. After he does his outside potty business he will run at me at top speed and bounce off me. Sometimes he will come with mouth open and clamp on my arm (but not hard). ...

I got this puppy in July. He was 3 months when I received him. I work 2 full time jobs therefore,leaving me with little time to train him properly so, I FOUND A TRAINER FOR HIM. HE WAS AWAY FOR THREE WEEKS IN TRAINING. I want to know if that was a good idea. He learned the very basic: sit, stay, down, and recall. The trainer instructed me that I'd need to work with him still. I was under the impression that if I sent him to be trained that this would do it,however the trainer said that my dog...

Hello, I have an 8 week old puppy. I want to get your DVD Basic Dog Obedience - Video # 302, but I am not sure what program to put him on first. I do not want to make the same mistake that most inexperienced owners/trainers make by teaching him too much too soon. At what age do I initiate the crate training to show who the pack leader is? What puppy DVD is right for me? At what age do I initiate your Basic Dog Obedience Training? Finally at what age do I initiate advanced training?...

My 8 month German Shepherd accidentaly fell in my swimming and I had difficult time pulling him out of the pool. Can German Shepherds swimming and I had difficulty time pulling him out of the pool. Can German Shepherds swim naturally or must they be taught to swim. Thank you. Joe

Hi Ed, My wife and I acquired a black lab / beagle mix (Shadow) from the humane society about six months ago. Shadow will turn two next month. We thank you for so much info on your site, and we've purchased the puppy DVD, basic dog obedience, and all of us have been learning a lot. It helps that Shadow is the smartest, most engaged dog I've ever had. His sit / down / sit&down stay / heel, and come have been great. We've even been doing some agility training with h...

Hi Mr. Frawley I was wondering if you could tell me how the pronged collar works? I have been taking my yellow lab to obedience classes as he has an issue, which is another story, and they suggested a pronged collar. I tried one and it works well. He no longer pulls on it. Before my hands were so sore after the class. He is 18 months old. He does all the basic commands, but he has a problem with barking at strangers and lounging at them. So far, no bites, but I have been wo...

Hello Cindy/Ed I have several of you DVD and products and I find them very useful. I have recently bought a one year old female working lines GSD, she is trained in basic obedience and she has started her protection training. She is trained in German commands and I would like to switch her over to the English commands. How do I do that? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I have a question for you, in January I bought a female German Shepherd, that I wanted to breed, she will be two years old this coming April 22nd. I usaully buy pups and then raise them and give the obiedence training myself as I am raising them. But for some reason or other this one caught my eye, and there seems to be something I believe is special about her. Her father's side isn't any thing magnificent, but on her mother's side she comes from a line, of German imports and s...

Cindy, I have a 4 year old female Brittany who was given to us when she was one and a half because she was afraid of the shotgun and wouldn't hunt. She is very obedient around the house and in our backyard but the second you put a leash on her and take her out she forgets you exist. She is too busy observing the birds and squirrels and she pays no attention to the person at the other end of her leash. I had a trainer come to my house and whenever he is around she walks nicely but a...

Good afternoon! I found an automatic ball launcher for my crazy-ball-drive 14 month old male GSD, but am hesitant to purchase it before I receive expert feedback regarding the safety of using regular size tennis balls. I order the Orbee balls from you guys, preferring the ones on a string because it's easier to throw, and I can use the smaller ball without worrying about him swallowing when he catches them. I have read enough horror stories about tennis balls to be wary of u...

Hi, I have a 4 year old dog who has lived with us for about 2 years now. Due to issues with strangers, other dogs, and anxiety we have found a wonderful trainer and have been actively involved in obedience training for several months. The trainer has also assisted us in making changes in our home to establish pack order. He's made huge gains and we no longer consider rehoming him as we did when he first arrived. My question now is that we need some ideas for "playing." He loves to...

I just finished with the new Tug DVD, which by the way is terrific. I have a 2 year old GSD that I started tugging with and she loves it. The only problem is that she wants to put her paws up on my arms while she is tugging. She puts a lot of force behind it, so it can be quite painful, plus takes some of the fun away from it. How can I correct this? Thanks, Melissa

Hi Cindy, I have received all 5 videos Michael Ellis. Very nice, I enjoyed them very much. Thanks. I have a question, I hope you can give me some advice. My female pup, 6 months old, has crazy ball drive. After watching the video, I tried to train with tugs, as advised by Michael. At first, my female was not so interested, but eventually she started to want to play, though not as high drive as with balls. I always train without leash when playing with ball or tug. ...

Good Morning, My name is Jim Apgar and I am a patrol sergeant and K9 handler for the Pennridge Regional Police Dept. in southeastern PA (north of Philadelphia) and have been extremely impressed with all the articles authored by you that I have read. I am writing for some advice, if possible, with a problem I am encountering with my current K9 partner. Niko is a four year old Czech import GSD who is cross-trained and so far has been about the best dog you could ask for. He bites lik...

What is your opinion of an officer buying a puppy and trying to raise it with the purpose of ending up with a police service dog?

A friend of mine has a 2 year old shepherd that is stuck in prey drive. He bites nice and full but just doesn?t have the fight. He has always been worked in prey, would you suggest trying defense on him and trying to get him more serious? Thank you in advance, Officer Ammerman

I wasn't able to find where you may have addressed this question on your web page, but I may have missed it. Anyway, I'm training a puppy for police work and someone asked me if I had or will sensitize my dog for pepper spray. It got me thinking (yes, this is a dangerous thing) and this makes a lot of sense to me. During the course of my duties I've pepper sprayed many dogs (even a horse one time - it doesn't do anything to them! It was trying to eat my leather duty gear!!) with varying r...

I'm a deputy in a small town in Kansas. Just this last week we found a suspect under a trailer house. The K-9 failed to bark and hold on command on a passive suspect. He recalled on command but made me feel unsure of if I sent him to bite if he would. Any suggestions? I am doing muzzle with Tom at this time. Troy Haskell County S. O.

Mr. Frawley, I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at your web site and reading the articles... I have been selected to our department's K9 unit, and have been a handler for approximately 3 months. I have been given a 3 1/2 year old Malinois that has been KNPV trained and is PH1 titled. My issue is this, our department supplies the food for our dogs, but since I got him approximately 3 months ago, it has been an all out fight to get him to eat. I'm not sure if he is still adjusting or just pic...

Ed, I work for a Sheriff's Office in Utah as a K9 handler and I have great Malinois with plenty of drive. My problem with him is he tends to be handler sensitive and at times I struggle with getting him to range out and search without coming right back. Do you have any books, video, dvd, articles, etc.. that deal with this problem. I looked on your website, but I was unable to find what I was looking for. Thanks, Shawn