Most Popular Q&As

Mr. Frawley, I sincerely hope this email reaches you. I have been an avid reader of your web site. and have purchased some of your material in the past. I have a problem. I am a dog trainer of six years, I have experience dealing mainly with working dogs. Sled dogs, some entry level sport, and personal pets. My problem lies with a female Malinois I own from an irreputable breeder from Oklahoma. I have raised this dog as of 5 weeks of age, the dog is now approximately 16 months old....

I'm hoping you can give me some advice on our dog. We own a 10 year old Chow/German Shepherd mix dog. She went through puppy training at Petsmart and we had a personal trainer come to our home for basic commands. We are having problems with aggression. We never noticed any aggression until our son was born 6 years ago. She is very protective of our children and house. If a person rings our doorbell or knocks on the door she goes crazy. She literally lunges at the door trying to get to the...

Hello Cindy, I've watched the "Focused Heeling" DVD and am incredibly impressed. I've fixed a problem that I had been having for months in about 20 minutes! I have a question though on the leash pressure section. I show my Rottweilers (one 3 1/2yrs old and one 10 months old) in sieger shows and am unsure I really want to train the leash pressure because I need them to lean into the leash while stacking them. I use the pressure to change footing to get the best stack. I was wonderin...

Hi Cindy, Our family is waiting for our German Shepherd puppy to come to our home in March. We are first time dog owner, and we are serious about properly training our dog. I am amazed by the amount of training material and courses you have made available on your website, but at the same time feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. What would you recommend as we start our preparation and plan our training for the dog in the next 12 months? Looking forward to hearing from you. ...

Somewhere in your DVDs or written word, I read that one should not jog with a dog younger than 12 months of age. My German Shepherd is 4 months of age and I was wondering if it would be alright to have him walk quickly alongside my bicycle as I ride at a slow speed for short distances? My thought was that it would be good to have him get used to this at a young age so as not to pull me off my bike as he gets older and stronger. I have thoroughly enjoyed your tapes and your written training ma...

Hi Cindy, When I throw the dumbbell and she runs out to get it but doesn't pick it up, I either will race out there with her and give it a little kick and repeat bringand "usually" she will pick it up or sometimes. I may go pick the dumbbell up and put it in her mouth then I run backwards a few yards and tell her to bring and she will normally do this with a front sit (she doesn't hold the dumbbell tight, which is another whole different topic). She likes to retrieve but she is just a ...

I recently started playing tug with my four month old BC. Outside of food it seems that's when I get the most focus out of her when training. It has helped me out tremendously in working on recalls, getting a solid out and building a retrieve (she does not like balls). The problem is now she is teething. Is there a soft enough tug that I can use if I lessen the intensity of the game or any other form of play that you think might be as useful? Thank You

I have been reading different articles on your website and wish to purchase a DVD but only have $ to spend on one maybe 2. I have a 6 month old part lab, part Tibetan terrier with loads of energy. I also have two boys one 5 and one 2 with loads of energy. I need to be a pack leader. I am not with my pup. I am great with my kids. A friend recently suggested the leash training. In the house and outside to establish I am the leader. We do not have a fenced yard and the kids and I were playin...

I have Puppies 8 weeks to 8 months and the series of building drive and focus. I love them but have a couple questions as a first time dog owner. I have a GSD working line puppy that is 13 weeks old now. She has soooo much energy that I'm having a hard time gauging how much exercise is too much. Right now, I'm walking her around the block about 3 times a day (sometimes I take her for a longer walk because she has so much energy) and I train her once a day in the backyard. I know I'm not su...

I have a 2 year old (65 lbs) Belgian Malinois. Have had trouble with him fence fighting. He pays too much attention to the dogs behind the fence because they are barking at him. I need to work on his recall. I have been working with someone that has me putting him on a long line and calling him when he starts to get too close to the fence. I was watching some of your videos on YouTube and I saw the restrained recall with the tug toy. Is there a video you recommend to learn more about the reca...

Hello, First, my wife and I wanted to thank you for providing us the information in Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months DVD and Obedience training DVD for setting us up with a wonderfully trained dog for life. The training has been fun and rewarding, so rewarding we are debating on doing more. We have a high drive doberman that just turned 17 weeks old yesterday. I have been interested in protection work and Schutzhund competition but we don't have any good trainers locally. Also, I am not su...

Hi Cindy, I was watching Michael Ellis' Focused Heeling DVD and it raised a question for me. In many pet obedience situations, we try to fade the lure as quickly as possible. I understand the reasoning for maintaining the lure for muscle memory, especially in heel work. I was wondering, in competitive training, if you prefer to do the same when building muscle memory for downs, sits, and other commands. I could see the benefit in the repetition for building better responses, then naming wh...

Hi Ed, I just finished watching your DVD "Establishing Pack Structure... and as eager as I am to start the program with my dog Ziva I have 2 questions/issues. The first is I work full-time, like most people, and in order to give my dog a little break from her crate and a mid-day potty break I have been using a dog walker. She visits for about 1/2 hour, takes her for a walk and bathroom break and returns Ziva to her crate when they're done. So I guess my question is that if during the gro...

Hi Cindy, Let me start by saying I love your website and the changes you made to the streaming videos are excellent. I have purchased various DVDs and equipment and thanks to you I have a very obedient and happy dog. I hope you can help me with a problem that just occurred with my 14 month old female GSD. She has good nerves and a wonderful temperament. She can go anywhere with me, experience different situations, meet other dogs and people without a single change in her behavior. She i...

Hi Cindy, I saw an article recently on the subject of marker training, specifically the use of a no reward marker or negative marker. The article argues that the use of NRM's while it may not seem like it, is actually "aversive" to the dog and that it does not help to tell the dog that they did not succeed or that they did something wrong. They said that dogs learn faster if just encouraged through what they do correctly. This is the first I had ever heard of this idea and I know you have ...

My German Shepherd puppy literally has to be under me ever second I am around. He will not go in the back yard without me to use the restroom, he stays under my feet, in between my legs while we are walking or standing still, he'll sit on my foot when I am cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc. Even when I vacuum the house, the vacuum cleaner noise doesn't deter him from up under my feet and in between my legs or following next to me. It's like he has to see me, watch me, and he lit...

Hi. Re Keeper Collar: What does it mean by it is not to "try out"? I have used a prong collar on my dogs - Labradors in the past (10 yrs ago) while in obedience class. I now have a 13 mo old Lab and thinking to try your keeper collar as it has smaller links then the one I have and it will be concealed. I currently live in a country where choke collars and prong collars are illegal. The keeper collar would hide the prong. I am using a harness right now and will continue but for some of my trai...

I am going to be a new K9 handler his summer. My wife and I are expecting our first child in May and plan on picking up my K9 partner in July. We have a female German Shepherd and a male Siberian Husky. My question is I have been flirting with the idea of having an outside kennel and my k9 living out there. My thought process is that he can be well rested and not stressed with a new baby and two dogs when he comes home from work. Is that a good idea? I live in Iowa and also wondering what you...

I had a question regarding a dog with small acts of aggression. She has had two incidents where she has shown acts of aggression on another dog. She is a Pitbull mix adopted from a rescue. The first incident, her normal trainer said she was correcting the other dog because it was biting the other dogs in the dog park. She did not hurt the other dog, she just would not let go. The second incident was the most concerning. She was at the dog park playing like normal until another owner w...

We have 2 one year old Dobermans from the same litter. We are having issues with excessive barking. They bark at every noise, person and other animal. Just to give some back ground information. We got the female first at 9 weeks. We later obtained the male when he was 7 months. We suspect that he spent much of his time in a kennel and did not receive much socialization. Therefore he is very timid and nervous around strangers and other animals. He has been displaying some fear aggression be...