Most Popular Q&As

Ed, I have a 14 month old dog that I've housebroken and trained using your videos. She's been crate trained since day one and was very easy to house break and we've only lost one heating pad cord due to her chewing mainly because whenever we leave the house we place her in her cage. Recently I've been considering allowing her to stay in an area in the basement where she can do no harm. I'd love her to eventually be able to roam the house or at least the whole basement but in...

Hi Cindy, Your staff has been very helpful with muzzles. They also referred me to you for help with electronic collars. We have very specific situation and need your help chosing the right product. Since our dogs spend much more time in their crates now and cannot be left loose in the house when we are gone anymore, they started barking and whining in crates which makes our life living hell. We got a 3rd pup recently - a 8mo Husky mix. He does not bark mostly but "speaks" an...

I have question I hope you can answer for me. Our college-aged son adopted from a shelter a 2-year-old Kelpie and Australian Shepherd mix (I think). Anyway it is very evident the previous owners abused this dog. It hides from the newspaper when it is rolled up and it will run away from any balls etc. The problem is the dog is now living with us because our son is in an apartment in a large city with a new job that requires him to be gone 10 hours or so. The dog is well behaved except for ...

I have two dogs and both seem to show signs of aggression to people who are afraid of them. I do my best to question people to whether or not they are afraid before they approach. For some reason they always tell me no yet I can see it in their eyes. I know if I can see it my dogs can see it. It is at this point they begin to growl as the person approaches. I correct it at the time but is there anything I can do long term. Is this a sign of weak nerves or dominance? Can it be permanently ...

We have a 5 yr old Rat terrier and we recently adopted a 5 yr old German Shepherd male which we immediately neutered. The dogs get along ok and they are very good with my 2yr old son. The GS has been obedience trained although I bought your video so I would know how to properly handle him. When people come to the door or drive down the driveway they bark and they get VERY aggressive. I try to correct them but I'm not sure if that's what I should be doing or maybe I should get the visitors to ...

I have a neighbor that has an attack trained GS. The dog only responds to German commands. Two years ago the dog attacked a neighbor?s dog and almost killed it. Since then the owners have put up a fence. When this dog is out in the yard it growls and barks at all people and other dogs. My dog will run over to the fence wanting to play and the GS will urinate on him. I have planted bushes on that side of the fence to keep children in my yard from approaching the fence. The neighbor has bad dog...

I have read your web site carefully but I am still at a loss. My 3 yr. old male basset has been with us since he was 11-12 weeks old. His mother died giving birth and he and his litter mates were bottle fed. He was neutered at about 5 months. He is a wonderful, affectionate dog most of the time, but under certain circumstances he will attack. Usually the attack occurs when he is with me, is relaxing, and someone comes into the room. This could be any member of our family... he will growl, cha...

I am desperate for some advice and found your web site very interesting and I am hoping you can give some guidance.... We got our dog at 8 weeks of age from a reputable local breeder. He is now 15 months old. He was socialized very well - loves kids and people in general. We were first time dog owners so at the vet's suggestions attended obedience school at 6 months (6 weeks). He was friendly with all participants in the class - both dogs and owners. The instructor of these classes...

Hello Mr. Frawley, I am a college student that got a chihuahua puppy about 7 months ago for a companion. I live in a 1 bedroom condo in San Francisco. He's almost 9 months old now and lately he's been showing a lot of aggression towards me (growling and showing some teeth) when I pick him up or hold him. I've been at a loss of what to do and I heard to alpha roll him and so I have been but it's only seems to make things worse. He's very stubborn and persistent and I don't want to make him ...

My eight year old female springer has just seriously bitten a neighborhood 12 year boy on the hand after darting past my teenage son who was putting his bike away in the garage. The incident was unprovoked. The dog seems much more territorial lately growling and showing teeth when the mail carrier arrives and had growled at my daughter a few weeks ago, when she pulled on her paw while the dog was sitting on her place. My daughter is 8. My vet has suggested we put the dog down citing the e...

Hi, I'm from Bogot?, Colombia. I have a 6 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback. We hired a dog trainer for him 2 months ago, it was working great. But 5 weeks ago as the trainer was walking back to our house with my dog and another puppy, a Rottweiler which was off leash jumped towards him. The trainer released the leashes, my dog was scared and ran like crazy... At the end, he was hit by a car... He was seriously injured: his right leg was broken in three pieces (he required surgery), hi...

Cindy, First I must say job well done for the all DVD produced. I have purchased many DVDs from Leerburg. I have a very foundation question if I bring my dog out, although I tried to avoid meeting other stranger dogs but somehow somewhere we tend to meet. If the other dog is approach to my dog about 10, 15 meter before I have time to turn away and this stranger dog is showing aggression and barking at us, then I dog reacts and barks back. Should I stop my dog from barking a...

Dear Mr Leerburg, We have just adopted a beautiful 2 1/2 year old male boxer. We have had 'Niko' for 6 days now. We also have a 2 year old female mini- schnauzer named Bella, that we've had from 8 weeks. How I found your website is that we had an incident in that our very dominate male adopted cat, Roscoe, 'got into it with Niko about 4 days after Niko was here. Up until that point, my cats & dogs have always loved and 'hung out' with each other. For the first 4 days indoors, they could...

I just rescued a 2 year old Cocker and she has been peeing in the house. I have since gotten a crate for night cause that is when she has be doing her business. What I want to know is when I take her out to pee and poop is it right or wrong to give her a treat for going outside? My friend said it is very wrong for giving her the treat as it says when you pee you get a treat so she pees in the she thinking she will get a treat. Thanks soo much for helping me. I have a 13 y/o JRT that I give...

I’m facing a problem with my male indoor dog. I also have two outdoor dogs—one male and one female. The outdoor male is actually his son, and there has been competition between them, which is why I separated them. Lately, my indoor dog has started marking inside the house, but only when I’m not home. When I return and try to correct him, he doesn’t seem to understand or respond to the correction. I suspect this might be related to the competition between him and his son, but I’m ...

I have a pointer and when I walk her I can't let her off the leash in the woods. She becomes focused on smells in the bushes and not respond to commands. I know that her instinct is to hunt and she is so focused on the smells around her. We recently adopted her and she is 8 years old, so we don't know how much training she has had. She is very good with recall at home in the yard, except a couple of times when she wandered away and went to the woods which are across the street. She didn'...

Hi Cindy, Me again......I really appreciate being able to ask questions and getting good answers! Thank you! I have a 2y old upland hunting dog (by now you probably know I have Springers) who I have trained to retrieve using Michael Ellis's methods. She is awesome.....until a bird is shot. Seems a warm, just shot bird is different than the dead ones I thaw and use for different training activities. She marks and finds the just shot bird, goes out to get it, starts heading back with it ...

My 3 1/2 year old labradoodle is not neutered. He catches the scent of an in heat dog and it’s off to the races. We walk on the beach daily and folks bring their in heat dogs on vacation. He will follow a weeks-old scent. He’s been off leash since he’s been 8 weeks old. Will a remote collar work?

My pup is now 10 months old (per DNA testing, 76% German Sheperd and 24% Belgian Malinois, adopted from a shelter at age 3 months). She has always had a great food drive. Her toy drive has kicked into high gear recently and her food drive and appetite has dropped off. Sadly, no vet near me has any experience with working dogs. She's not losing weight (just hit 63 pounds) and I don't want to bring up the issue with the vet for fear of the office wanting me to give her some drug to 'stim...

I have a 6-month-old rottweiler puppy who is well-socialized, and has the right amount of exercise, for his age, and we are attending obedience. 95% of the time he is amazing he listens and engages. However, he has no respect for our 5-year-old pug he jumps on her and mauls her. I use verbal corrections like " uh uhh" which is the word I have chosen to let him know he has made a mistake and "off" in a loud stern voice. He gets off but then 5 minutes later does it again...is my only option to ...