Most Popular Q&As

Hi Cindy, I am so distraught over 1 thing though and was hoping you could help me with it. Max was totally healthy 2 months ago. We brought him to the vet for a vaccine that he was over due for. At that time they highly suggested another vaccine that needed to be followed up with a booster in 10 days. Max seemed fine after that visit but then we went back for the booster. He went steadily down hill after that booster. He 1st started drinking water continually. He couldn't get enoug...

Dear Cindy, We have a 14 yr old Jack Russell mix who is a fear-biter. He is due for a rabies shot but we are thinking of omitting it for fear of harming him. Three years ago we gave him tranquillizers that he fought off, everyone in the vet office wore cat gloves and tried to pin him with a shield. He was given a sedative that didn't work until we brought him home when his eyes rolled back and his limbs went stiff. We thought he was dying. Back to the vet where he was given his sho...

Hi Ed- I have many of your DVD's. I am a member of your forum. I have a problem with this pup. I need some expert advice. I've owned working import bloodline Rotts and GSD my whole life. I am 60 years old and consider myself experienced with handling these type dogs. I used to be a Koehler type trainer but over the years have changed my methods to more middle of the road. I have a super hard male Dutch Shepherd pup. I've had this pup for two months. I am the center of this dogs life. I sp...

We decided on having my boy get a Rally, CGC, and/or CD titles. I am ordering the Basic OB/Pack structure combo. Will these 2 be good enough for the goal I have for my rottie? Also, I got the crate and its set up in the living room right by the back door. I'm being told to have the pup wander around and freely explore the crate on his own. What I gather from your Puppy DVD is to have him enter and close the door and let him learn that he has to be quiet before exiting. Am I correct? Should...

Hello, I recently found your site and it is a wealth of great information. We are the proud owners of an eight-week old Bull-Boxer and I have been scouring the net for information on the best way to train her. I am certainly not a dog trainer, outside of training my dogs to hunt birds. It does not take a rocket scientist to train a Lab to pheasant hunt. In fact, I gave him most of the credit for training me how to pheasant hunt. My wife wanted a dog that could offe...

Cindy, I spoke with Dona today concerning what direction to take in the training of a boxer puppy. My wife and I have no children, live in a house in TN, and both work full time. This will be our third boxer with Kasha passing at 13 in Oct of 2009 and Magnus is 9 and has excellent health. We own several retail furniture stores and Magnus is a regular 'employee' at the stores. I personally trained both dogs using a book that advocated the same techniques Ed uses for obedience and pr...

We recently took in a stray female dog that we think is a short haired golden retriever, or a golden retriever/lab cross. She is house trained and is the most even tempered and sweetest dog that I have ever met. But there is one problem with her. Every time we leave the house we have to put her inside because she will climb our 4 and 1/2 foot to 5 foot privacy fence. We think it is because she gets lonely or was left alone a lot before we got her. We live close to the highway and I am scared ...

Hello, I have a two year old German Shepherd/black Labrador mix who needs a crate to stay in while I am gone during the day. He is about 36 inches long when laying down and weighs 65 pounds. I have tried the basic metal wire crates and plastic airline crates from the pet stores and he escapes from both easily. Even with putting all sorts of locks on it, he still escapes. I am looking at either the full ventilation aluminum crate or the power coated full ventilation aluminum...

Dear Mr Frawley, I am extremely concerned about my dog as I have been told by our head Schutzhund trainer that my dog is a risk to my small children and people in general. He is 9 month old black and tan from very good show lines. The problem is that for the past few months he has become extremely aggressive. When walking on the street he barks and has tried to bite a few people. I am trying to correct it and have been told that he is "high in the nerve" and I will only achieve limited ...

Dear Mr. Frawley: I have a one-year old German Shepherd from pure German imported parents. He is very lovable and he is moderately friendly to people, but very hyperactive at home where he lives in our house with a 6-year old female German Shepherd and an 8-year old male. If you try to brush him, he tries to bite the brush. Whenever you put the leash on him he tries to bite the leash and he is very excitable about most things. When he is taken for a walk he is very quiet and docile unless ...

I read a little about dog fights because of an incident with my dog this afternoon. I have a 1 1/2 year old female Rott. .."Sunny"....she is very gentle with my three little boys. She has been a little aggressive on two occasions with repairmen that have come to the door....snapping and hair standing up on back, otherwise she has basically licked to death anyone who comes to the house. We live across the street from my brother who has two female Dobermans. Sunny plays very hard with the young...

Hello Cindy/Ed, I hope you had a great holiday. Recall I have a 3 1/2 month old doberman puppy and a two year old female doberman. I listened to the DVD's and am following the instructions and tips the best I can as I found them most helpful. I'm the only handler to my dog, my wife only takes him outside to do his thing and places him back in the crate trying to be neutral as possible. I don't allow our older two year old female to play with him although she doesn't show any dominant te...

I am hoping to get your opinion on a serious dominance problem we are having with our 2 year old male rottie, Fantom. Fantom is of German working lineage (both parents have advance Schutzhund titles) and is what I would call a hard dog (when distracted, he ignores all but the most significant corrections). He was neutered at 1 year. My wife and I have tried to be diligent in our training since he was a puppy, using both positive reinforcement and corrections (most recently using a dominant...

Hello, I want to thank you for the great info in your videos, podcasts, eBooks and forums. I've got an 18 month old female GSD who is doing SAR training. Specifically, we're doing trailing work and loving it. We just got one of your fabulous leather trailing harnesses. I'm a lifelong member of the 'explainers club' and really appreciate your explanations. It's a big help for me that you work with high drive dogs because I've got one myself. I loved the video of Dayma at 6 months because sh...

Mr. Frawley, I have a question regarding my 2 year old mixed breed dog. I adopted him 4 months ago from a shelter in another state. He seemed well socialized, loved playing with other dogs and children. However, he has begun to develop aggression. He is sometimes dog aggressive with other dogs, not usually, but the problem is getting worse. And he has also started growling at my boyfriend when he comes home late at night, if I'm in bed. Tonight was the worst episode the dog has ever had, a...

Hi Cindy, I called and was told that you may be able to help. I have 3 dogs, Sadie a 10 year old rottie, Sophie a 4 year old lab mix and Emma a 1 year old yellow lab. I have had Sadie since she was 6 weeks old. She has been a very friendly dog. But was unsure of strangers. I rescued Sophie from the pound when she was 2. She is a very shy dog who cowers easily. I rescued Emma from the pound when she was 6 months old. She is a dominate overly friendly dog who had no training o...

Good Morning and thank you for sharing your philosophy and training methods so readily through web articles and DVDs. We have purchased 3 of your videos instituting the Pack Structure method at present with our 6 mo old Papillion/Pomeranian. From 3 mo (age we brought him to our home) we put him in a crate at night, which he accepted quickly. We are into Day Two of all day crate confinement and he is showing improvement in that he is screaming less and less. Our Q is: Where do we keep the crat...

Hi, I just watched your DVD on Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet -- and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have 3 collies - two were raised to be guide dogs, and many of their training methods were very similar to yours. Both collies "flunked out" and I was able to adopt them. The third is a rescue dog that I adopted last year. She is now 11. I have been doing collie rescue for a few years and actually bought your DVD to learn methods for my foster homes to help them when they add a...

Dear Cindy, Thanks so much for all your good answers for me concerning my adult dog and puppy who is now 8 months old. I have just finished for the first time the Dominant Dog DVD and it was so helpful--especially differentiating between corrections; for disobedience and also for inappropriate pack behavior (that was/is most of my puppy's problem). My main question right now is; last week she was spayed and is doing really well not bothering her stitches. Next Thursday we go to have the...

Cindy, My 12 month old female, German Shepherd, Bella, does not seem to like to be pet. In fact, she does not seem to like to be touched at all--this includes grooming. As a puppy, whenever I tried to pet her she would turn and nip at my hands. I would always tell her no and thought that she would grow out of it. She hasn't. I have found that after a good walk she will allow me to brush her without it turning into a wrestling match although I still have to use a lot of treats. I found o...