Most Popular Q&As

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...

Hi I have a question, I have a 3 year old pure bred Intact female German Shepherd that I just got in December 2008 well at first she seen calm and easy to train. She is pretty smart with learning but then later on I notice she has prey drive. Well her prey drives got stronger I don't want to re home her into a family home or people who just don't know what to do or how to handle her. She was $XXXX and now I feel like I can't rehome her with that price. I am waiting on her registered papers to...

Good Morning, I have been reading information on your web site. Thank you, it is very informational. We have a puppy, not by choice, but we love him just the same. He is a bull terrier, miniature as the vet said he will only be another 10 lbs. He has become the flying monkey from hell!! My older pit bull mix (9 yrs) has mothered him since he was 6 weeks. So we have adjusted to him. We kennel at night and when we are away from home. We muzzle for biting and rough bite playing. This has work...

Hi Cindy, I have a 9 month old female Norfolk Terrier. I am working with a trainer now but he is out of town and I need to understand what is going on. Here is the scenario. A little background. I have behavioral problems with my pup. She will bark at the TV relentlessly, sometimes she does it when there are loud noises but sometimes just because. She will lunge and bark at bikes and cars etc. SHE DOES NOT DO THESE THINGS WHEN MY TRAINER IS OVER FOR A LESSON - She is a perfect lit...

Hi Cindy, It has been awhile since I have wrote, but I have another question as we have developed a bit of a new problem. Murphy, our 13 month, very dominate male GSD, has decided he doesn't like it when my husband or 17 year old son laugh. He can be in another room, sound asleep and when one of them laugh, he will come running out barking at them--like he is yelling at them. He doesn't attack them or anything, but he makes it well known that he doesn't like it and would prefer they quit. ...

Thank you so much for all your help. I wish I had known about you sooner. We are doing the Pack Structure DVD. We have a 3 year old male and a 5 month old. Is this going to set them back in any way on the things we have worked with them on? Do I need to do this with my 5 month old also? I have started, I hope I have not messed up. How do I know when they are crate submissive? I trust what you say and am doing things the way you say, but it sure is hard not to talk and to love on your dogs....

Ed and Cindy, My name is Shona and I have been training SAR dogs for several years. We also rescue dogs, clean them up, put some obedience training under them and find them good homes. We were recently contacted about a pair of 8 week old wolf pups. When we went to pick them up the man told us he had given the pups an attitude adjustment. He also had the parents and a sister and brother from another litter. The male 2 year old was so scared he ran around trying to get away form eve...

I have a male GSD with impeccable working bloodlines. How much do you charge to take the dog, when appropriate, through the three levels of Schutzhund training?