Most Popular Q&As

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?

I bought the dog from a good breeder, (same as my last GSD), but from predominately a show line of German ancestry. Most of the dogs have Sch 3 pedigrees, so I do not think he will be useless but, is it worth even trying as he is not from a proven working kennel? And is there any way of assessing him? His prey drive is good, he is ballsy and mouthy and I am playing with him with appropriate toys, and socializing him.

HI, My name is Andy and I have an 18 month old German Shepherd male with 1/4 DDR. He is not a German import but he does have the bloodline due to his mother and father being imports. When I first purchased him I took him home and only started on obedience work. But after learning more about the breed and acquiring a few more shepherds I have decided to train him for Schutzhund. He has all his obedience work needed for Schutzhund but I have not trialed him yet for his bh. He also do...

My Daughter thinks she's noticed a problem without almost six year old male Aussie's rear leg. Is it too early to start giving him Glucosamine and if so, do you have any recommendations as what to start him on as a preventative for future years. Also is it necessary? Our previous two male dogs really had problems in the end with arthritis. Thank you. Beverly

Hello: I am adopting an elderly shepherd who has been neglected and who has degenerative hip disease. I want to help him lead a decent life and you have a number of products which may give him some relief. Could you possibly recommend the best options among your products for hip disease? I am willing to purchase more than one product. Thanks. Cory

Hi there, I am a fan of your web-site and I have 2 West-line German Shepherds. My female will be 3 years-old in March and the male will be 2-years old in Feb. My female has hip dysplasia that recently started bothering her within the past 6-months. When taking her to the vet after two opinions, we were told to do surgery and said it would not be a sure fix. The vet mentioned a anti-inflammatory/pain killer, which we used but then stopped due to possible affects that can impact the ...

Cindy, I have a Walker Coonhound who is extremely afraid of thunder. She is a rescue and I have had her for 3 1/2 years. We are guessing that she was about 3 when she was hit by a car and ended up in an coonhound rescue. She was in very bad shape and had a badly broken leg. She has had five surgeries and lots of physical therapy and is doing great but the threat of a storm or the actual rumbling sends her into hiding with trembling for hours. She is a very mild mannered girl and is...

Hi Cindy, First of all, thanks for all the wonderful information on your site, books (4 of them), and your DVDs (I have 5 already) as well the nice training equipment you sell. I have a 22 month old boxer diagnosed with hip dysplasia level D and disk problems level 3. The x-ray were taken at the age of 16 months. The father and grand-fathers were free of hip dysplasia, the female ancestors didn't have x-ray certificates. I just found your website this last year...

Ed, I have a 5 mo. old GSD female named Dixie. I have had her for about a month now. Dixie is already about the size of our 2 yr old GSD Sandy. When we got Dixie, we put her in with the other GSD and rott. They get along great. Question is, I am wanting to train Dixie in SAR work like our other GSD, and Dixie is not wanting to pay attention to me. My husband does not want Dixie in house, so how can I bond with her without having her in the house? Our jobs also hinder ...

I am not a police officer. Our local department asked me to track an arson suspect last week. I did not do it because my dog does not have experience on night tracks. What would you recommend?

I have a dog that has no interest in tracking. What can I do to train him? Even when he is not fed and we use hot dogs and food it is put in plain sight but he does not leave the pad. What can be done to get him started?

How do you eliminate food used in training a competition tracking dog?

My dog is not a great food hound. What kind of food do you recommend using on the track for sport when he only shows marginal drive to track?

I have just finished viewing your video tape police tracking level 1. It definitely left me enlightened. Now I will try to apply it. I am a fairly new handler April 94 and have much to learn about k-9 tracking. My dog is Keri a 2and half year old Czech Shepherd who came to me green from Global k-9 in NY He is in my humble opinion an excellent drug and protection dog but lacks in the tracking department and to not fault of his I might add. I see that in your tape. I don't know if you answe...

Hi Ed. My name is Bob. I bought a pup from you and many tapes. I need some help with the down on the article. My dog knows sook, but when I do it while training the down on the article he is always looking for the ball in my pocket that I free him with after I do the sook platz. He platz near the article, but he wont sook when I do this training any ideas and do I have to use food after he downs on the article? Bob

My name is Charles Krom I have been a NYS Correction Officer for 18 years, a Volunteer Firefighter for 23 years, a NYS Fire Warden under NYSDEC for 20 years and a Member of Search Team 5-1 of Fulton County NY currently certified as a Crew Boss for 3 years. I have recently acquired a female German Shepard pup which will be six months old on 06/08/00 I am interested in training this dog for S&R operations. I would like to know what course of action I must take at this time to accomplish this ta...

Hi, I am looking into getting a large breed doberman with a working backround or a german sheperd but I want to train it to be a very obeidient protection dog. I was curious if you could help guide me into purchasing the correct equipment and videos for raising and training a pup to be a great protection dog. Thank you very much. If you could just list everything that I could possibly need I would greatly appreciate it. Ryan

Hi Cindy, Have a question for ya. I have a 3 year old 80 pound male dobermann, a 2 year old 75 pound female dobermann, and a 5 month old female- large for her age, will most likely grow up to be 26? and 75-80 pounds. Both females come from strong german lineage and have incredible drive. The 2 year old hits the sleeve super hard. My male on the other hand, comes from show stock and hits the sleeve more lightly and with less intensity. The puppy shows incredible drive and wi...

Can you explain the main role of the helper or agitator in the protection phase of police service work?

I have a question regarding a police dog. I would like your opinion on whether a good police dog should be bought and trained from a good quality pup? Or will the dog work out as well if it is bought fully trained? I know that if someone is to buy a dog and start its training themselves they are more likely to make training mistakes than a professional trainer will. I guess my biggest question is if the dog will be more "loyal" if it is bought as a pup?