Most Popular Q&As

I have a Dalmatian who is 8 years old. I think she's fairly neurotic and she's been neutered. She has dug holes into our carpet and I don't know what to do. If you give her a bone she tries to bury it in the carpet as well. This results with a bloody nose and blood all over the house. Please help! Thanks! Heidi

Hi there, I have an 8 month old Napolean Mastiff x American Bulldog puppy. He is a very friendly dog but when he gets excited he occasionally pees. He is a little nervous of new surroundings. He doesn't like going in the car and when I try to take him for a ride he lays down so that I have to lift him up and put him in which may be hard once he is full grown. He also throws up in the car if he is fed before a drive. What can I do??? Also, when I am at his level he gets reall...

Hey, I have two German Shepard aged 5 months. My problem is that they dig up holes in my lawn at night when they are outside on our front yard and not in their dens. I wake up every morning and see these huge holes in my front lawn, I don't know how to solve this problem. Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ezzam

Hi, We have a chocolate lab and he is very hyper...although he basically very good. We have a problem with him staying off the counters and going in the sink. He does not like the crate, he slobbers all over himself when I crate him and leave the house. He is 7 months old and I gate him an area of the hallway where he cant really do any damage but now he jumps the gate so I have been double gating the area. Sometimes he knocks the gates down. He also steals food from the table...

Hello, I have been perusing your web site, as I am wondering what to do about my dog's chewing problem. I got the dog from the Humane Society, treated her for heart worms, and figured the worse was over. However, she chews up paper (in any form--newspapers, books, mail, etc.) and wood (furniture, namely the coffee table). The dog in question is a 20 month old weimer/chocolate lab mix who lived most of her life at the Humane Society. I also have a four year old weimer, and th...

We purchased an Australian Shepherd who is now 10 weeks old. She likes her crate, but in the morning when I get up to take her out, she stands up and then immediately starts to pee, I carry her out and she pees all the way through the kitchen. She also seems to think that every time we go for a walk which is at least twice a day, that she has to poop in the street. Sometimes she will go when she first gets up, as soon as she eats, and then in the street on her walk. She does get ab...

I have had this 4 month old puppy for 3 weeks. When we first rescued her, we showed her where to go (urinate and defecate) in the yard. At first she did so well. I always praised her. We did not always go right back in the house afterward. Sometimes we would play or exercise. Now she is going anywhere she pleases. After a walk just now, I took her to the designated area and she did not go. I walked across the lawn to the garbage can with dog in tow and she stopped and went along the way. ...

We have a ten-month old Yorkshire Terrier. She has been going through the night for several months without needing to go outside. We feed her early, around 5:00, and take her out several times after dinner and immediately before we got to bed. After reading several articles, I have read that dogs probably should be crate trained. We have had her seven months. We did not crate train her. It seemed cruel at the time and she howled for hours on end. Our problem is that during the last...

We have an 11-month male Papilla. He has been doing a great job of going to the bathroom outside until recently. We will take him outside and he will urinate outside, but we bring him back in, and he sometimes goes inside also. We have been giving him more love and attention, and he will still sometimes go right in front of us. He knows that when we wake up in the morning we will put on our shoes to take him out. One morning we went to put on our shoes, and there he went. What can we do t...

I read all the info on your site, but didn't see anything in regards to my particular problem. I have a 16 week old Australian Shepherd, Lab mix who is completely house trained and crate trained. She now rings a bell on the door when she needs to go out. However, she needs to pee very frequently - about every 2 hours or so (but can hold it all night). So, when I have to leave her in the crate for over 2 hours, at a certain point she cries and cries. I believe because she simply cannot hold...

Dear Ed, First of all your tapes and products are outstanding and I recommend them to anyone who has a dog. My pup is now 9 months old. I crate trained him from the very beginning when I brought him home. Everything that you said in the tape "Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months" is true. He seems to be doing fine without supervision and does not tear into the couch cushions, shoes, etc. He seems to be very well behaved after being in the crate for 8 months. Question: When ...

A friend of mine told me he is having problems with his 8 month old pug mix (male) he said he corrected him to hard after he had an accident in his house and now it seems every time he is corrected (and he claims even when he isn't corrected) but his name is called, he rolls on his back and begins to urinate. How do I help him break this? I value your opinion. Thank you for your time. Is there any book on the market you recommend that will help me understand dog behavior better? Si...

A friend of mine gave me your web site and I must say it is incredible. You have so much information. I probably have just blown off an hour at work just looking at the sight. Don't tell my manager. I have a problem. My boyfriend and I are moving in together and he has two teacup poodles. I love them very much. Their names are Minnie and Teddy. I am afraid that I will end up moving right back out after I move in because the dogs are not yet house trained, and they are 3 years old! ...

I have a gorgeous 16 month old tri-color beagle. Her name is Annie. She has the typical sweet beagle disposition, doesn't tear things up and is great with kids. We love her to death. The vet says she's the prettiest beagle they've ever seen. We have only one problem. We have two doggie doors in our house which lead to a small fenced yard. She goes out through the garage that leads to a small channel where she goes out the other doggie door to the yard. In other words, she goes thro...

Hello Cindy, I have been watching (and enjoying) several of the Michael Ellis training videos. Sometimes he uses FREE as a release word and other times YES. Can you please tell me what the difference is and why he uses both words? Thank you. Mary Ann

Hello, I have recently purchased both the Power of Food and Power of tug videos and will be getting my Malinois puppy this Friday. I have gone through the videos and taken notes, but have a quick question for you please. I just want to be sure that having the puppy follow a food lure into the sit, down, stand and heel will not kill drive. I understand that the luring needs to be done without command and without correction. Thank you for your time. My son was in Iraq twice over the last fe...

Hi, I have a question, I'm sorry if I got the wrong email address. I have two dogs, both almost 3, a Golden Retriever and a Great Pyrenees. The Golden doesn't bark at anything. He will be surrounded by barking dogs and not even turn his head. Our Pyrenees, however, will bark if the grass is too green or growing too quickly. They also don't play with each other a lot as our Pyrenees is much more laid back than our Golden and he gets bored with her and she tires of him. My question is, would...

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...

My young dog jumps around when I try and bring her into my arms. She will sit for the focus but squirrel away when I try and get her into my arms.

Hi Ed, When going around in circles for "Into My Arms," after the first time, my dog doesn't want to go in a circle anymore, so he lays down and tries to chew the tug. Then I take it away from him. Should I put a prong collar on him when he lays down and have him come and go around in a circle then come "Into my arms"? He has a flat buckle on now and when I pop the leash it doesn't get his attention at all.