Behavior Problems Q&As

Hey Ed, I was looking at your separation anxiety page, and, forgive me if I missed it, but I don't think I found an answer to this particular question. What do you do with a dog that, when kenneled or left alone, is so panicked that he injures himself? I fostered a rescue dog at one point that would bloody himself trying to get out of a crate, and when left loose in a room alone for no more than 30 minutes, he went straight through an interior door and put gouges in the soli...

I'm pretty much at my wits end. I'm what I would consider an experienced dog person; my age, my life, etc. I have a foster Golden; 6 yr old, SF...she came to me with some serious issues. She is storm phobic, has "separation anxiety," etc. etc. A behaviorist nitemare. If left outside longer than she wishes, she will rip the siding off our house. The timing can be five minutes, or fifty...the trick is figuring out how long is too long...letting her in BEFORE the behavior starts. She ha...

Hi. We have a 6 year old Chow named Otis. He's been a very sweet loving affectionate dog with no problems all his life until recently. We moved into a new house about 6 months ago. The first thing we did was get an invisible pet fence and collar for him. That works great. When we're not home we leave him in the basement. It's never been a problem before, but about a month ago he started chewing up the basement door and frame. So we looped the wire for the invisible fence around the door. ...

I read your pages about dealing with an aggressive dog and what to ask you about my situation. I have a three year old Lab/German Shepherd mix dog. She is a very loving dog to my roommate and me. She does a have very bad dependency problem which has cost me a lot of money. Most of the time when I leave her, she tries to break out of the house. She will chew on the fence, chew on the front door or anything else that could possible get her out. I have tried giving her a lot of exerci...

Hi Ed, I am a professional dog trainer of over 20 years here in Morrison, Colorado. I specialize in behavior issues, mostly aggression rehabilitation and training owners. I have read every page and every article regarding dog aggression on your site and I am so happy to read that you are also a 'reality' trainer. No fluff, no clickers, no treats, etc., just real training/behavior modification. I also send many of my clients to your site, since I just haven't taken the time that you...

Greetings! I have a 3 year old dobie female that has incredible drive (ball, food, prey) and loves praise. She received her CGC, ATTS, 1st & 2nd leg in herding, going for her AD this year and maybe her BH. I built her confidence throughout the last year or more on the sleeve. When she first started out, she was very defensive and now we both work as a team and she loves it. Even though I still get a reminder how fast she is with her excitability and get it in the leg sometimes. ...

I have a 2 year old Border Collie mix rescue that is extremely nervous and fearful. I got her at one year old, and have been working with her for the entire year we've had her. We do not have any history of her before we got her, other than she was very underweight. She now weighs a healthy 65 lbs, and is on a raw diet (with Honest Kitchen). While we have made some really positive progress, and she has gone from a dog that was almost impossible to live with to a (mostly) very enjoy...

Hello, I have a 10 month old Pembroke Welsh Corgi male that seems to be doing very well. He was neutered around 6 months and is usually very obedient. He's been crate trained since 8 weeks old and generally spends 4-6 hours out of the crate over the course of the day in 1-2 hour periods. To me he feels like a soft dog where only a verbal correction is necessary to get him to respond in most cases. A smack on the butt is usually more than enough to correct other more persistent things such ...

I have just googled for information on how to train puppies to not be afraid of some people, and one website made reference to your website. I am so hopeful that you can offer advice for our beloved puppy. We have a French bulldog/Pug mix that will be 1 year old in January. We bought him when he was 8 weeks old and he has been a wonderful puppy, maybe sometimes a bit hardheaded, but the sweetest most loving and personable dog we?ve ever had. He started out very friendly to everyone...

Hello Ed, I want to see if you can give me some advice with an american line GSD. I know you do not prefere American line GSDs and it is not what you specialize in but I respect your many years of exprience and would like your opinion on something. I am the owner of a 3 yr. old male american line GSD that is a SOFT dog. He is not a fear biter, but becomes "nervy" and has a problem with submissive urination. I have read about submissive urination and it doesn't seem to be very commo...

My daughter has a 6 month old Black Lab X puppy, (probably part Border Collie), which is the runt of his litter. He is sweet, eager to please and very quick to learn his commands. She got the pup at 2 months and all went well until just recently. My daughter works as a massage therapist and as teacher/leader of a steelpan band. As both activities are done in the same space and her husband's business is just across the parking lot, the puppy has routinely accompanied her to work. He...

I am having a problem with my dog and since I have seen some of your videos before, I know you are the expert to come to. I adopted a 10 month old Caanan breed dog. The dog has been in shelter and rescue his whole life until I got him at 9 months. He is a typical Caanan, will do circles around you constantly. He is very fearful. He has warmed up to my husband and I, but he will bolt if he gets scared. The problem I have with his training is he won't take treats. I have cooked hot ...

Dear Cindy, My mal puppy I have written to you about is fear/aggressive, and I am trying to socialize her. Sometimes I think she is improving well, and other times she is scared of such little things. What signs should I be looking for to tell me that she has had enough exposure to noise, people, etc? She is 3 mos old and I would like to train her for personal protection some day. I have been watching all of the DVDs but the only thing I have seen is letting strangers give her t...

Hi. I have a 6 year old lab, never had problems going in the car, loves car rides. Today we got in the car and I was talking him to the duck pond for a walk on a nice day. On the way we saw one of his dog friends so we stopped to see him. Well, as I was getting him back in the car after he saw his friend I accidentaly closed the door on his tail. One I saw what he was yelping about I opened the door and got him out to see if he was ok, and he was. He was acting happy, but wouldn't get bac...

Hi, I have a 5 month old female Husky/Shepherd mix. When I leave for work on Thursdays she stays with my husband, most of the time I leave her in her kennel and she will not come out of the kennel when he is the only one home. If I leave her outside she will not come in the house. Also, when he tries to let her out when I am home, she runs and hides behind me. Just to keep in mind I am with her Sun-Wed then with him on Thurs and Fri she is with me at work and on Sat with me. My hus...

Ed, Our rescue dog has weak nerves - is easily frightened but less than we we got him 3 mo. ago. He is 10 mo. old. We are now doing GW per your article and he is living, eating in his crate that is in the dining/living room. I bought your Obedience video and prong collar and am doing all I can to train him right. Doing well with marker training, learning to sit going in and out of doors, etc. I have switched to natural meat and bone diet per your article, give Vit. E , Vit. C and F...

Mr. Frawley, I recently purchased a puppy from a breeder (when I say recently I mean 5 days ago). She is five months old and supposedly from excellent lines. I suspect that I inadvertently bought from a bad breeder. The dog is definitely what I would call "soft." When we first brought her home (for the first 4 days), she was peeing and pooping in her crate (all over herself). She does seem to be improving now though. She is also a very quiet/laid back type of dog. She does "...

Hi, you have a FANTASTIC website! I suspect the answers to my questions are available on your website. However, I haven't been able to locate them yet, but if you could point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful. I have a 3 1/2yr old female GSD (DDR bloodlines). As a pup she was very self-confident, over the past 2 years I feel her self-confidence has gone. I know it's my fault... 2 years ago I had to sell my house, since then we have lived in a little apartment which is part of...

I was reading through your dog bite Q&A in the email newsletter and it brought up a new question for me. We have English Mastiffs and are contemplating the purchase of a Black Russian Terrier. Regarding the dog bite Q&A that took place in the pet superstore, your response was that you don't take your dogs to places where misinformed people might touch your dog without permission. I know that a BRT will need a lot of continual socialization throughout its life to as many different s...

Dear Mr. Frawley, Please forgive me for taking up your precious time but I think that I'm in over my head and don't know which road to go down with my Mason who is trained to be a Home & Personal Protection Dog. I purchased this dog from a company located in Petersburg, Michigan thru the internet solely on the owners word that the dog came out of a very good breeding, trained in humane obedience and protection program for 6-8 months, and properly socialized since birth. ...