Behavior Problems Q&As

Hello, I have read most of your articles on bringing a dog into a home with other dogs, I have not been able to discover your suggestion on what to do if you have a new puppy. I have 3 dogs a 12 year old, a 7 year old, and a 3 year, these are the dogs that I have had for years I have raised all these dogs from less then a year old most since they were puppies. The 3 year old is the only one that I have questions on, he is a malamute and he is a big baby. The puppy I am trying to introduce ...

Perhaps you could give some very desperate owners some advice on how to handle this? We have three rescue dogs two about twelve; male and female one recently rescued about 8 months old a female just over her first heat. She became very aggressive with the older female, she has established her dominance but still there has been several attacks and the last few were bloody ones and harmful to the older female. Is something like this possible to fix and how? We're planning to h...

Cindy, We are planning to add to our family. Currently, we have a 3 year old, spayed female GSD who we purchased from the breeder when she was 9 weeks old. Raven is very sweet and 'soft' in temperament ? definitely not an alpha female. With the increase in home foreclosures, loss of jobs, etc., we feel as though it would be more socially responsible to adopt a rescue dog. My question is this: is it a myth that the best pairings are male-female rather than adopting a dog o...

Hi There. I found your website while trolling for ways to control or train a new to our house Pitbull. We rescued her a few days ago and she is slowly putting weight back on, just skin and bones when we caught her, which wasn't hard! We already have three house/garden dogs and three cats. The Pitbull, now named Harley, just won't stop trying to catch and kill the cats! How do we control Harley as we do not wish to have her put down? Would an electric collar work? What about a muzzle? ...

We are owners of a Cavalier King Charles 2 year old female. We have been discussing the prospect of adding a 'buddy'? for her to our home and finally decided that it was time. We also decided it would be a rescue from the Cavalier Rescue of Chicago. About 10 days ago we drove with our dog (Sophie) to the foster home to meet Merlin (male 2 years old). The foster home had 3 other cavaliers in the home so everyone was at ease when we introduced Sophie. The immediate attention to one a...

I have your videos on Pack Structure, Puppy 8 weeks to 8 Months, and Basic Obedience, have read your articles and tried to find this on the discussion board but have been unable to do so. First, I am a former math teacher and have had a lot of experience with teenage boys and a normal amount of experience with dogs. Your training methods for dogs are just what I applied in the classroom. I am retired and spend most of my time with the dogs. My husband is a pack member but he doesn'...

Hi, I just adopted an intact 5-yr old male German Shep who, I'm told, is Level 3 Schutzhund-trained. He's been retired due to an injury. I am having him neutered in the next 2 weeks. I am having a problem introducing him to my cats, as he is fairly aggressive toward them. Can you recommend a training video or other anything else, that can help me with this? I am reluctant to use shock collars and other extreme measures. My goal is to get him to be friendly with the cats...

You came highly recommended by a coworker and I could really use your advice. Last Saturday we picked up an 11 month old Australian Shepherd / Shih Tzu mix from the SPCA after being spayed. I have two girls one 8 and one 12 and a 13 year old cat. So far the cat and dog definitely do not get along and the dog has gone from constant submissive urination to becoming aggressive, hyper and even destructive. Unfortunately, I have had her crated all night and then again during the day while we w...

Hi Cindy. My name is Katrina. Recently, a couple of days ago, I bought a puppy from a lady. The puppy is a mini Aussie, 5 months old (in 4 days). I think I might have made a mistake. When I picked her up (I drove 500 miles to get her), she seemed ok. A little scared, but I thought that was normal. Now that we are home, I don't think she was ever around humans before, except to get fed. She will not come to me with kisses or whistling, or anyone else. I put her in the house, and she...

Hello Cindy, We recently (only been 3 days now) got a 4 month old puppy and I was wondering your opinion. The dog is great in terms of how nice it is, and it seems to already be learning quickly. The issue I was wondering about was the time we spend with the dog. I am thinking that we kind of rushed into getting him without really thinking enough about the time that we should spend with him. My wife and I both work full time and can't really be home in the day time. I can and have ...

Our 7-yr-old black lab passed away a month ago. We are thinking about adopting one of my brothers puppies. They are black lab and golden retriever mix. We would like to do inside at night and outside during the day (like our last dog). We have a 20' x 20' kennel. My only concern is if we do put her in there if it would have a negative effect on her behavior skills? Also how much time would you recomend for her to run around outside supervised? My husband and I really want another dog but ...

I have always had dogs, usually strays, but never trained or had one as a puppy. I would like to know from A-Z what books or dvds to start with. I am trying to do my homework before we get my first puppy. I have children at ages 2, 2 and 9. We currently have a Great Dane, age 6. I would like to get a German Shepard probably in 1 year or maybe 2. My goal is to have a well trained dog to protect the family, stay in our 1/2 acre yard and be good with the children. What are the ...

Hi Cindy! What a great site you have. We have recently adopted an adult female GSD. She came from a very loving family going through a divorce that did not have time for her. She is well trained--electric collar, but missed out on much interaction with people outside of the family and very little if any socialization with other dogs. She has bonded with us well--I have a 16 year old son and 18-year old daughter. She does not obey them or my husband as she does me, but so far...

Hi: I have a sweet 12 year old mini poodle, who is starting to feel his age, with poor vision and hearing, but he remains sweet and funny. He?s about 30 lbs. I have a chance to get a little 1 year old female poodle and would like to, but my husband says it may break the older boy's heart. Any words of wisdom? Diane

Greetings from Norway. My name is Kenneth, I am 22 years old and I am used to having a dog in my family. My mom has a dog, and my sister has a dog. But I have never had my own dog. I loaned a couple of your movies from a friend, and they are very good. The dog race I want to buy is an English bull terrier, I've heard they are quite stubborn and often dominant. I have seen your DVD on dominant dogs. But I dont really know what I am getting myself in with buying a bull terrier. Do you hav...

Hello, I'm having trouble with my 6 month old siberian husky. I recently bought a german shepherd/husky mix about 6 months also (new puppy). At first everything was fine my husky loved the new puppy they played forever. Finally when things started to settle I took out toys for both of them I gave the husky her toy and the new puppy his, as soon as my husky saw this she took the bone and growled at the new puppy. Now anytime the new puppy comes near her my husky growls at the new pu...

Hi Cindy, I have an urgent dog question I was hoping you can help me out. I have purchased and watched the Leerburg puppy training DVD and went through a few podcasts regarding introducing dogs. Yesterday I brought home a 3 month old German Shepherd puppy and in my home I already have a 2 year old Yorkshire terrier. I introduced them in my front yard with both dog on their leashes. However the problem I'm having is that my terrier is really scared of the German Shepherd puppy and s...

I had a question about introducing our new puppy to our older dog. We recently got an 8 week old female Rottie. We currently have a 3 year old female Lab. How do we go about socializing the two? Is there a certain age the puppy should be? Eventually we want to put two in the kennel together. (Our kennel is large...20 ft by 40 ft.) Any suggestions? Jacklyn

Hi, Yesterday I bought a 2.5 month czechoslovakian wolfdog. I have a 6 months female Husky and she knows that me and my boyfriend are the alpha pair. She never had growled at us, but today, when we gave the food bowl to her, I did something that I always do to her when she is eating: I pet her. She began growling at me and I said no to her. I've continued to pet her and she tried to bite me and same with my boyfriend. She has never done this to us. I think that she is trying to be...

Hi, I just opened the DVD sales newsletter e-mail on defense drive and it made me continue my thinking on this subject. I have a very weak-nerved dog and if I try to leave him for an out of sight stay he has a look of discomfort/stress and I realize he is not going to get very far in training if he feels this way - therefore, my thinking is he needs to feel different about the exercise... so I have been thinking if I could switch him out of pack drive (which is where I suspect he is since ...