Behavior Problems Q&As

I searched your site and couldn't find anything close to my situation. My 4 year old Irish Setter has automobile anxiety. She pants, whines, whimpers, drools and is generally anxious and overly excited in the car. She loves to go on car rides and gets very excited when she knows we are driving and even leaps in the car at the first chance. The problem is that she is nearly unmanageable when on board. I have tried letting her roam, as well as hooking her up on a short lead to the c...

I have an 8mo GSD - really a calm, well behaved dog, except for one bizarre problem. Every time I reach for the garage door opener in my home (or open the garage door otherwise) he runs as fast as he can to the door and attacks it. It is a detached garage. When this behavior first began, he would run to the door, and go into the garage without harming the door. And then he would attack the lawn mower - it is electric - and it had never run in his presence. I managed to demon...

I need help teaching my wirehair pointer not to eat "food" encountered on his runs. He runs free on the ocean beaches. He is a beautiful dog with excellent manners thanks to your help and suggestions. The beach abounds with crustaceans, dungeness crab parts, partially eaten razor clams. He slyly mouths something, I yell "no" and he walks up to me chewing on the item and I extract the remains from his mouth. His vet thinks a recent bout of diarrhea was due to his appetizer consump...

Cindy, I am considering the purchase of a Leerburg Rubber Kennel Mat for my 1 year old German Shepherd but before I place an order I would like to ask a question. Can you please describe the durability of this item? While my dog pretty much outgrown her puppy chewing stage, I just want to make sure that it is ?tough? enough to resist any biting temptations. I made a mistake four months ago of purchasing a dog bed only to wake up one morning and find that it had a large hole....

I just read the article on dog bites where the person sending in the picture got bite while putting a rescue GSD on their side. I have little expertise with dogs much less GSD's. I have a 15 month old GSD who is on the large size and very powerful. What teaching I do with him is what I am picking up at the local Schutzhund club. Ever since he was an 8 week old puppy we do "inspection" which means lay down and roll over at what time I look over his belly and groin area for ticks (we li...

Cindy, We are almost at our wits end and need some help ! My 1 year old female AB "spayed" will at times tear up our throw rugs. She's been disciplined numerous times but nothing seems to work. She only does this when we're gone to work (9 hours). So I never caught her in the act. First let me give you a bit of back ground. We have a very stable male AB 7 years old and they get along just fine. She's been obedience trained "your DVDs." She's completely house broken. W...

Hi Ed, Is there a specific training video of yours that addresses how to train a dog to stay in his own yard (not to jump a fence)? I have a 1 year old (neutered) Lab-Mix, that loves to visit the neighbor dogs, chase squirrels, turkey, deer, etc. Our 3 acre back yard is fenced in by 4 foot fence - He leaps over it as if it's not there. We've installed an electric fence and he's not fazed by it. Currently he is on a leash and/or lead run. But I'd love to find a way to correct...

Hello Cindy, Will make this short and sweet as requested. I rescued a 1 1/2 year old female blue pitbull from being put to sleep. Sweetest dog I have ever had. She responds well to training as she loves to please. I used to train and show dogs but have forgotten how to stop her from jumping on people. The old methods are no longer used and I think they used to suggest putting your knee in the dogs chest when they jump up to greet somebody. Any suggestions?? Thank you, Jeannie

I have a dog that panics during lighting storms, to the point you will never get her attention, you can tell by the look in her eye, like a drunk that has blacked out. I put her in a crate, but she has chewed the bars on the door, broken a lot of them off as well, her K-9 teeth are broken, mouth gets blooded from chewing on the inside corners off the create and bars. She digs in the crate as well during the storm, she shakes so bad her teeth rattle like a very cold dog, maybe she is in sh...

Hi: My Griffon does well outside in the 10x10 kennel. I have kept her in the house during single digits but she would rather be outside. I felt guilty during the cold weather so I purchased a insulated dog palace, Kind of spendy but did not have time to make a wood house. She has eaten the door off and consumed the Styrofoam beads. I have sprayed hot sauce on the house. Not sure if the Stop Chew liquid used for horses would work. It did not work for the horses. Bryan

Hi Cindy, I've emailed you previously and you have been very helpful. I have become partially disabled over the last several years and would like to teach my dog to assist me. I have a wonderful, 65 lb. female, rough coated Collie who I adopted from a breeder. My dog was bred previously. She was born and raised by her breeder who also did quite a bit of helpful training. I, too, have done training with my dog and this, I believe, solidified our bond. My problem is that my dog will not pla...

Cindy, You helped me with a previous question about training and I appreciate it. We were about ready to get rid of our rescued mutt, but your advice helped. I have another question. Our Terrier mix mutt has turned into a very good dog based on some of your advice, however, she LOVES to roll in really bad things? cat droppings, raccoon droppings, dead mice etc. Hardly a week goes by that we aren't bathing her multiple times. We want her to be able to be outside alone in our nic...

Cindy, I follow leerburg web site all the time I have even bought some of your dvds love them you and Ed have given me a lot of useful stuff I train dogs and do some rehab. but this one has gotten me pulling my hair out what little I have left any way. with that said I have four weims three of them are rescues no matter how much exercise I give them a couple of them eat there beds and blankets they do it when I am not home I would love to buy them real nice ones but there is no ...

Hi Cindy, I was wondering if it is possible to train a lab to stay out of the pool. My chocolate lab is a year and 4 months old and I cannot keep him out of my pool to save my life. The main reason I don't want him in the pool is because when the kids are in the pool he wants to swim with them and of course he usually ends up on top of them creating an unsafe environment. And of course when we chain him up while the kids are in the pool, he whines, cries and barks. If you ...

Dear Cindy, Thank you for the web site and all the information that is available. It has been very valuable and helpful in training our dogs. I have an unusual problem with my dog. Here is a little background on our situation. We have a 13 year old lab/border collie mix and a 2 year old Black Mouth Cur. Our concern is with our BMC. He is a hunting breed and is a very dominant and stubborn dog. We have established the pack leaders in our house as my husband and me and he has ...

Hi, I am a huge fan! Thank you for your advice and products. We have an 11 month old GS female and she is spectacular. Several of your DVDs have been amazingly helpful to us. Our GS is brilliant, sweet, trained, and a pleasure. Since she was a puppy, she pees from excitement when a new person greets her. She also does this when I come home from a business trip and she hasn't seen me in a few days. Several have told me that this is submissive urination and will hopefully go a...

Cindy, Thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail. My 1 year old female GSD has been with me every day since she was 5 months old. She has gone everywhere with me mostly Lowes and the credit union. Several weeks ago she became very shy of other people even those that she had been friendly with before. If I let someone pet her she will do a submissive pee right there with her ears laid back down low. Now she doesn't even want to associate with people and will pull away. ...

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...

Hello, My name is Katrina. I have a three year old American Bulldog that is preparing to take the CGC test. I got her when she was six weeks old. Since day one she has been a submissive wetter when she gets excited or when anyone bends over to pet her. The vet told me that she would outgrow it when we took her for her first checkup, but she never did. I have even tried to have people to give her a treat as they bend over and pet her. I thought this would help eliminate her urinatio...

Hello Cindy, We have a GSD 2-1/2 yrs. She is trained in obedience and agility, is well socialized and is generally a very good, calm dog. She has always enjoyed catching insects and I guess that's normal. Earlier this summer, she caught a wasp which stung the roof of her mouth. We gave her an allergy pill and she was okay. But we would like to stop this behavior. When we want her to ignore something (like a barking dog in a yard as we walk, or a food scrap on the ground) we ...