Behavior Problems Q&As

Hello. I have an intact male 18-month-old Golden Retriever. For a few months, I would take him on a long walk on a jogging trail using a 20 ft long line so he could run around and sniff and mark. NOW, I don't allow him on a 20ft line instead I only use a 6 ft line and I take him on "structured" walks and not free roaming walks. He marks inside a store if there were previous dog smells like a pet store. But he does not mark if I take him to dept stores or hobby stores where there are no dog sm...

Our 3-year-old border collie, who's always high drive, has taken to lurching out after vehicles. It started with rattly trucks with trailers, and not its even noisy vehicles. He can be fully engaged and still reacts. It seems to be the sound and motion. Is an e-collar the route to go? He'll also take off if there is a bouncy ball e.g. basketball or tennis going on too? I don't see how we can engagement train him off this and it's life-threatening for him as he reacts and chases the moving veh...

I have a new puppy. She is approximately 3 months old, HavaPoo. I have noticed in the last few days, she is showing some food aggression tendencies. I have a 15-year-old Yorkie/Poo and both are fed separately. Puppy fed in expen on the opposite side of the ex-pen from where the older dog is fed, which is outside of the expen. I want to thwart this immediately.

Hi Cindy. In one of the videos, Ed suggests giving your dog a "time out" by putting your dog in his crate when he has done something wrong. He said that it doesn't have to be a long time-out period. It can be only a few minutes to be effective. Even so, won't the dog start generalizing being put in their crate with having done something wrong? Won't it cause confusion when you send your dog to his crate to "go to your bed" at night?

Hi Cindy! Thanks so much for all the helpful info you've shared. We have a 2.5-year-old male GSD, Jake, who has always been a major barker when he hears someone outside our house – especially other dogs. We and our trainer have been trying to train him out of it and thought we were seeing progress up until recently. He developed a scary habit where upon hearing someone outside, he not only barks but quickly goes after our other dog (a 3-year-old malinois) as if she were the threat, even...

If a dog is known to chase cats, and the behavior is worked out with corrections (I'm thinking e-collar), can they ever be trusted with them when you're not there to correct them? The question kind of relates to the theme in the Dealing With Dominant and Aggressive Dogs video about how a dominant dog will respect family members while the pack leader is around but not necessarily when the pack leader isn't around. I've owned two other dogs that had strong prey drive with rabbits and squirrels ...

Which Michael Ellis DVD deals with dogs that are possessive with toys? My 8-month-old GSD won't play a two-ball game. He is quite happy to just possess one ball and isn't interested in the second ball.

Hello, I have a question regarding a 15-week-old female working line GSD. We are currently working on engagement on a leash, distraction-free. Although there is a slight glimmer of progress, shes got a ways to go concerning behavior on the leash, in public places. Next week she goes into Vet for her puppy shots. The last vet visit two weeks ago didn't go so well. She barked excessively at the receptionist as she kneeled to pet her. (let's see, the comment I got was, " what do your German ...

In the Leash Reactivity video, Tyler talks about frustration as one of the sources of leash aggression, but never mentions how to fix it. The reviews on the paid course say that it is not addressed there either. Can you give me some suggestions on strategies to help a dog that is confident and secure, and just wants to play very badly with every dog he sees? Or point me to any resources?

We are having difficulty getting one of our dogs to stop counter surfing and going through gates which he has now learned how to open. In almost all cases he is doing these behaviors in search of food. We do a pretty good job of keeping food off the counters but this guy is relentless. What sorts of things can we do to address this nuisance behavior? I don't want him to eat something and poison himself. His appetite seems to have no limit. He has already eaten himself sick once when he broke ...

We live by a golf course and I let my 7 month old lab off leash a bit so he can run around. Problem I find is he will catch a ball but then stop and find grass or something else to start eating. Yelling, Yuck or No does nothing to get him to stop. As I approach he'll quickly swallow the stuff. I then say Yuck or No and put him back on lease. Any ideas for me to get him to stop this action??

I have 3 yr old shepherd, in April our 12 year old Belgian Shepherd passed away. Since then our 3 year old has had increased anxiety and is aggressive toward outside people coming into the house (not family). At one point, she did not walk any further than 5 houses away on our block. I have gotten her back into walking. Prior she was great personality, friendly to people coming and going (comfortable in her fur). She has anxiety attacks. Any suggestions would be great. I had 4 prior shepherds...

Hi Cindy! Thanks so much for all the helpful info you've shared. We have a 2.5-year-old male GSD who has always been a major barker when he hears someone outside our house – especially other dogs. We and our trainer have been trying to train him out of it and thought we were seeing progress up until recently. He developed a scary habit where upon hearing someone outside, he not only barks but quickly goes after our other dog (a 3-year-old Malinois) as if she were the threat, even if she ...

Hello, I have an 8 month old akita. I was reading the article about Dog Parks and completely agree. I would not take him to one. I was wondering if you have the same feelings about doggy Daycare. We have considered trying a half day a week. it seems to be well run. They bring in new dogs into a separate area and introduce one new dog at a time starting with the dogs with the best temperament. Eventually they will be in the general area if all goes well. Our puppy has had have very little inte...

My apartment is right in front of the elevators so people constantly come and go in front of our door. My pitbull always barks and growls at the door when he hears things outside but he is very human friendly and loves people. How do I get him to stop barking every time someone passes by our door?

My 17 month old dog has travel anxiety, she pants and won't relax in the 2nd seat of our SUV. She is in a safety harness and can lay down. I tried a name brand herbal calming product which did not seem to help, I'd like to avoid Benadryl or vet Rx. Chew toys or treats are ignored. Would it be o.k. to use the e-collar to break her thought process, say as part of saying down, (she ignores commands when so agitated) or would a tap or click make things worse? She didn't have any trouble tra...

Hi Cindy! I've emailed before for help with my Belgian Malinois pup and your suggestions have been helpful, particularly in regards to puppy biting. A new problem has arisen: he barks, and it appears to be motivated by him seeking my attention (there is also the possibility that the attention seeking barking behavior may result from anxiety - anxious about me leaving - but I'm not sure.) Question: Any suggestions to curb/minimize the barking behavior other than ignoring the behavior?

Hi Cindy, I looked through the barking Q/A and didn't find anything on young pups - 12 weeks. Initially, regardless of how often I would take him out, my dog would poo while in the crate as he caught on that it would get him out. After isolating him for 24 hours and only taking him out for potty breaks, he figured out to poo outside with lots of praise and fun accompanying. I brought him back out into the living room to be part of the pack and he has been fine about this since. Recently...

I have an 11 month old GSD that hasn?t been socialized much. He is a rescue; I got him at about 4 months old and have had him out in public, but he needs obedience training. He is non-reactive to other dogs, cats, children etc. I want to try and train him to be a service dog (I suffer from PTSD) as he appears to have a very good temperament. I purchased the Michael Ellis self study Training with Food. He is too old for the puppy video you have and was wondering is it too late to train him for...

Hi, we have a 9 month old Berger Blanc Suisse. She is so smart and we are just in love with her. It is our first Shepherd, and our first herding breed, so we are learning a lot! We are struggling with her confidence and building it up. We will be moving in a couple of weeks, so are excited to finally have that whirlwind over and get settled and really hone in on training. Not that we haven't been doing anything with her just not as much as we anticipated with everything going on. Is the Raisi...