Behavior Problems Q&As

Hello, I have been reading a lot of your Q & A's. I am looking for some advise about your 7-8 month old Corgi Mix. He was a stray when he was found so we are not sure exactly how old he is. He is a real sweet heart in almost every way. Breaks my heart that he had a hard start to life. I have a 7 year old son who Meyer (our dog) loves to play with but I think he thinks my son is his litter mate. Meyer will nip at him in a playing way, not breaking skin or making marks, but it still ...

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...

Ed, You have been most helpful in the past. I read an article on your web site regarding 'tail chasing' where you indicated that the dog is just 'nuts'. We have a beautiful year old bitch Gretchen. She is walked miles every day, heels like second nature; has plenty of space to run; plays aggressively all the time with our male GS. She is not crated, and is rarely left alone. She just started pacing and chasing her tail in the last month. I am at home all day and she is ALWAYS ...

Hi, I have a one year old Rottweiler. He is great with my two young children but I can not get him to calm down. Our biggest problem is that he pees all over himself and anything else near him when ever he gets scolded. He does this more so with my husband than myself. The only time that it is really bad is when he is really getting yelled at. Not just a little "Hey knock that off!" Please help us if you can. Thank You sooo much, Jennifer

Hi Ed, We have 2 Shiloh Shepherds, 14 months old, bought together as pups before we knew that was a bad idea. They are great dogs. We trained them as pups and they've always responded well to basic commands. We have had minor trouble with the male being shy in new situations or around new people, but just handled it by keeping him away and ignoring him when people came over. We did a lot of training with him before he turned one-- taking him into a new place and giving him tons of ...

Mr Frawley, I have a solid black female GSD 12 weeks old and I have ordered the videos you told me to for right now. I can't wait to get them. I had a problem just now and I need advice. I have been making her sit before she gets her food and she has been on leash all times in the house and outside. I am thinking that I am the alpha male so far until I get your videos that might teach me different including your podcasts. She has came to me every time I have called her name at least 30 ti...

Hello Mr. Frawley, If you have time, I would appreciate your guidance with regard to our GSD. Belle is 5 years old, in excellent health, obedience and personal protection trained, and a loyal pet. Behavior wise we have one problem. Over the past 4 months she has become fixated on her tail. We have vet bills for Keflex and powder for treatment, we use a command or the nicker collar to stop her biting her tail, but cannot watch every single minute. Long story made short, she bites he...

I am wondering if you can help me on a training issue? I have a GSD out of Czech working lines and am not sure what the best form of correction for her is. I am told you can mishandle these bloodlines and cause the dog to become handler aggressive and later be taken to the ground by the dog. I do not want to mishandle her and cause her to be handler aggressive, or her to be scared of me or her to continue doing what she is doing. I want a dog to want to be with me, want to work for...

Dear Ed, I live in Shadow Hills, CA, a livestock/horse keeping area in northeastern Los Angeles City. This is a foothill area and there are lots of horse trails connecting through open areas. I have shown dogs, trained them, and bred a few litters so I understand the variations in the breed temperaments. I would like your opinion on this situation. Last year we suffered a dog attack on our rabbitry losing 20 animals. The dogs came over 2 fences onto our property. Within a few weeks our ...

Dear Mr. Frawley, I have purchased and watched both of your tapes (Puppies and Obedience Training) several times. I am having great success with training our 6 mo. old Lab (Jake) all because of your help. I am a great fan of yours. I have one issue with which I really need help. Jake jumps up on the counter and looks for food. Though we are careful not to have anything within his reach, this is very annoying, especially since I am having so much success with training him in every other ...

Dear Ed, I have 1 year old black lab. I live on farm and she chews on everything...I don't like the idea of having her chained up all the time but every time I come home from work she has brought stuff from the Machine shed out into the yard and absolutely tears stuff to shreds...even when the door is shut she finds things to drag out and chew on...how can I stop her from chewing on everything without chaining her up all day long?

Hello - I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd from the German Shepherd Rescue in Las Vegas. He is awesome! He gets along great with my other dog, and he is getting along with my cat very nicely. But we have 1 problems that I can not seem to fix or train out of him. The vet suggested to crate train him, and I have mixed feelings about that. Our other dog is not crate trained and he does just fine. The bad habits is that at night he grabs anything that I have left on the counter, ...

I've signed up for your message board, but as it takes a few days I wondered if you could get me started in the right direction. Our European bred Shepherd will be five months old on the 14th. We got her at 3-1/2 months. We are doing well socializing her with people, but when she sees another dog, she strains and lunges with all of her strength to get over to them while barking VERY loudly and aggressively. Our trainer (who uses many of your techniques similar to your puppy ...

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

We have an 11month GS/rotti mix. She was a rescue and we have had her since she was 11 weeks old. She has completed basic obedience (prong collar was used) and did very well. I do, however, have one main concern in regards to training. When our dog meets new people, or our friends that she doesn't know well, she is relentless to get their attn. by jumping up on them and nipping at their hands and clothes. She has never hurt anyone, never even really nipped hard, but nonetheless it makes u...

Dear Ed, I'm using your basic dog obedience DVD for our five month old GSD. I love your training methods. Here's the problem. He is running and barking at the door whenever he hears the key or doorbell. I think he has weak nerves because his bark is fast and sometimes the hair stands up on his back. I have a prong collar that he wears on walks. I want this behavior to stop. Please let me know the proper way to handle this. Thank You, Patti

Hi Ed, Quick question. I have a 18 week pup GSD from Germany and he is always chasing and biting his tail and I'm not sure if this is play or something else going on. I have even switched his food to Fromm Nutritional 4 star food, having read once that this could indicate an animal protein deficiency. I don't know how grain based this food really is, but I'm hoping it's better than the Royal Canine he was on which he was getting yeast in the ear on. What are your thoughts on this? ...

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 nightmare. 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 h...

Hi Ed, I have purchased several of your training tapes and everything is going well except for one problem. Our dog (a 6 month old brindle boxer with a wonderful temperament) loves to rip down and play with plants my wife has planted in our yard. He loves corn stalks, decorative ears of corn etc. We have big fenced in yard and let him run around by himself although we are always home when we do. This usually happens during the day when my kids are at school, although my wife is hom...

Hello, My name is Deanna and I have a question about the dog my fiance and I have. He is a two year old mix breed, possibly has Lab and Springer Spaniel along with something else in him. He weighs about 80 pounds and for the most part is well behaved when we are home. We got him when he was approximately 11 weeks old from the Humane Society in Menomonie. We made the mistake of not kenneling him while we are gone. We close off a back porch where he stays and put his kennel back ther...