Behavior Problems Q&As

HI, I don't know if you can help me, but I don't know what to do. My husband wants to put my dog to sleep due to this. I have a 12-yr. old Australian cattle/spitz mix, Lived in my current house 2 yrs. Have a Golden 4 yrs old. The dogs are kept in basement when we leave for the day or a short time (which is fixed up lower level carpet patio doors, dog beds, water). They are played with daily. I have no kids; they are my kids. When moving in this house the 12yr old star...

I have a one year old GSD dog that seems to get scared very easy around certain objects and things. As a pup he never showed any signs of fear towards anything but all of a sudden he started getting scared of even coming in the house. As a pup he would always be inside but as he grew I had to make him a outside dog. He also gets scared around large objects. I'm concerned because I did pay a lot of money for this dog from a respectable breeder, at least I think I did. He told me that it is jus...

Thank you for taking the time to read my question. Here is a little background. My name is Dannie and I live with my husband and our 1 and a half year old son. We have a golden retriever named Dawson that is 2 and a half. We have been trying to train him out of a food aggression problem since he was 6 months old. We have seen 4 different dog trainers and have tried a number of different techniques. I have read your web site and can tell you a few things that we are doing right and ...

Hello, I was just searching your web site. and I was greatly impressed about your knowledge of dogs and your willingness to help people with problems they face with their own dogs. This is exactly why I am writing you. I seem to have a problem with my parents 9 month old purebred female Akita. I am not sure how much knowledge you have of this breed but from what I can tell on your web site, you definitely know more about dogs than I do. Here is the problem: At this moment in...

Hello, I have a question in regards to my 1-year old Aussie (maggie). Her name is Maggie. Can we help her? I will try to keep this brief but help you understand her behavior the same. Maggie was brought into our home at 12-weeks, she was/is very shy. We went through obedience classes with flying colors, although the social end didn't go so well. Maggie would show her teeth at the other dogs and sometimes growl, she would flip over on her back when people try touching her and...

Dear Mr.Frawley, I'm very sorry to disturb you because I know you are a busy man. I have your basic obedience DVD but now I have other problems with my dog. First of all I would like to thank you for the great job you are doing helping us with our problem and also for your time in reading this. My dog doesn't like to be in his cage, we have to pull him in the cage but I don't like doing this because it looks like cruelty to animals. What can I do about this? We let the dog out at n...

I meant to add this question to my last email training question....our 9 month old female Giant Schnauzer has developed a fear for traffic and loud trucks. Because we live in rural area, we rarely see traffic except for UPS or FED EX trucks. As of late, I have been taking her to our quaint downtown Main Street for walks in hopes of making her more comfortable with the loud noise. From the time we've had her at 4 months, we have expanded her "socializing" her via various situations such as car...

Mr. Frawley, Two training questions for you, first the background. We've had our GSD, Kaiser, for going on two years. Vom Haus Glitzernstern supplied your 8 weeks to 8 months video with the pup. We've used that and your basic obedience video to develop Kaiser into an excellent house dog who loves to please. He has very strong drives and has worn a path around the perimeter of our property that he regularly patrols. First question. We have a swimming pool that Kaiser is not a...

I just read your piece on the Internet about showing the dog lovers out there all the various methods of training their dogs to refuse food. I am a person who lives next door to a couple of first class ass-holes who have a large dog that barks and barks and barks and barks. It barks at everything and it barks at nothing. It barks all day long and all night long, and these two idiots tell me that there is nothing they can do about it. I can't afford hiring lawyers and suing p...

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. ...

Hi Ed, I would like to know what your opinion is on using an e-collar in my situation. My dog is 9 months old and is extremely people aggressive. He hates absolutely everyone but my husband and me. We got this puppy at 4 months of age. He's always been shy and a little strange around people. He got quite sick for a while, and ever since then, he's been very aggressive towards people. He will bark, growl & nip at anyone who even looks at him the wrong way. He's terrified of everyone...

I am hoping you can help me. My dog (miniature doberman) is a little older than 1 year old, we have never walked him. He has gone out a few times and has always run away. I would like to start walking him and taking him places on his leash. The problem is that he cowers when we put the leash on him and lays down. Is there something we can do to help him feel more comfortable? Thank You!

Hi, I have been reading your articles on training for about five months. I purchased a german shepherd puppy at the age of seven weeks old, he is now seven months old and just does not listen. He loves to be outside, but when he comes in the house he jumps on furniture, bites the kids, and basically just doesn't listen. I have taken him to puppy school and we are on level one obedience right now. I just don't know what to do with him. I don't want to leave him outside all the time I want ...

We have a spayed female shepherd/lab mix named Sandy. We got her from these people at 1 year old, now she is 3. Every since we got our 7 month old husky puppy, Zoe, she has been acting weird. When we first got her, she ran away a lot, but was friendly to dogs. Now she runs away and picks fights. Her last fight we saw. We witnessed her in a yard and the dog that lived there sniffed her for a greeting and then Sandy just started fighting. She came home with a bitten ear and now she is starting ...

I just want to say, like everyone else who logs in on your web site, how informative your site is. Just received your catalog the other day and I'm interested in purchasing a training video but don't exactly know which one I should order. I have a 14 month old male neutered boxer that has gone through basic obedience classes with a passing grade. He has no problem with the "sit," "down," "stay," "leave it" commands but needs a little work on his "come" command. A couple of b...

Hello. I know that you have a lot of mail so I'll try to make this as short and sweet as I can. We have a 6 month old male, black lab and golden retriever mix pup. This dog loves garbage!!! He refuses his dog food even after several brands have been tried. We have tried every thing. Taking trash out before we leave the house, tying him up, putting gates up so he can't get into certain rooms and the cage. Nothing works. He chews through the leash, destroys the room he is in and jumps the g...

Hi Ed, I have helped a friend who has a 5 year old Bichon go through basic obedience. We can do long sit and down stays inside and outside and at shopping malls. The dog also walks well on a leash. The problems she has is that first the dog was not letting anyone in the house. I solved this problem. But he goes nuts when people want to leave to the point of snapping and lunging. I tried to desensitize him with food away from the door, sits and stays away from the door...

Hi Ed, We recently adopted a 2-year old female husky mix from a local shelter. Denali displays submissive urination whenever she is verbally corrected (not screamed at). This usually happens with me, and not my wife or older kids. While working on obedience training, any type of correction (verbal or physical with choke collar) causes her to urinate. I praise her consistently and keep her in my company as much as possible to strengthen our bond. I'm planning to purchase your...

I was introduced to your wonderful site per the Doberlist to which I belong. I own a male Doberman (from very good German lines) who is now 2 years old, (all 40kgs of him). Could you please offer me some advise as he very often attempts to mount my daughter (10 years) as well as most women who come to our home as well as my daughter?s friends, both male and female. This is to my mind an attempt to dominate and I would not favor having him castrated, I am also aware that male...

Hello I was wondering if you could give me some advice. We have an 8-month old neutered German shepherd mix (lab and husky we think) and I am having trouble controlling him. We have a three-year-old daughter, so I know it is imperative that he listens and behaves. He has a habit of picking up her toys and chewing them -- sometimes swallowing them. No matter how I handle the situation, he will not drop the item in his mouth. Yesterday he got my mop cover and started chewing h...