Behavior Problems Q&As

Hello, I am thinking of purchasing the bark limiter for my 130lb german shepherd. I will be living in a basement apartment where the family above me has a newborn and needs predictable quiet time. With the collar on, can the dog drink water without the shock? What about chewing a bone? Thank you for you answers.

Hi Cindy, I have a 16mo GSD. A month ago, someone charged my dog for "fun" at a family party. Initially, my dog cowered, and everyone got a pathetic laugh. That same person who charged my dog, could not stand up from a sitting position without my dog jumping up on all fours and barking aggressively at the previous perpretrator. My dog could not relax while that person was present. This person told me that I had a serious problem with my dog. I laughed. Today I took my GSD to the vet. Th...

I have a question about drinking water as it pertains to the groundwork/pack structure phase of training. I work nights 9pm - 7 am. When I get home at 7, I wait about 20 minutes and then feed my dog. Regarding water, should I keep water in the crate when the dog is in the crate? Or should I put a dish of water in the crate several times a day and then take the dog out to go pottie after they have drank? What would you do?

Hi, I have an apricot colored GSD, she will soon be 7 years old. She is adorable with people. In fact, so much so, that I have to pen her when we have visitors after a while, as she wants a fuss all the time. My problem is I can't trust her with other dogs when we go out to the local woods for a walk. She lives with a greyhound, and I lost my male GSD a year ago. She is wonderful with them, and is very good with a stray cat that has adopted us. Although I keep an eye on her with the cat...

Hi Cindy, I have a 14 month intact female Rottweiler. She was crate trained, and was relatively neutral in terms of her love of the crate. Suddenly in the last 2 weeks she is obsessed with the crate. There is no food or treat in the crate, and with the bedding removed her behavior is identical. She will spend more than half of the day inside the crate with the door open. She often runs back into it when she is out, with intensity. When she is taken outside her energy is great. Her appetit...

I have an 11 month old Standard Poodle. We originally got the dog for our 16 year old daughter. As many kids do, she promised to care for and train the dog. We attended a 12 week training course. None of us has been consistent with the training. Other than sitting, downing and waiting he is very disobedient. I.e. barking all the time while outside, jumping up on the counters to steal food, jumping up on us, etc. etc. I feel like I need to take control of this and be the primary trainer. Pleas...

Just a quick note about a mistake I made with my big, intact male and the lessons I learned. In retrospect, I had let pack leadership slip big time and was tolerating small problems like getting in the trash. This was the rescue dog I got when he was a year old and untrained. One night he grabbed my dinner off the dining table. I got angry and did something I very well knew (when thinking clearly without anger clouding my judgement) was stupid--crowded him, yelled, and hit him with my kne...

Hello Ed & Cindy, I'm writing today regarding my mother's year old spayed female GSD. She was purchased by my 18 year old brother who didn't do groundwork before leaving for college. She is loving & intelligent, but extremely stubborn and dominant. I've never had a dog this frustrating to train. She is teetering on the edge of needing to find a new home because of her behavioral issues. I'm hoping that you can suggest specific DVDs and articles that are most fitting for her issues. ...

Please help me! My husband and I have consulted our trainer who has suggested things that just don't work and I have yet to find an answer that really relates to our problem. We have a 7 month old Boxer mix (we think--we adopted him from a shelter at 2 months). He is such a good dog! He has been in obedience classes since he was about 4 months old and does amazing everywhere but in our backyard. Even then the only issue (but a big issue) is that he will attack our coats and shoes when we are ...

Hello, My wife and I bought and have watched the basic obedience video, on recommendation from a previous trainer, and absolutely love it. We noticed a number of little problems with our own behavior and have since begun implementing the techniques. I was hoping I could get a little advice on the place command. We have a rescue dog (4 or 5) which we have been crating since she came home. She has always shown strong anxiety while in the crate. She tore her way out of one, and will not...

Hi Cindy, We have a 4-month-old Caucasian Shepherd puppy and he displays uncontrollable dog aggression to unfamiliar dogs. I have read that this breed of dog is very independent and does not have the best recall. Having owned a protection-trained Malinois and a German Shepherd, I am amazed at how intense this puppy can be. He lives with an 8-year-old male German Shepard and a 10-year-old female Border Collie. They all get along although his "puppy play" can be rough. We socialize him at...

Hi Cindy, I have a high energy 6 year old female GS. She?s gone through basic obedience but seems to have a growing issue with barking. My house backs up to a park and she often hears other dogs etc, which spurs the barking. I have heard the best way to control barking is to teach the dog ?when to bark? thus I would assume this works in reverse? If this is the case, can you give me some direction on how to control her barking when told?

We have a no vac, raw fed male who is 4 years old. His Dad was no vac but his Mom was given vaccine. He is strictly a pet. We have one of your E-collars. Recently he decided he would NOT go for a walk with me. Only if my wife goes will he go out the door for a walk. If I try to take him, he flops down and no amount of stern commands, yanks on the prong or delicious treats will get him up off the floor and out the door. Would you recommend using the E-collar to break this habit? Put...

I have a mellow, neutered male 12 year old mix breed med sized house dog and recently acquired a JRT puppy. Is it alright to let the old dog correct the pup with growls and barks when she pesters him or jumps up on him? He wants nothing to do with the puppy and usually walks away from her. He is tolerant of sharing his bed if she lies quietly beside him. The pup is doesn't always get the message, however, and continues to bug him until he gets up and goes to another spot.

Could you give me some advice and help with my dog? I'm due a baby in 2 months and am thinking of getting rid of my 3 year old Staffordshire bull terrier. The reason for this is because when I let her into the house from the garden, she storms in jumping on the sofa and is very hyper and I would be scared of her jumping on my new baby or something. I thought I would ask you first as I really love her and would like to try and sort her out before I would give her up. Please get back to me. Tha...

Hello, I have a five-month-old Shepherd pup. I'm having issues crate training my dog. When I have to go to work, I have my pup crated. So he is crated for four hours, then I come home and take him out and walk him for an hour, then he's crated for four hours, and then when I return home at the end of the day, he's then fed, walked, and played with. Originally my problem was with him escaping his crate and then tearing up my carpet. Some trial and error, a blanket under the crate, and ...

Hi Ed, I just ordered a dominant dog collar and a 3 series DVD that you had recommended in one of your QAs. My question is, my husband doesn't like to have a huge crate hanging around in our house. Is it possible to substitute the crate for a 6ft lead tied either in the dining room or our bed post, to follow your instruction on establishing pack leadership in our house? The only other option is to have the crate in our daughter's bedroom. I want to start from scratch, even though we had...

Dear Leerburg, I have a large German Shepherd mix male neutered age 3. He needs help in learning to socialize happily with other dogs. Can I buy a DVD or CD showing large healthy dogs playing together? My dog will watch TV if and only if dogs are on it. He can learn some by watching other large dogs playing without barking. Please reply. Thank You.

Hi Cindy, My sister and I both have dogs at home that tend to bark when we are at work. We wanted to purchase the collars for both dogs but are concerned that this may limit them from playing with one another since they growl and play bark. Do you have any suggestions? Would keeping it on and off confuse the dogs? Thanks for your assistance.

Cindy, I have a 4-year-old male Boston Terrier who is very dominant and is the pack leader (of me). I'm trying to right this wrong because of two major behavioral issues we're having with him. 1. He terrorizes house guests with too much crazy affection 2. He's extremely leash reactive and can only be walked in really deserted areas (this is our biggest problem and I'm hoping that by beginning to establish pack leader we can work up to correcting this). I read the article on pack structu...