Obedience Q&As

October 4, 2024

Recommended I want to teach my dog to walk with me under any distraction, we live in a big city with narrow sidewalks. Should I teach contact heeling or use a second command for loose leash walking? Do you have any suggestions?

Hi Cindy, My dog is a 3-year old high energy border collie who is trained in obedience and has solid heels and loose leash walking and a bullet-proof stay. I now want to build an equally bullet-proof way to walk with me even under any distractions. My question is, should I 1) build on her loose leash walking, or 2) teach a contact heel, or 3) use a second command for loose leash, or 4) anything else? Since we live in a big city we use loose leash a lot, either on narrow sidewalks, ...
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October 2, 2024

Recommended I'ma dog trainer and some clients don't want to give treats directly from their hand to reward the dog. Can placing the treat on the ground be an acceptable alternative ?

Hi Cindy, Becoming a dog trainer here using very much relationship / engagement-based training approach. I can imagine I'm going to run into clients who absolutely don't want to give their dog treats directly from their hand (since I know owners like that already). Apart from offering to show them how to do so safely and encouraging them to do so for the more direct connection to you, how absolutely necessary or unnecessary is that delivery when it comes to food rewards? Is placing it ...
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August 12, 2024

Recommended I adopted a Miniature Pinscher a month ago and I'm struggling with loose leash walking, any suggestions?

Hi Cindy, About a month ago I adopted 10 month old intact male Min Pin. For the past month I have worked on just like trick training for fun and stuff like that to build a positive relationship. He is exceptionally food motivated and catches on to things very quickly. However I'm really struggling with loose lead walking (flat collar). He is very inquisitive and has a ton of energy. I don't have a large yard for him to run prior to working with him. Should I carry him to the park and exerci...
100% (2 out of 2)
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April 7, 2024

Recommended My dog is bored by his food. How do I train a dog that isn't food motivated?

I have a 9-month-old male unfixed Australian Shepherd. Ever since we got him at 8 weeks, he seems bored by his food. Doesn't matter the brand. Once I tried a 'topper' and still no. His vet can't find anything wrong since he is still as energetic as always and will happily take any sort of treats. I tried eating puzzles which he loves, but he will just empty the food out of them without eating it. He eats enough to maintain his healthy weight as he's grown. I love dog training but I'm a lit...
100% (6 out of 6)
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March 2, 2024

Recommended Will I always need to use food rewards with my 7 year old dog?

Hi again! I have a dog that is 7 years old. I trained him at Petco and he passed the Advanced Canine Good Citizen test 5 years ago. I was never taught how to fade food rewards. He now only really listens to me when I have food rewards and checks out after I reward him. In the Basic Obedience Course, Frawley stated that if I hadn’t moved to a variable and random reward schedule after 2 years of a fixed reward schedule, that I would not be able to fade the rewards. Will I need to use food r...
100% (4 out of 4)
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March 1, 2024

Recommended What is the difference between the "stay" and "good" command?

What is the difference between "stay" and "good" command? I know we use "good" to give duration as per the article on Marker Training.
100% (8 out of 8)
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February 13, 2024

Recommended How do I transition my dog from a clicker to the marker word "YES" ?

I have been clicker training with my dog for some time now. My dog responds very well and is ready to get her reward after the click. I was hoping to transition to the marker word “yes.” How would you suggest going about shifting from the clicker marker to the marker work “yes.” Should I just “yes” and reward several times a day to get her accustomed to the marker word or is there more to it than that? Thank you so much for everything you share. Have a great day!
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February 2, 2024

Recommended My dog insists on walking in front of me at the end of the leash unless I give her a treat. What do you suggest?

My dog insists on walking in front. Not necessarily pulling but taking every bit of leash to where it’s not really loose leash walking. We use a martingale or slip chain collar for walking. I stop and change directions when she moves ahead. Most of the time she notices that I have stopped before the leash gets tight and she stops and turns with me then She will follow until a treat is given then usually moves ahead again. She does pretty well if we are working in an area like around cones. ...
88% (7 out of 8)
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February 1, 2024

Recommended I have 2 dogs and would like to add a third dog to our family. What age and sex would be most compatible with my existing dogs?

Hi Cindy, I have an 11 yr old male Doberman and a 1 yr old female Malinois/GSD cross (neutered and spayed). Both have received their CGC certificates and get along well together. I would like to add a 3rd dog to the family. I was wondering if the sex of the 3rd dog was significant (which would be better) or whether the potential compatibility was more a related to the personality/temperament of the specific dog? Second question: Are there any recommended ages I should be looking for...
100% (5 out of 5)
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January 2, 2024

Recommended My nosy neighbor is interfering with my training sessions with my Lab in my own yard. She tells me she's going to call animal services because she feels I am abusing my dog. What should I do?

Hello Cindy, I have a Labrador Retriever that I'm in the process of training, I'm having to use balanced training with him since positive reinforcement and food rewards aren't enough for my strong, stubborn working line Labrador. Here's my question, I have a nosey neighbor who gets in my business about how I train my dog using corrections with a prong collar, she tells me I'm abusing my animal and ruining my relationship with my dog by giving a simple correction with a light pop on the prong....
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January 1, 2024

Recommended Family members misused the remote collar on my dog when I was on vacation ! Is my training ruined?

I’ve followed your recall and remote collar program and my dog is near perfect on recall mostly. He was very well behaved off leash on our property. We are very protective of the collar training only me and my wife but we left the dog with family for vacation who used old school shock punishment style and made my cattle dog collar-wise. Haven’t been able to break it. He now won’t come without the remote collar on and will hide from putting it on. The no longer coming without ...
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October 21, 2023

Recommended How do I teach my rescue dog to come to me when I don't have food or toys?

Overriding instinct: making coming to me better/stronger than chasing a squirrel. When I train recall, my pup will come when she knows I have food/ toys. How do I transition to train without food and toys?
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October 20, 2023

Recommended My dog regurgitates treats during training and immediately eats it again. Does that count as a reward or should I give him another treat?

Hi Cindy, I have a German Shepherd who is 1 year and 3 months old and is very well trained. My question is a bit of a silly one but it's happened quite a few times now so I'm just curious. Lol. When training at times my dog will regurgitate a treat after he performs a command and he'll immediately go and eat it afterward. (Mind you his treats are small bite-size pieces no bigger than half a pinky.) Does that count as me giving him a reward or should I still reward him after? Thank you and...
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August 14, 2023

Recommended My terrier is possessive and will destroy toys. He will not release his ball for food, I have to trick him into releasing by showing him an identical toy. Is there a video that addresses this?

Hi, again. I'm hoping you can direct me to one of your courses to help me out. I have watched your basic and intermediate obedience videos and Relationship Games 1 plus parts of some others. My 15-month-old Parson Russell terrier is doing very well with all the food exercises. He is very good at "leave it / yuck" until he gets hold of a ball or frisbee or tug. I would love to eventually have him reliably retrieving, but while he will sprint after anything I throw, his next instinct is to dest...
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August 7, 2023

Recommended My German Shepherd gets whiny when he sees people or goes to a new place with us. Can you help?

Hi! I love your website and refer to it often. I have a 15 month fully intact male GSD. He is our first GSD so we are learning
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August 1, 2023

Recommended I have a 6 year old rescue Pit bull that I have had for 2 years. When I play tug with her, she shakes it aggressively and wants to run off with it. How do I teach her to play nicely?

My dog tugs/shakes aggressively and wants to run off with the tug and "kill" it. How do I get my dog to calm down a little around the tug and play nicely?
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July 9, 2023

Recommended I'm working on leash pressure for future heeling work with my dog but when I pull straight back he sits or drops into a down instead of backing up. What can I do to help him learn what I'm asking?

Hello, I’m working my way through Michael Ellis’ focused heeling video and I’ve gotten to the part where I work on leash pressure with my mal. He’s awesome with the forward leash pressure and immediately gives. When I pull straight back to attempt to get him to give backwards he constantly drops into a sit. If I keep applying pressure backwards he drops into a down. What can I do to help him learn what I’m asking? Should I just keep applying steady pressure backwards? I’m using a...
100% (3 out of 3)
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July 6, 2023

Recommended I use food for training my 8 month old Plott hound and she does quite well but friends have told me that my dog should work for me without treats. When do I stop rewarding? Also, how do you suggest getting her out of her crate when she's sleeping? Treats don't work for this.

I have a 8 month old Plotthound which is trained quite well for a hound breed I think, meaning she can focus well on me when I demand it. I do however rely heavily on treats during dog training - my dog gets all her meals during training. Some "friends" have told me, my dog should work for me even without treats (to which I usually answer, that they should work for their employer without pay), and while I do sometimes demand small "rows" of commands before giving the reward, I still pretty mu...
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June 18, 2023

My 18 month old German Shepherd struggles to focus when away from home, every noise or movement distracts her and she is overwhelmed by the environment.

We have a 18 month old gsd that we have had since a pup. She has had training in puppy preschool and basic obedience since she was 5 month old. Our trainer follows the styles of Michael Ellis, Robert cabrel and Nino. Lots of movement and play, treats and timed corrections. My gsd struggles to focus when out of the house, at formal training she will not eat or play. Every noise or movement distracts her from focusing on me. At home I can get her to follow instruction, and she looks...
100% (5 out of 5)
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June 8, 2023

We are working on teaching the dumbbell hold. I got a hard plastic dumbbell but it seems slippery and hard for her to hold. Should I teach her with the wooden style instead? 

We are working on hold. I like the size of the dumbbell I got from you & it is the hard plastic one. Is the wooden one better for teaching this? And the plastic is better for when she has it down solid. and it’s not possibly clanking against her teeth? It seems harder to grip. Gets slippery. Not that’s it’s an excuse for mouthing it! I just wanna be fair to her and she’s learning. She can when she wants to though.
100% (5 out of 5)
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