Obedience Q&As

I have a 2 year old (65 lbs) Belgian Malinois. Have had trouble with him fence fighting. He pays too much attention to the dogs behind the fence because they are barking at him. I need to work on his recall. I have been working with someone that has me putting him on a long line and calling him when he starts to get too close to the fence. I was watching some of your videos on YouTube and I saw the restrained recall with the tug toy. Is there a video you recommend to learn more about the reca...

Hi Cindy, I just finished watching the new training dogs with food video with Michael Ellis. Owning the old and the new, I found the new one to be considerably better - good job Leerburg! I do have one question, which was highlighted after watching the new one (I thought I understood it before watching the new one). At the end of the video, Michael talks about reward schedules. He gives a few examples, all of which skip the marking - he simply just gestured like he was giving a relea...

Hi Cindy, Your newsletters are always very informative and helpful. However, I have been unable to play your videos without constant stopping and stuttering until you sent out this video which played perfectly on my computer. I can always play YouTube videos without a problem and other videos sent to me. 1. Could you please send out videos that play like the 'A Good Explanation of IPO'? 2. Could your newsletter video clips be in a YouTube type format? We live in the country in Ontar...

Hey guys, I am feeding my two German Shepherds a raw meat-only diet. I would just like to check this is healthy. Should I be varying their diet more is it ok to only feed them raw beef? Any help would be great. Thanks Ed and Cindy, and keep up the great work you are doing at Leerburg.

I have a 10 month old Greyhound puppy who is on a raw diet much to the chagrin of my vet. I have two questions, he has a very hard time having a bowel movement and is very gassy. He gate chicken backs, veggies and some fruit, I also give him flak seed oil as his skin is quite dry. I have been giving him about 2 cups of kibble and has helped with the constipation but I am wondering if that is why he is so gassy. Thank you in advance

Hello, First, my wife and I wanted to thank you for providing us the information in Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months DVD and Obedience training DVD for setting us up with a wonderfully trained dog for life. The training has been fun and rewarding, so rewarding we are debating on doing more. We have a high drive doberman that just turned 17 weeks old yesterday. I have been interested in protection work and Schutzhund competition but we don't have any good trainers locally. Also, I am not su...

Hi, Can you give me some advice on how to get a faster 'down'? When I ask my dog to down, he is willing but always goes down really slowly. Do you have any tips to make it a bit snappier? He is a 16 month old Malinois with low/medium drive for the breed. Thanks

Hello Ed & Cindy, I have a now 17 and a half week old German Shepherd pup (from working lines) & wish to ask you guys exactly what supplements you would please recommend I need to purchase to add to his raw diet? Many thanks

Hi Cindy, I'm training my 12 week old F Malinois using marker training and it's working great. I've purchased the bait bag from you that I have clipped on at all times. I'm doing a ton of engagement with her (eye contact) and she's focusing on me for up to 5 seconds before I say "YES," pause, and reward her with food (hotdogs) or a toy reward. I haven't began incorporating any commands, but that's just around the corner. My question is: Can I give my puppy (who is learning marker traini...

Hello Cindy, My name is Mark, I have a wife and two girls (9 and 14) and I want to purchase another German Shepherd towards the end of 2013. My last Shepherd was killed some 12 years ago and it was hard to recover from that but it is now time to get a son back in my life. My last Shepherd had some basic command obedience schooling but now I want more training and protection skills for my future boy now that I have a new wife and step children. I want them to understand the rules and role o...

Hi Ed and Cindy, Do you have any articles or other info on teaching dog to respect road/cars or to avoid cars? As a child, my family lost 2 dogs to road and one other injured. Thanks

Cindy, I'm interested in purchasing The Power of Playing Tug to help grow my training with my cattle dog. However, he is 7 years old, had been in an accident with his previous owner, and has a somewhat bad hip. I was wondering if playing tug is hard on the joints? Thank you! Ellen

Hi, If I purchase a digital streamed video do I have access to it forever? Can I then access it from my iPad and iPhone, correct? Thank you for your time.

My wife and I have an 18 week old Bull Mastiff (our last dog was also a BM). We have had him for 8 weeks. We purchased your video on puppies from 8 weeks to 8 months as well as Michael's video on training with food. We also have your Basic Obedience video. All of which are excellent. I have watched and re-watched. Today I ordered Michael's Recall, Tugging and Motivation videos. I read your eBook on marker training and totally agree with the concept and have been trying to apply the principle...

Hello, I do obedience training with my 3 year old springer. When I practice with her she is very motivated and does what I ask. I am in open A CKC. When I go to a trial, she is in her own world and does not cooperate and sniffs and looks away. I have just purchased the Michael Ellis DVD Focused Heeling. I have practiced this a week and I do see an improvement. How long does this take, I practice a little every day? It almost looks that she is not motivated when I go in the ring? Do y...

I have a 11 week old GSD that comes from strong working lines. So far he's one of the best puppies I've ever had. Super smart and catches on to everything very fast. I see you have a ton of videos... And I'm interested in purchasing whatever ones I need, but I'm a little confused on where to start. I was thinking your video "Establishing Pack Structure with Your Puppy." I did notice he's a little more "nippy than other puppies I've had." Can you recommend the videos I should start wi...

Hello, We are a British couple living in Thailand and we own a Thai Dog. We've had him since he was 10 weeks old and he is now 9 months old. After reading up on Thai dog breeds we learned that they are a very stubborn breed of dog and fail to acknowledge commands at times. We live on a gated estate where he is free to run around all day with his brothers and sisters but when he sees us leave the estate he tries to follow us down the road. (The entrance to the estate is on a blind corner to...

Hello! I have a 10 week old female lab (born Aug 26th). When she is playing hard with other dogs and I need her to calm down and listen I try to stop her by holding her back, or grabbing the scruff of her neck. Sometimes she will stop other times when she is really wound and I stop her by getting a hold of the scruff of her neck and pick her up by the scruff of her neck she will twist around and snap at me or my husband. We pick her up and hold her in that position close to our bodies unti...

How do I get my high food drive GSD puppy to except food reward more gently?

I saved a starved, mixed breed, 8 week old puppy out of a ditch about 4 months ago. Now he's a healthy 40lb, 6 1/2 month old, super smart dog. He can sit, fetch, shake, high five, lay down all kinds of things. He would be such a smart, obedient, well behaved dog, if I could get him to STOP tearing up EVERYTHING! He is an outside (half Acre to play on in the country guarded by a wireless pet safe fence) dog with my 4 year old, rescued Bull Mastiff female, who doesn't tear anything up. He is pl...