Obedience Q&As

I take in and rehab strays. I do a lot of trick training using clickers. However, I have a Blue Heeler who screams and tries to push himself under the bed or cram himself into the corner of a closet when he hears the click. Someone suggested using a retractable pen, but the timing with it is unreliable. The Heeler was not scared of its sound, though, so I am hoping a quieter clicker would do. I saw two in the Leerburg catalog that advertised as being having softer clicks. They were the i-Clic...

I recently purchased a couple of your training streaming videos (Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs). They are very helpful and we enjoy learning from them, and I'm sure I will be pursuing others over the next several months as we train our little guy. I recently received my new Malinois puppy and he just turned 8 weeks. He is a voracious eater and is guarding his food and growling. At 8 weeks old should this be corrected and if yes what would you re...

Our GSD is 9 weeks old (and 16 lbs!) and has been taking to training beautifully. We purchased your DVD and I have been scouring your site for information on everything from food to obedience. We purchased your Puppy DVD and are considering the 4 hr obedience training video as well. A couple of nagging questions that I have been grappling with and hoping you can help answer... First, sometimes when we are working on basic commands (sit, stay, wait, plots, etc), he will get frustrated and star...

Hello Cindy. Hope all is well with you. I emailed you from Afghanistan about my female Mal, who is now 14 months old, about her eating her poop. Thanks for the nutritional advice on that; your advice was spot on. Now I have another question. When I play tug with her, she bites my hands (I am sure inadvertently) right by my thumb and forefinger. I have tried widening my grip, but eventually she still bites it. I really do not think she is doing it on purpose. She is very intense about tuggi...

Hello, I recently used your videos to learn how to train my pit bull mix puppy (my first puppy). We adopted him from the shelter at 6 months old; he is 9 months old now. The videos were extremely helpful. My mom also has a puppy (going on a year old), and we have met 2 times, a month apart, to introduce the dogs to one another. I watched carefully the segment you showed on dog interaction hoping I could determine any warning signs ahead of time, especially since my dog is quickly outgrowi...

Hi Ed, I checked out the other questions as well as read most of the articles on your web site and did not find the specific answer to my concern. I had a quick question. We have a wonderful 3 year old English Lab. She respects us as her pack leaders and is great with our three children (12 year, 9 year and 4 year) as well as any friends or visitors. Our 4 year old brushes her teeth and checks her ears. I can groom her nails etc. and she submits to me... this took work! I was happy to see ...

Hi, I feel terrible even writing this email, but I would like your advice on this. 2 weeks ago my fiance and I purchased a rescued 3 month old GSD mix. We were 3 weeks out from our wedding and about to close on a new fixer upper home w/ only floorboards in place. We thought this would be the ideal situation while puppy training. Well, the close on the house got delayed, so we are now 2 adults, 2 cats and an untrained puppy in my 600 sq/ft carpeted condo. The puppy naturally is having ac...

We've had rotties for 24 years. Our dogs are gentle family dogs, with impeccable manners & behavior. We have always played tug with "the tug is mine" rules. Example: When we play tug, if it comes out of their mouth, they sit & wait till we say "OK" before they can gently take it, then the tugging game begins again with gusto. When we say "give" they release. They approach you with a tug in their mouth, ears squiggled backwards, their body's wiggling back & forth as they slowly shake the tug b...

Completed the first two Michael Ellis DVDs and 11 month old dog is progressing great EXCEPT he has "sticky" outs. He understands to out but if it is a tug he will continue to teeth it. If its a ball after a retrieve he will come right to me and will out on command but then when ball hits ground will attack it. I have tried simply saying no for a period of time, have said no followed by continuous tension with the leash until he drops it but once it hits ground he is back on it. I have tried s...

Hi Ed and Cindy, This is the first time I have emailed you, though I have referenced your site more times than I can count over the years. I have owned working Shepherds for 10 years now (all of my adult life) and have fed raw this entire time. I feel that I know a lot about raw, much more than the average person. But right now I am questioning myself and it's driving me mad, so here is the deal: Last Monday I went to a trial and picked up kennel cough. It's the first time I have eve...

Quoted directly from your website: When I am out for a walk and a strange dog approaches I become aggressive towards this strange dog. If the intruder does not back off I will actually attack the other dog if he will not leave us alone. [...] If this doesn't work I am looking for something to hit this other dog with. If I have pepper gas I will use it, even if the owner is there. If another pet owner is so slow or so stupid that he will not take control of his dog when he sees anothe...

Hello, I have an updated Adobe Flash Player but I do not have required download speed you mention to watch a smooth video. Is there any other way I can watch your streaming videos from you newsletters, please? To watch a video that stutters this much is impossible to follow. Thanks a million, Angela

Hello, Thanks for the informative web site. Before I was told about your site I had purchased a sportdog brand, FieldTrainer 400s e-collar. I want to purchase a few of your DVDs and was wondering about the e-collar training one. The collar I bought has a DVD and I was wondering how it compares to your e-collar training video. I was gonna buy your set of 3, set # 4005 until I remembered the DVD in the collar box. If they are close I would still buy the other 2 DVDs from you or if it's not I...

Hi Cindy, Ever since I got my dog (Australian Shepherd mix - 8 months old) 6 months ago I've been on your website, watching your DVDs, podcasts etc nonstop. I cannot thank you and Ed enough for helping me overcome some of the issues I've ran into. She is a great dog and amazingly smart. The problem that I have come across with her which frustrates me beyond belief is that she is leash smart. I can bring her outside and when I leave a short 4 ft leash on her to drag around, she is amazing. ...

Ed, I've read your articles on two puppies, but my husband and I are about to have two though we only wanted one. I've been reading all over your website about crate training and pack leader but I still had a couple of questions. For the two crates, should they be in the room that I would be during the day, just at separate ends? Or should they be in separate rooms, neither where I am during the day? I'm concerned about the whining with each other or seeing the other get uncrated when I...

My question is this, I bought a DVD "8 weeks to 8 months" then went to a link that said watch your "streaming video," is this available to me because I bought the DVD or will it charge me another 40 dollars if I watch the streaming video? Thank you, Brad

Dear Ed and Cindy, I have a problem occurring between my 8 MO. GSD, and my 1 YO. Siberian Husky. This problem only occurs when I'm at the off leash dog park with them. The problem is when my husky starts getting ahead of my GSD, my GSD will chase her down and sack her. By the time my GSD catches up to the husky, they are traveling pretty fast. This is not a mutual, back and forth game that they play. It seems as if my GSD is preying, or maybe she just wants to be in control. Either way, I...

I thought at one time I read that I could watch the on demand version on line from your site and if I wanted to purchase the DVD, I could for an additional fee. I have looked and I don't seem to see this info unless I am looking over it and that is possible, but is that the case? Can I do the on demand and if I choose, can I get the video on DVD for a small fee? Not have to pay full price again to get it? Thank you.

My puppy is a boxer mix. He is about 4 months old and is very playful and friendly with everyone. The problem is excitement/submissive urination. He will run up to someone with his tail wagging, but when they pet him he pees. I have raised 2 dogs now by a Koehler method with positive reinforcement. They were great dogs and eventually did not need to be on a leash to continuously heel and immediately sit when I stopped walking. Neither of those dogs had a urination problem though. He is ...

Our dog is a 1 year old husky retriever mix, about 50 pounds. We received her from friends that decided against keeping her. After viewing your DVD on establishing pack structure, we started crate training. This began about three weeks after having her, and on the second day of the crate training, she refused to go into the crate after her walk. I had to force her in and later after her next walk, my 16 year old daughter had to force her back in. At first she responded well to going in after ...