Obedience Q&As

Hello, I have a 10 month old female Akita that I acquired from my daughter when the puppy was 4-5 months old. My daughter owns the parents and they are both finished AKC champions with champion bloodlines. She sold all of her puppies on a spay/neuter contract, but couldn't sell the one I have now, partly because it's a long hair which is "undesirable" for the breed. The puppy went to one other foster home while my daughter tried finding a good home for it, but that lady had no idea...

Hi Cindy, Looking at all your videos and wondering do any tell an owner at what age can a german shepherd puppy do stairs? Also how much running inside the house can they do? Our puppy is 12 weeks old and loves to chase the red laser light with our cat. Great exercise but don't want to over do it. Thank you for your thoughts, Judy

Cindy, I've read all of the articles on your site and have viewed the "Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months" DVD. My puppy has been through groundwork, is crated, and is always on leash. I always make him/wait sit before we go thru doorways BUT... Lately, he has been going wild on me when I take him out to my yard. After he does his outside potty business he will run at me at top speed and bounce off me. Sometimes he will come with mouth open and clamp on my arm (but not hard). ...

Hi there! I am a stay at home mom to two young daughters, and mom/sister to my younger brother. I am also happily married to my husband for 5 years now. We deicded that we were ready for a dog. Boy, was I wrong. Lol. I am writing because I have a few concerns with our new pup, Roxy. Roxy has been a good dog. I have been doing lots of research on how I can make life most enjoyable for the both of us. She has done well with potty training, basic obedience, etc. I just found your site tonight...

Dear Mr. Frawley, I hope it's not too bold to bother you but I don't know anybody else to ask. A lot of people claim be dog experts but don?t know much. I have been a follower of your podcasts and website and hope you can give me some advise. I was waiting for a puppy from a breeder whom I chose carefully. Today the puppies were born - unfortunately just three, 1 female, 2 males. I had decided to take a male and I'm in second place to choose on the breeder's list, wit...

Hi Cindy, You probably recall me ordering various DVDs training last June. My 14 week old GSD is doing well with the training. The only problem is the dog's inability to walk on the street especially when cars are passing by. He is so stressed out that he pulls the leash and wants to go back home. No amount of encouragement or treats works. He is okay to walk in the park or in our back garden but becomes a problem when we take him out on the street. I wonder if you have a suggesti...

Hello Cindy I have two questions: 1. My nine week old puppy acts like he is scared of walking on the leash. He will walk for about a minute then sit and won't go anymore. He would rather let the chain choke him then come. If I pick him up and walk a few feet and put him down he will again walk for about a minute then do the same thing. He has a lot of energy and I want to drain some by walking but I get no where. When I'm in my back yard and I let go of the leash, he will fo...

Hi Cindy, I have a very "happy" 3 month old puppy who is exceedingly friendly towards "strangers" but not as "ecstatic" with me. He wags his tail a bit and tries to "kiss me" when I carry him out to 'go potty' but he does not get excited and shows little interest in "cuddling" with me. I'd like to "cuddle" him more - hold and pet him calmly. Although this question seems trivial at first glance, it is VERY important to me because I've had a VERY tough time with him these last sever...

Dear Mr. Frawley, I recently purchased and watched your DVDs, Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet. I also was on your website and read an e-book on socializing puppies. I am left with an unanswered question, which is why I am hoping you will respond to my e-mail. I have a 17 week old female German Shepherd puppy. I purchased her at 8 weeks of age from a breeder in Ohio who also does a lot of work with breeding and training dogs ...

Cindy, First of all, thanks so much for always responding to my emails. I have another question concerning our 5 month old Cane Corso pup. I have read the new ebook on socializing. I desperately want to get him used to other dogs, but I don't know anyone else that either understands that way of thinking or has a dog suitable for doing so. What do you recommend if we don't know any dogs that would ignore our pup and not immediately try to play with him? Also, I was out with h...

Hello. We have a 13 week old german shepherd female that we got one week ago. She is wonderful - a bit high strung, however. I ordered your puppy DVD, pack leader DVD, and obedience DVD yesterday. I'm looking forward to getting them. I do have one question and I can't find the answer posted on your website or forum, so I decided to email you. At what age is a good time to train a puppy to an underground fence? We have the fence on the perimeter of our 5 acre property and have our other do...

Dear Ed, Hello, I've been a member of your message board for years but haven't visited in a very long time. I'm writing because I've searched your site and cannot find the answer to this problem. I no longer own this puppy I'm writing about but I want to know the answer to this as it plagues me and don't want the same thing to ever happen again. I was bitten by my 16 week old standard poodle puppy. Here's what happened. I wanted to show standard poodles and sought out a breeder that had...

Cindy, We just got an 8.5 week male Malinois a week ago from a reputable breeder after months of reading and watching DVDs. We are specifically following instructions from the DVDs 'Pack Structure', 'Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months' and 'Raising your Working Puppy' (although we have many others). He is a happy, energetic pup that is responding well to most pack structure exercises (doors, gates, sitting for food, etc.). However we are having difficulty in reducing/ eliminati...

Hi Ed, Wanted to thank you - I am a big fan of your website and DVD offerings. I wanted to ask your opinion on a particular stumbling point I am having with my mastiff puppy who is now 12 weeks old. It is the steps, she seems afraid of them, and despite my coaxing with food markers refuses to follow a come command to follow me down them or even go to the top of them. Which until today, I've passed off as something she will overcome. However, it is becoming more and more app...

Can you recommend me some good training treats for my german shepherd puppy? Thanks

Hello, Firstly thank you for your amazingly informative website. I am following your advice with my puppy but I have one question - you advise against dog parks and I completely agree, I find the atmosphere of dog parks potentially explosive and therefore quite unnerving. So how do I socialise my puppy if I cannot allow her to meet strange dogs? Suzie

Thank you Ed and Cindy for all the information on the Leerburg website. I just purchased 3 DVDs - puppy, basic obedience, and pack structure and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I have a 4 month GSD hard puppy. He has strong prey drive and is learning quickly with markers and food (at home, no to low distractions). At weekly obedience school (outdoor, at least 50 other dogs around, super high distraction), he is very unruly. I've used a standard choke chain, a snug prong...

I have a 7 month old, female, Doberman puppy. We purchased her at 5 months from a breeder, so she has been in our home for approx. 2 mnths. She is smart and seems to train fairly easily as far as basic commands. My problem is getting her to focus for any length of time because she is extremely active and has a very high prey drive. Maybe i'm expecting too much too soon...? I've just recently (in the last few days) begun to keep her leashed and at my side at all times when she is in...

Hey Cindy, I have a female German Shepherd dog (Eva). She's three and a half months old. Everything is ok with her except that I'm concerned about her ears. One of her ears is great and standing and moving very smoothly but the other one is not standing and has some limitations in its movements. Note: She had ear infection 1 month ago and that is finished now. But sometimes I notice too much pink color moving to red in her ears. I attached some of her pictures with this mail. I kin...

Hi Cindy, One question about our boxer mix. He is nearly six months old. When we first got him from a shelter at 12 weeks, he was e VERY bold dog, completely outgoing and social, very friendly and eager. In the last month or so, he has very suddenly become shy and fearful. Very nervous around new and sometime familiar people and in strange and sometimes familiar environments. He is not shy around other dogs. He rides with me in the car almost every day but has recently become fearf...