Obedience Q&As

I brought Lacy home at 7 weeks 10 days ago. I have a 2 1/2 year old mild mannered Airedale (Callie) who enjoys playing with baby, but might not be aggressive enough in disciplining puppy who consistantly nips at her...and hurts her (has drawn blood)...should we stop allowing tug of war with frisbees and chew toys for awhile? Puppy is extremely assertive. Also, puppy has flat out snit fits if she does not get her own way...for instance, she got over-stimulated today and got put in her indoor r...

When should you neuter your puppy?

Hello, I am a police officer in Mississippi. I am not a K-9 unit, but I do hope to someday get my own. My question is I am about to get a puppy and train it for search and rescue, now what I would like to do is eventually train him for police work (narcotics, bite). Do you think I should go ahead and incorporate those aspects in now or should I work with him later. The people I am going to be training with are all police K-9 officers who have many years of experience. They all know very w...

We ordered and received your puppy video, none to soon I might add. It has been very helpful. This is our first litter. We had 7 (4F/3M) healthy GSD puppies on Tuesday the 16th of Feb. The heaviest two, a male and a female each weighed 570g. The male now is 785g and the female is 855g. A 285g gain in 5 days. I'm thinking, oink oink. The runts, one male & one female weighed 510g and 480g respectively. Now after five days the male weighs in at 740g and the female at 700g. My question...

My name is Rich, I bought a puppy from you about 7 months ago. Jetta Vom Leerburg call name Kia. Her parents are Otis and Nelly. I want to eventually breed her and I'm wondering what her parents OFA readings were? I see you have Otis' hips A stamped normal but that means nothing to me I want to know what his OFA was. If he was not rated by OFA why? And what does this A stamp compare to on the OFA reading? Who gave him this A stamp? What exactly is the A stamp reading? In this I mean A is this...

I have a beautiful Rottweiller pup and I want to treat and train him right, but I have a shift-job and I can give him 30 minutes daily during work week but that?s it. Is this ok? Also I don't think like a dog so how do I train my dog to bark at cars or people, and not rabbits, coyotes etc. (I live in the country). I cannot afford a trainer.

Why is it so important to work with a ball on a string with young puppies?

Our pup is 4 months old. She is almost impossible to walk down the street because she pulls so hard. She also wants to chase cars. Are these things she will get over or do I need to take corrective measures to stop them? I am just concerned with not wanting to make a mistake.

I have been in contact with you several times regarding my expected puppy. While preparing for this new addition to our family, several questions came up which I did not find in your Q&A. I plan to get a wire-type crate and I see they are made in various finishes, epoxy coatings, colors, etc. Can you recommend a particular finish, or are they all about the same?

Ed, My pup (9 months) isn't socialized well with other dogs, particularly bigger dogs. I'm determined to remedy this. This wasn't really a problem until I moved into a new apartment complex that has lots of dogs. Specifically, should I correct my dog when she growls at other dogs, or would the correction amplify the problem by associating even greater stress whenever she encounters another dog? Thanks for your help! Bob

Ed, I have a 10 week old American Pitbull Terrier (APBT). He is very aggressive toward strangers already. What I mean by this is that whenever someone walks by he will charge at them and start barking. If that person was to advance toward him he would start to back up, though. I like the initial aggression, but why does he back up and what type of temperament is he showing? Would he make a good dog for protection training?

I have an 8 month old rottie. He is a good dog, however, I have some problems making him give me something (anything) he has stolen from me. He just looks up at me and curls his upper lip. I don't think he wants to bite or harm me, he is usually a very gentle dog. I can put my fingers in his food bowl, and even put my hands in his mouth, however, when he takes something he will not give it back. What do I do?

Is my (almost) 19 week GS male ready for a prong collar? I don't know what size or how heavy to get or whether a quick release one is better. HELP! Also, I cut his toenails - just the ends - and played with his feet while I had him on his back between my legs. (That was the only way I could see well so as not to "quick" him. I NEVER DID! All of a sudden he will not let me do this and I can tell he is serious about trying to bite me. I don't want to scare him, but I want to be able ...

I have a German Shepherd (not from you), he is 14 weeks old. After 9 weeks both of his ears stood up, not straight up, they actually leaned towards the middle quite a bit. However, a few days ago his left ear just went down and has not gone back up. Does this mean that he has a broke or lame ear now? This has me really worried since both ears were up, but now one won't stand. Is this normal, or did he hurt it some way? Will it ever go back up or not? Thanks for your help, and answers. ...

I was just looking at your site and some of your beautiful pictures of german shepherds. I have a female German Shepherd who will be 2 years old in March of this year. I also have a Sheltland Sheepdog who is 2 and half years old. My husband and I are thinking about getting another Shepherd. But we are concerned about bringing in another dog with our dogs being so territorial. Both of my dogs that I have now are trained in obedience and my Shepherd (Alexis) will be starting personal protection...

What are the best toys for puppies?

Hi Cindy, I have received all 5 videos Michael Ellis. Very nice, I enjoyed them very much. Thanks. I have a question, I hope you can give me some advice. My female pup, 6 months old, has crazy ball drive. After watching the video, I tried to train with tugs, as advised by Michael. At first, my female was not so interested, but eventually she started to want to play, though not as high drive as with balls. I always train without leash when playing with ball or tug. ...

I wanted to ask about the out command. I will give you a brief history about my dog. I adopted a german shepherd @ 7 months old form a humane society, which, in return saved my dog, Mason, from death row at the local animal shelter. I soon realized that I did not have an ordinary house dog, and was soon at the end of my whits with him (one of many things he did was bite himself out of the plastic airline kennels). I then had the opportunity to watch an S.F. K9 demo and realized the similariti...

Hi, I looked through your Q and A and did not find the exact answer I am looking for. I will try to be quick. I have a 4 month old aussie/BC cross who I will be training for agility (and life skills in general). Right now we are just playing. She is not overly driven but does enjoy tugging, etc. The problem... and I do not really see it so much of a problem but she really prefers tugging on the sleeves of my sweatshirts over any toy that we play with. I tried using a glove.....

Hi Cindy, I have a semi-stupid question for you. I can also ask next week but it is really bothering me. It has to do with the power of playing tug. I am a little stuck. Both my dogs like to play tug but they like other toys a little better. I know I can manipulate what they play with. On a normal day I will do a couple marker training session for behaviors with food and that is all fine. During separate sessions I use the tug working on having them drive it back to me. So i...