Obedience Q&As

I have a question on the use of compulsion with my dog. He is now 7 months old, and I am working with him on his come. I wanted to start him in herding just for fun until he turns of age to compete in his SchH trials. The herding person wants his come to be solid as I would like also. He understands the command and will obey in the house and outside too. He can get distracted when playing with other dogs, as he is still a puppy, but when it is me and him on our walks he listens. I wanted ...

I really enjoy your web page. I believe I've read most of your training articles but don't know how to get my 6 1/2 month old male GSD to obey my wife. We've trained him in basic obedience (no, heel, sit, down, stay, come). My dog ignores my wife's commands when he becomes even slightly excited because he wants to play or he sees a strange person or another dog. He obeys me on the first command as long as I use a deep, stern voice. I've found that he is much slower to obey if I don...

I have a male GS 15 months. His temperament is excellent. He is a very happy and a confident dog. Now that I have him it has become even more apparent that the female did not have good nerves. Anyway, I have started doing bite work with the male. That is going great. He has a full, strong grip. He really enjoys the work. I have been trying to do something with him every night (socialization, obedience, playing) he has so much energy! Now that the holiday are here my trainer is taki...

My name is Mohamed. I am from South Africa and love anything to do about animals. I may come across as a child but my excitement is to blame for that. My question is: Can a person train a dog in 3 weeks? I have seen several advertisements on the internet and was actually considering sending my 11 month old doberman for such training. The person I was considering was recommended by my training school. His name is Robert Lee and he further guarantees that the dog will maintain...

I have what I believe to be a dominant dog in some respects. I have show dogs (Belgian Shepherds), one of my Groenendaels can be a hand full, most of the time he knows that I am boss and will behave but the thing that is the problem is when any one in the family goes out of the house he barks cries and screams even though there is still someone in the house. Also, this then sets the other dogs off barking and some time it progresses then to a howl. I have tried a number of different thing...

I have an 18 mo. old airedale that does excellent obedience work, except when she is on a field where lots of other dogs have been allowed to run around or walk on - including an obedience ring. She'll refuse to sit or down, side steps over patches of grass, and usually backs up when she does sit at a halt from the heel. Have you encountered anything like this before? I've been at "dog-run" parks and tried to force the sit and down, etc. At that point she usually shuts down ...

I sent my 8 month old female German Shepherd to a professional for advanced training. She doesn?t have much drive for the retrieve, should I send her back?

My husband and I bought a German Shepherd pup at 4 1/2 months of age from a professional breeder with several past champions. We wanted to make sure we were purchasing a dog with a good pedigree and excellent temperament. The dog is now 11 months old and we are extremely disappointed and ready to give it back to the breeder. We don't know if it is our problem in training or the dog is the problem. The dog will obey my husband most of the time and will listen when he tells him to si...

I am hoping you can help me with a problem I am having with my female German Shepherd "Gracie." Gracie is now 14 month old, she knows the basic obedience commands, but refuses to obey on recall. The minute she hears the door she will try to bolt through the door and refuses to come back until she is ready. We will live in a rural community in Fairbanks, Alaska and so far this has not caused a problem, but it is extremely frustrating as well as posing a potential future problem. She does chase...

We live in a small town and I can't find anyone to train us, mostly my husband and I. Laney (1 year old part chow part Shepherd) has many annoying habits: constant licking or jumping up on us. She can never just sit or lay by us while we watch TV or talk. She also play bites my husband, but never me because I have been firmer in the past with her. Last, she is too smart for us, we can never get her to come or leave the room, go to bed, go outside... When we try she always lays down, rolls on ...

I want to train my lab to retrieve frisbees, tennis balls, etc. She loves retrieving, but also likes playing games of not giving it up to me when she returns. Would the forced retrieve video that you have be a good idea, or is it really intended for competition dogs? Bob

Should I take my dog to obedience classes or should I train it myself?

I have made almost every mistake possible buying a new puppy. Here is my story. I can hardly believe it's 3 a.m. and I've been reading all you have to say! Such a wealth of information! I can see many places that I have gone wrong. First, I didn't buy a Leerburg pup. I can clearly see that was the first mistake! In fact, I got Gatsby (sort of black & cream American) from a fairly respectable breeder... to our dismay we found that she had a heart defect (valve didn't close af...

My dog takes food off the table, cupboard and out of the garbage when we are not in the room. Can you help?

Could someone please guide me in the right direction to finding help with training an aggressive male German shepherd named "Storm?" He is 18 months old and a dear children?s pet but he has a terribly dangerous habit. We have two horses whom he loves to chase and nip at, (he will not respond to our calls when he is doing this and has recently been kicked twice). We are fearful he will be seriously hurt or killed if we cannot control this behavior. He is currently in a dog run but we would lik...

I was wondering if you are able to help with a few questions. My husband and I have had a German Shepherd for the past two years. His name is Sargent. We picked him out when he was six months old. He has gone to puppy training and adult training and passed very well. My husband was the one who took him, so he is much more well behaved for him then myself. He is very good and listens most of the time, except when it comes to children. When he sees them running and riding the bikes, he like...

Our 1 year old dog is obedience trained but we cannot keep him off the furniture. What can we do?

We have a male Rott that is ten months old, he has one annoying habit. When on the leash he will periodically bite at the leash and we have tried everything to try to break this habit, he seems to do it to get something going and then he gets feisty and argumentative. If you try to use force, it gets worse. The Alpha roll does not seem to get it. He is better with my wife, he really tries to get something going with me. Looking for help, we would like to break him from this and we do not ...

Mr. Frawley, Your training tapes seem to be aimed at large dogs. I have a very small dog. Would your methods work as well with smaller dogs and will I need to make adjustments for a small dog? Maddy

I have a show quality Cardigan Welsh Corgi and I do some clicker training. However, after watching one of your on-line videos I realized that you have a slightly different approach which I very much like. It definitely makes sense. Do you address teaching behaviors that are needed for the show ring on any of your videos? I plan to buy several; but, as a senior citizen finances are limited so I'd like to get the right one to start with. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ...