Obedience Q&As

Cindy, One of my friends just adopted a 1.5 year old deaf female doberman. He is interested in finding a trainer or training materials so he can learn how to best handle the disability. He says that she is easily startled and is very hesitant with too much attention. He has 3 other dogs and 2 young children. Of course I love and would recommend all the Leerburg/Michael Ellis training materials. I'm not sure if the dog is 100% deaf or not, but if it is, do you have any suggestions? ...

I have a 2-year-old neutered male sheltie (neutered shortly before his second birthday, a couple months ago). He has a lot of drive and he is impatient and does everything fast and "frantic." I have been training him in agility since he was 9 months old along with obedience, i.e. heeling, come front, sit, etc. He is smart and can do things with "half a brain" and will, if allowed, do things half assed. He has been marker trained. Once I finally realized that he was being sloppy (heeling ...

Hi Cindy, I've watched a few of the videos I've ordered from Leerburg recently. I'd like to say nice effort on your and Ed's part. I'm wondering if you can explain something as marker training is new to me. In the past I've always used "ok" as my release command. Using "yes" as a marker seems to be a little more motivational in terms of it's auditory presentation and I'm considering that. In your Basic Dog Obedience dvd Ed uses "ok" as a release. In the Michael Ellis DVDs, i...

Hi Cindy, After watching the obedience video, I have a question concerning "marking"... When training the dogs to an invisible fence boundary should I "mark" when they turn away from the flags upon hearing the audio signal and head to the "safe" part of the yard? Thanks in advance... Tom

Hi Cindy, Ed & Michael, We bought 4 DVDs from Leeburg: The Power of Training Dogs with Markers, The Power of Training Dogs with Food, The Power of Playing Tug with your Dog and Focused Heeling and we found them to be very informative. We have watched the first two DVDs and we have a few questions for you, which we hope you will be able to clarify for us. We use "Yes" to mark the behaviour and "Yes" to release the dog, as per your DVD. We have trained our dogs to do the touch comman...

Hi, I want to get the DVD on marker training, but I want to train my dog to the whistle. Would this DVD be helpful or have you got anything which you would recommend? Cheers, Leigh

Hello Cindy, I have watched the marker training video several times and there's something I'm not grasping. When you are marking something and the dog is getting it 8 out of the 10 times, as you start to add the command, do you hand signal first then try to say it. I see you hand signal on the video when teaching the look. For example training the look, once the dog understands, how would you go about getting the dog to do that with hand signals or saying the look command? I don't ...

Cindy, Hello, first of all great info I have received from your newsletters and the question and answer part of the webpage. I have a 10 month old rottweiler that I am training with Michael Ellis methods. I have the 3 DVDs and I have followed them through. I have two questions on them. When I am asking my dog positions, sometimes he makes a mistake or just stares at me, this is usually when I am 2-3 feet away in front of him. Should I correct with an e-collar or a prong collar when he d...

Hello, I have read the article on marking training and have seen some training videos on your site and on a video I ordered from Leerburg. I'm confused about the release. If I use the word yes for marking, is yes also the release? On one of the videos I saw a puppy being taught marker training and there was no talk about it. And on another video it explained the release command. Can you explain briefly please. Thank you.

Dear Ed and Cindy, I have most of your DVDs and I just bought training with markers and training with food. I read that they both work very well together. The question I have is, which do I watch first? Is there one that will help make the other one make more sense to me? I think I will watch both before I do anything with them, but I just wanted to know if there is one that goes before the other to help it all make more sense in the whole scheme of it all. My other questions is ab...

Cindy, I'm about to order Michael's newest DVD. I have an 18 month old Golden. Which tug toy would you recommend. I'd like to order both simultaneously and save with the free shipping!

Dear Cindy, My blue heeler is a challenge as I am a first time dog owner. She's 18 mos and very alpha. I'm getting burnt out trying to figure her out. I'm in a rally class and can't get her motivated. She crawls through the course, but when I play with her alone, she runs like a bullet. She has a lunging problem so I started using a dominant collar. She won't engage with me anymore unless were training at home with toys. When I'm in rally she ignores me and I have to drag h...

Hi Cindy, I have a 14 month GSD female from an expensive kennel. Shipped to me at 9 weeks. She was spayed after the first heat. She has a huge play (prey) drive and a very low food drive. She does respond to markers. Sasha is on a raw meat diet shared with Embark from Honest Kitchen. She has a good appetite. Because markers are ineffective, what is another form of correction besides the ecollar which I use infrequently. the behaviors I want to correct are: indifferent recall, jumpi...

Cindy, Here is my question. I know a lot of trainers use a coke can with pennies in it, to control their dogs in certain situations. I am new at training but i have a reservation about using this method. It seems to me it is a fear technique, and could break down trust in your relationship with your dog. Some people would say it is no different than a collar correction, where the owner makes the dog uncomfortable or causes pain but to me there is a difference. I have a ques...

Dear Cindy, I have a 10 month old female GSD. We have the use of our neighbors acre size fenced yard and I take my dog over every day to let her run and exercise her. Today, she was getting into something I didn't want her messing with and when I tried to block her getting to what she wanted, she lunged at me a few times trying to bite. I literally had to kick her back to keep her from biting at me. I have seen the pack structure DVD and she has been through obedience training si...

Hi Ed and Cindy, I will keep this brief as I know you are inundated daily. I have three of your DVDs (have watched 1.5 so far, as my pup keeps me very occupied and TV time is zero nowadays). I am trying to teach my 4 month old mal the place command. Well, I am trying to start that training. We have used "yes" as his marker and he knows "yes" is a good thing. I put his kennel blanket on the living room floor to start the training, but he avoids it at all costs. I've trie...

Hi Cindy, My questions is, what if I've been using the clicking sound with my mouth as the marker, but want to change it to "yes." What is the best way to go about it or should I just stay with the clicking sound. It's that I feel that when we're at places where I need to get her focused, I want to call her in some way to get her attention. What do you suggest? Thank you in advance. Rob

Hi Cindy, I have a small problem with my Doberman he is now 5 years old, when I give the command down or drop depends which word some handler use, he drops but starts to whine(cry) non stop, I tried everything used the e-collar he stops for a few seconds than he starts again, than I tried to release him the very moment he stops whining to give him the message that he will be released only when he stops this behavior didn't work either, and it is a problem when we are in a competiti...

Dear Mr. Frawley, Hello, I hope this message finds you doing well. I am writing with regard to Kona, a 7 month old female Vizsla my wife and I own. We clearly failed to establish pack structure with her. The situation now is that she she has had trouble with impulse control and often seems unable to calm herself. She also exhibits aggression toward the leash and sometimes her handler when on walks. This behavior is coupled with constant pulling and disregard for the handler. Taking note...

I have a Neapolitan Mastiff who hates water. We live in Phoenix and have a pool. I would like him to be able to get in the water to cool during the summer. I did get him a life preserver in the hopes he would feel more comfortable, but it doesn't help. Is there some way I can get him more comfortable with the water? Susie