Obedience Q&As

A question which probably does not interest many but here goes.... I have a great GS who was trained to be a guard dog (not by me). I am disabled and my service dog died so this dog needs to change hats. He is doing well with people interactions but he has on occasion barked at a patient, my medical pt. So: how do I correct this behavior without destroying his protective nature? And an additional question, he is very smart and is bored with reg. obedience - my impression - he is near perf...

Thank you so much for all that you do. I have learned a lot from your web site and videos while preparing for and working with our new Aussie puppy (8 weeks old). We have had her for 1 1/2 weeks and she has been doing well. She is submissive in the crate, housetraining is going very well, and we have started a little obedience work. Here's my question: The dog seems to be about midway (maybe a little soft) on the scale of soft to hard. We live in a suburban neighborhood on a 2 acre corner...

Hi, I want to thank you and Cindy for all the work you have put into the web site. It is incredible; lots of expert information available to anyone looking to better their relationship with their animals. I will be purchasing another DVD, The Power of Training Dogs with Markers, and I would like to ask you what accessories I should purchase. I need to train my 4 GSD's in a non-confrontational way. I am hoping to further bond with my pack and make training fun and interesting...

Hi Cindy, I train dogs, mostly rehabilitating troubled dogs in animal shelters to help them to be adopted and not live a life in a shelter or be put down. I also have been training my second pit bull rescue. I've been using force training for years (Koehler-type training). I've had much success with this training, however, due to your info. I've become more open-minded. I've poo-poo'd marker training for the same obvious reasons Ed previously had (positive-only blah blah). N...

Hello, Just wanted to say thanks.... I sent you an email many months ago on some behavioral problems my 2 year old jack russell had, I purchased your basic dog obedience and training a competition heeling dog DVDs and they worked like magic...he obeys each and every command and I have a lot more control over him when dealt with distractions (especially a jack russell). The only thing that kind of remained from the behavioral issue was at times he would sneak and sit/l...

Hi Cindy, I'm in love with the Leerburg website, DVDs, and products, but I do have a question. My 6 month old GSD pup knows basic commands (sit, down, etc) and will perform them anywhere, even the public park. I only give the command once, but even if we are inside the house with zero distraction, she often takes up to 5 seconds before complying. What can I do to get her to understand that when I give a command, she should perform it instantly? I know in one of the videos Ed says to give t...

Hi, I've just finished reading the new page on marker training, wow, what a clear description! Thanks for all the great resources on the website and forum. I wanted to ask you a question, and hope you'll have the time to answer it. About 5 years ago, I adopted a 4 year old bull terrier. He had almost no training, and I had to start from scratch. I did marker training with him with food and a clicker, which he loved. A couple of years ago we moved into using toy reward...

Dear Ed, How do you deal with an unpredictable dog than can nicely perform obedience exercises such as send away with jump over hurdle, make weave poles without assistance, quick down on the table 30M from his handler and the next few minutes just runs away without saying 'good bye!' ? This is the case of my friend's G.S (1yr old). She was trained together with a labrador and one day she suddenly reacted strangely by running away. Usually she is quite scared of Rottweilers a...

Hi Cindy, I have a question for you: I am reviewing the marker training and am lacking when it comes to breaking down the exercises. I understand the concept but am not clear on how to do it. I get it on some things but am clueless on others. Also, the concept of not giving a command until the dog knows the exercise is beyond my understanding at the moment but I am working on it. I am so impressed with your sit in front with the 13 week old pup and on some of the DVDs there are p...

Hi Cindy, I have a five year old German Shepherd. In competition he sniffs I can not break him from this. Outside the ring he's good. At practice I use a e-collar which I seldom have to nick him but he knows the park. I have been taking him on different walks. Have any hot tips? Thanks, Dave

I have a large male German Shel. He is not afraid of a gun shot, thunder, or most any sound but he hates a clicker. I can't get him use to it because if I use it he avoids me and I am afraid it will damage our trust bond, so I don't use it. He needs to get use to it though. What do you think? Roz

I frequent your site often and own several DVD's--thank you for providing such excellent resources! I just finished the "Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months" and listening to the pod cast on marker training. When teaching a new behavior, when do you suggest is best to "name" that behavior and give it a command word? For example, when teaching a "sit," are you saying sit before the dog knows the associated motion, as you guide it into position with food? Or, are you waiting until ...

Hi, I just ordered the Basic Dog Training DVD. Our Rottweiler pup is 6 months old we have had him since 12 weeks. We just finished group obedience classes. He learned a little and does follow me around the house and obey some commands " when he wants to." However I don't feel we are developing that bond I had with our last Rott. My wife and I were my old dog's world. He never took his eyes off of us. He always knew where we were and he followed us everywhere. I want to develop that...

Ed, Very informative web site (A level). Although I did catch a typo which you may want to address. I have a 7 month old mini long hair male doxie. He is very submissive and is doing very well overall. I been using TRAIN YOUR DOG THE POSITIVE WAY DVD and wanted to go a little further. My main concern is off leash fun. I do take him off leash (in parks and such) and he pretty much follows me everywhere but sometimes he is slow to come to me when called or just stops and looks at me when ...

Hi Cindy, I have a 17 month old GSD who I have had since he was 7 weeks old. I have trained him in protection work as well as obedience and agility. In obedience and agility he is doing fine but in protection I have huge control problems. He is extremely highly driven in the presence of a sleeve, even when the sleeve is not on a helpers arm. I have been doing a lot of control exercises in the presence of the sleeve but not rewarding with the sleeve, using a ball as the re...

Hi Ed, I'm writing you to ask you how to train a dog with no motivation. My name is Jonathan and I have been training my pit bull for PSA. I have done a lot of work with him. His bite work is very strong. My problem is with obedience. He has no toy drive, so a tug or a ball is out of the question. I did all of his obedience with food and corrections. He is a lazy dog so everything he does is slow. The slowness is not my problem, because i know what my dog is and he can't be sped up...

Ed, I have one very quick question to ask you about. I know I can get other peoples input on your web board, but it's yours I interested in. You have been around the block many times, and I'm sure you also know a lot of other top level dog trainers that have as well, but when is the earliest a person should let their pup work with a helper? I have just about every one of your videos on this topic, and I think I know the right answer, be the reason I'm asking you is that there's a l...

Dear Cindy, Wow great web site and great information. I have read, watched and learned so much from all of you. Thank You! I have most of your videos in my collection and watch them over and over. Because of your company I felt confident enough to take on the task of training my own Service Dog. In the past I got Service Dogs from a company that trains them but I never felt that they were the dog they could have been. I use an electric wheelchair because of Muscular Dystrophy. I ha...

Cindy, I am trying to train my dog to heel. I am not going to do competition heeling but I have interest in it and would like to see what I can do with him training wise. He is a one year old border collie/blue heeler mix named Tex. I'm trying to train based on what I saw from the DVD "The power of training dogs with food" and have also watched "Establishing pack structure with the family pet" and "Basic Dog Obedience." I have got Tex to sit next to me and watch and he will do this...

Hi, I am wondering if it would be possible to train my st. bernard to guard my small children from getting too close to the water canal. She is 6 months old and already shows protective behavior for my children. How would I go about training her to do that? Thank you for your time, Rachael