Obedience Q&As

I read your comment on the leerburg web site that you will not breed any more german shepherd puppies with strong working drive for 2007 and 2008, Well I'm going to buy a GSD puppy from a GSD Kennel in canada, its called woodside germanshepherds. if you could check with them for me about the types of puppys they produce. can you reply back to me to see whether they are capable for police service work Johnmichael Musaazi

Dear Mr. Frawley: I don't even know where to begin. I have a two week old puppy that, in my eyes, if anything could go wrong with a puppy, it has happened to her. Her mother only had her, thank goodness. By the time she was three days old she had contracted some type of either bacterial or fungal infection of the skin on her abdomen, the vet wasn't sure. Either way, her skin was badly infected and rotting away. The vet gave me an antibiotic and skin cream. Two days later her ...

Hi, can you help? I have a 5 month old female German Sheperd pup and when she is out on the lead she lets dogs attack her and try to bite her and she just stands there. She does not cower away, she just stands there. Please help.

How can you tell which are female and male? One of my Huskies just whelped her first litter.

My girlfriend has an 11 or 12 year old Bichon dog and it keeps on using the bathroom [number 1 & 2] on her apartment floor every time I'm with my girlfriend on her bed. My girlfriend says her dog never used to do that before I came into her life. Does this mean my girlfriend's dog is trying to make a statement? Does this mean the Bichon is jealous and envious? I'm really starting to HATE my girlfriend's dog because I always have to clean the dog's crap up! Do you think this dog knows I hate i...

Hello, my name's Dean from Australia top site. I owned a German Shepherd who died at the old age of 13 about ten years ago I got him at 8 weeks. He was from old West German bloodlines imported into this country at about 6 months. I was walking him off lead when out of nowhere he launched into a full attack on me grabbing hold of my upper arm and shaking kicked him in the guts but he would not let go. He only had one baby canine left this broke and he lost his grip as I kicked him again he...

I used to have an pure American GSD named Baxter. He has great balance and agility, and he is extremely powerful. I live in Canada and often see elk in my yard. One day he ran away after something and I chased him with my fourwheeler and watched him bring down a 565 pound elk. I had to get rid of him because of this. He had excellent drive and often hunted with me. Never say that German lines are better, I currently own one and will soon get rid of him because he is timid, and is very nippy. ...

My pug had 3 puppies, and 5 days later I accidentally left the door open to where the puppies were, the mama pug came outside with me and while we were out, my adult female doxie killed the puppies. I am worried that there is something wrong with my doxie. I haven't even been able to pet her since this happened. These adult dogs have lived together for 4 years. Last year they had puppies together and after the puppies the doxie got spayed. Is my doxie a killer? Thanks for your help...

I am a security dog handler now. I have a Rotty. Could you give me your thoughts on giving him a live chicken for a kill to increase his prey drive and a confidence builder. I'll let him taste the blood. We are training him on the sleeve. He is 2 yrs. and 4 months old. He is fighting well on the sleeve and with whip work and gun work, we just need to build his confidence up.

Good afternoon, I have been searching for an answer to my question and have yet to find it and was hoping you could help. I have a 6 and 1/2 month old male American bulldog and a 8 and 1/2 month old female American bulldog. I was not planning to breed them, and I had a spay appointment for the female all set until she went into heat 2 days prior to the surgery. My boyfriend accidentally let them outside together, and by the time I noticed, he was already locked inside her. So my question i...

I have got 2 female dogs which fight not all the time, only when they get jealous such as if we put a plate down for one of them and the other one comes over they start growling and then they start to have an aggressive fight. I have read how to separate them but I would like to know would they kill each other if we left them, or is they any training we could teach them to stop fighting full stop. Thanks Letty

I have question about dog breeding, I want to know how do dogs breed?

We have a dog that is a mixed breed and just a wonderful dog. She loves people, but yet will bark if someone pulls into our driveway. She's not aggressive at all and like I said just a very loving animal. She is now almost two years old and in the last week or so, when we let her outside she disappears for two or three hours, sometimes longer. She used to come right back when I would whistle for her but not lately. When she does come home, she's not panting or wet like she has been running. H...

Hello Mr. Frawley, I have a very large 4-year-old male (neutered) Irish Setter and two small daughters - ages 2 and 4. My kids spend a lot of time with the dog and he has never shown even the slightest sign of aggression toward them. He follows them around the house and seems to view himself as their "nursemaid." The other day my sister-in-law stopped by the house (she let herself in) when my kids were playing with the dog and I was in another room. When the dog saw her, he placed himse...

I ran across your article online about your thoughts on marker training. I was taught to train by only correcting bad behaviors in the early 90s. Yankin and crankin. It has worked well for me in obedience training my dogs over the years. Your article however has caused me to rethink my approach. I have 2 german shephard puppy?litter mates male and female. I got them at 4 months. They are now 6 months.?I walk them and train them every day. As a side note, I train and walk them separately. They...

Ed, My name is Frederick from Australia. I would just like to tell you my story about my tragic loss and maybe you can share this with people dealing with the same kind of problem. I am a big reader of your website and I read all your articles and QAs. Your teachings have, in a lot of ways, been the foundation of training I trained dogs although I still consider myself as a youngster in the field. I used to own a Bullmastiff dog. We got him from a breeder at 8 weeks old and he was th...

Hey there, Let me just start with a big thanks for the wonderful website and DVDs you've created. They've been a huge source of information for me and they really help me a lot! If it wasn't for you, I would've been raising my Beagle the "old school" way and would probably have had a sadder dog to live with. I'm sure he is also very grateful for you teaching me better! :) I've read most of the stuff you wrote about the all natural, raw diet, and I have just one thing i had a problem ...

Cindy, My dog has been on a raw diet for over a month now and I've noticed he's panting quite a bit. I've searched the website and looked over the books but haven't seen anything on this. Do you know of any correlation between excessive panting and raw? He seems healthy otherwise. Otherwise, the diet has been a dream. Earwax-gone, itching-greatly diminished, coat-like a puppy, I mean it is really noticeable. Thank you for teaching me about raw though Leerburg. I have already convinced...

Dear Cindy, My question is regarding avoidance corrections. I have a 2.5 year old cattle dog mix that I have just adopted. I am constantly around horses and my dog will be as well. When the horses are not really moving the dog leaves them alone but if they start running around his herding drive takes over and I can not get him out of the zone. He chases them and barks at them while nipping at their heels; characteristically of his breed. He understands "come" and "no" and is almost alwa...

Not that it matters to you, but i think your advice is awful and you are doing a diservice to dogs with it. Dogs need socialization to be happy, a lonely life in a crate does not provide it, they also need plenty of fresh water, not just when its convenient for the owner to provide it. Puppies mess just like babies do and pet owners have to accept this and if they cant maybe they shouldnt have dogs. Becky