Obedience Q&As

I recently installed a doggie door and my german shepherd is afraid of it. I have been using luring to get her to go trough the door only when I'm holding the door up. Any thoughts on how I can get her to start using the door on her own.Thanks

I am trying to teach leash pressure and when I put pressure on the leash to guide my dog backwards, he always sits rather than move backward.Advice on how to change that?

Hello Cindy. In 3 months I'll be getting my 2nd Cane Corso (pup). Recently my 10 year old Cane Corso passed away. I stayed on top of his training from day one with the help of your DVD and online articles and the result was a dream of a dog and companion. My question is about teaching a pup that YOU own the food. I have read you say that you leave your pup alone with their food and once it's down, you do not touch it. So does it all have to do with age? I would have thought you'd want t...

I am a little frustrated with my DDR GSD. Out of no where he has become destructive. One pair of glasses, 5 pairs of shoes and vacuum parts. I understand he is entering adolescents. I expected he would become hard headed which he has like I haven't taught him a single thing lol. But the destruction was unexpected I never dealt with this with our lab or Mal. he is our first GSD. I guess my question would be is this normal or am I missing something. I have followed Michael Ellis' training as I ...

Id like to ask a couple training questions: Can you use the clicker and 'yes' together to mark? ie. Dog's butt hits the ground, you "click", then say "yes" pause and feed? Is this ok? Are there there certain commands where the clicker is better than 'yes'? Can I mix up training during day - start sit, then move on to down, move on to - stand. Mix in 'nose' or 'place'...then go back - all while being different timings of trainings and not confuse the dog? If no, then how long do you stay at...

Is there any videos, streaming or articles about how to phase out treats while Training? Long story short-- my dog has recently decided that she refuses to perform anything I ask if her unless I've got a treat for her... Even tasks she USED to perform perfectly with NO treats--- now I've got to lure her into correct position with a treat... If I refuse to give a treat she LITERALLY sat there making eye contact for nearly 10 minutes refusing to do a task unless I had a treat!!!!! I'm desperat...

I am interested in ordering the Michael Ellis puppy workshop course. I own a copy of Michael Ellis Raising Your Puppy course and am concerned the workshop may contain a bulk of information I already have. Is there a way for me to audit the course before purchasing it? Due to the price of the course, I want to make sure I am not paying a huge premium for content I already have.

My 17 month old Dutch Shepherd has travel anxiety, she pants and won't relax in the 2nd seat of our SUV. She is in a safety harness and can lay down. I tried a name brand herbal calming product which did not seem to help, I'd like to avoid Benadryl or vet Rx. Chew toys or treats are ignored. Would it be o.k. to use the e-collar to break her thought process, say as part of saying down, (she ignores commands when so agitated) or would a tap or click make things worse? She didn't have any ...

I have the Training the Retrieve with Michael Ellis video and am working with my dog on the "Take it" part of the training. My dog shows no interest in taking the PVC pipe. I tried to move to a wooden dowel, still no luck. I have tried about 5 sessions and still no interest, not even a little interest to try and reward for shaping the behavior. I decided to move on to the hold part of the training which is going well, but I am afraid if I go out of order it may mess up my progress in the e...

Can an ex-pen be used successfully with an adult dog that has never been in one? Our GSD rescue 1 1/2 yr-old neutered male loves his Vari-kennel, sleeps in it at night, and goes in to rest. I rarely leave him unattended in the house and never with our other dogs, but would like to be able to use an ex-pen instead of or in addition to the VK if we travel or have guests.

Hi Cindy, Training question for the GSD puppy: I never ask her to do anything she cannot do, however, our trainer felt it would be good for her to do basic obedience in the class with 3 other puppies. We failed miserably. She was focused on the other puppies. I had a really hard time getting her attention with treats and tug. Am I wrong to think that we should stay away from group classes now or should we participate even if it means a whole lot of corrections with the prong? Also, at what...

Hi Cindy, I have a 15wk old Shepherd pup. He has decent possession and will chase a ball, rag, sleeve. He arrived at 10wks of age and would grip and carry toys/objects well. As he's developed he has become very chewy, especially on the jute puppy sleeve. This has transferred to the leather rag but not the softer squeak toys. I can pull the sleeve/rag out of his mouth with only minimal effort. Obviously I do not want him to learn he can't win or that the sleeve is always going to be ripped ...

Hi Cindy, I will be getting a Malinois pup soon & have been researching best ways to socialize it with other dogs. I have a another dog already which was heavily socialized with other dogs & has excellent social skills with any size/type of dog (she has even been attacked by a dog as a puppy unprovoked, & never changed/became aggressive in spite of it), but she's too dog focused which I want to avoid this time. I would not expect the pup would not be as forgiving like if attacked. I read &...

Hi! I have a 10 month old gsd and we have been working on our tug game to eventually incorporate it as an obedience reward. I have purchased the Michael Ellis dvd on the Power of Playing tug with your dog and I am continuing to study it. I am very pleased with the course. The issue I am having with my dog is he won’t bring it back and I have studied the video where Michael demonstrates to tug a few times, let him have it, and encourage him to take even 1 step toward you, mark and play ag...

Does the Basic Obedience Course go into how to practice the skills being taught -- when, how much, how long, etc.?

Hi Cindy, I was wondering, how do you keep the rubber feed pan from collapsing under the weight of the dog? I purchased the rubber feed pan to teach rear end awareness. Every time my dog stands on it it collapses. In the videos you produced on the subject. You use the rubber feed pan but it does not collapse. I have resorted to several cut up 2x4’s screwed together. It works but is a headache. I figure you must have done something similar. But perhaps not so cumbersome. I would appreciat...

The pup in your Conditioning Your Puppy for Nail Trimming video looks older than my 11 week male rott pup. I just started charging the mark and yes for 2 to 3 days. My pup does not sit still as yours does in the video. I don’t want to force holding the dog down. Can you recommend next steps for training mine to sit long enough to accomplish what you are doing in the video? Should I start with sit and place and then add the sound of the dremel and work from there?

My dog will play tug with me and bring the tug back but when I go to grab it to reengage he drops it. How would I go about countering this tendency?

I have a 2 yr old bloodhound/coonhound/newfie mix with low food drive, a sensitive stomach, and zero toy drive. He has no interest in chasing a ball or playing tug, and not a great appetite. Does the Power of Training with Food video deal with building food drive at all? I've done marker training in the past with other dogs but was stymied by this one. I need to build engagement, and am hoping one of your videos will help.

At what age do you start introducing leash pressure to a puppy? And what equipment do you use? Thanks