Obedience Q&As

Good morning. My name is Erika and I share a place with my cousin who owns two Westys (West Highland Terriers). He adopted them both from a shelter in Oklahoma. He wanted to adopt the female, but the shelter said he had to take both the female and a male. Well, the female is precious. The male is adorable, but he's always growled if he's asleep and you try to wake or move him. He's been scolded, placed in the laundry room or outside, and ignored for this behavior. Well, just this w...

Dear Ed, You probably hear sad stories like this all the time; moreover, don't like to personally respond to repeat questions. Well, I'm desperate for some guidance as I'm stuck in a major dilemma. Duggan is a 3.5 year old male (fixed), shar pei/springer spaniel mix, adopted at 8wks from humane society. Affectionate, loving, and wonderful to have around. Loves stranger's too much,(live in large town-home that has inspectors come monthly and the first time they came-in when w...

Ed, Hey I love your Leerburg site. It's one of the best information tools online, hands down. I need some information. I have a 5 month old American Bulldog in the house along with a 3yr old & 8yr old. My problem is the dog is constantly challenging my 3yr old. How do I stop it ? He does not do it with anyone else in the house. Other than that he's a perfect dog. I would appreciate any info pertaining to this. Thanks, Jon

Dear Ed, I have a question regarding our German Shepherd. He's 2 years old now and weighs 108 pounds. He wasn't socialized as a puppy, so we are taking him to a trainer because of fear biting and aggression with people in the yard and house (he hadn't been aggressive toward my husband, our children, or myself.) The trainer has been helpful, and we've seen a lot of improvement. The last time we went for a session, she told us that our dog sees my husband as a leader, but doesn't see me as o...

Hi, I am Heather, and I have a German Shepherd. I live with my mom and 2 sisters and I am starting to see some signs of aggression. My German Shepherd is a male and is 6 years old. I e-mailed you before about him adjusting to the apartment I moved into. He had adjusted well but he has been growling at me lately and tonight he snapped at me like a bite but he did not puncture the skin. This started a few months ago when I lived in a house. He started to growl at me when I was trying...

I live with my sister who has a three year old mix breed (half long haired Chihuahua, half Poodle). He weighs about 12 pounds and has been fixed. Anyway, he's always been fairly protective and aggressive, but in the last year or so he has become progressively worse. My sister and her boyfriend are the only ones that are spared his biting. He's drawn blood on me half a dozen times and has done the same to others. It used to be that he only bit me when I tried to touch or pet him while he w...

Ed, A have just acquired a dominant dog, it followed me home on a walk, someone had dumped her. She's approximately a year old, I've had her 3 weeks. I will soon be getting her spayed, she's had a litter recently. She's had a hard life with a lot of scars from fights. I have a Innotek econo-trainer shock collar and was wondering if you could tell me if there are any others out there that are stronger in shock than this. I have looked in a Cabelas book, but they don't say to use on ...

Hi, I am contacting you as a last resort before we have our German Shepard, Thor, put to sleep. We purchased Thor at a pet store for $300.00. Thor is 17 months old and a male. Thor's birth date is 9/9/02. We bought Thor at 3 weeks old 11/5/02. We moved from California to Florida December 2003. In California we lived on a fenced acre and Thor was able to run freely at all times and had numerous sheltered areas such as the carport and front and back porch. Thor often laid on t...

I am sure you are a very busy man but I am so frustrated and have no where else to turn for answers. If you could please give me a bit of advice I would greatly appreciate it because no one in my area has yet been able to help. Last June, my husband was given a puppy that had been handed down from owner to owner. We were not told much about her history so I took her to the vet the next day who said she was a Beagle-Pincher mix. She had many health problems when we first got her but...

Mr. Frawley, Recently our 9 month old GSD has started to nip at us for no reason. We can be sitting on the couch and she'll come and nudge with her head to be pet and once I start to pet her she begins to nip at my hand. Lately her nipping has become a lot harder and more with me then with my boyfriend. She was crate trained from when we first got her but now when we put her in she begins to bark. She also barks if I'm in another room with the door closed. I'm not sure where we wen...

Hi Ed, My name is Niamh and my husband, Glen, and I own a 70 pound neutered bitch named Sena. To explain our situation I will give you a little background on us. I had a previous dog, Grady a male neutered black lab/rottie cross. Grady was a huge dog and at age 12 and at 120 pounds he had to be put down. Grady was put down quite suddenly due to failing organs. He was a gentle giant who in his senior years didn't want to do anything but lay at your feet. My husband and I went out tw...

Hi, My 4 yr. old German Shepherd and constant loving companion, bit me. I had placed a bag of garbage containing a turkey bone on the floor. I heard him chewing the bone from the garbage and went over to him. He growled at me, which surprised me greatly. I then spoke firmly to him and reached for his collar to pull him away from the bone. He growled again and bit my wrist. It was one quick bite and I pulled away and ran. He has been quite humble ever since. I was shocked. I thought...

I was searching the internet this evening and came across your site that had many questions and answers regarding fear biters and the like. I am struggling with a decision that I fear I know the answer to and would like to ask your opinion. My wife and I adopted a dog at the local shelter about three years ago. He is a Norfolk Terrier Mix we believe. The dog was days away from being put down and we took him home and have loved him extravagantly ever since. He was in the pound for biting an...

Mr. Frawley, I am hoping you can help us today! We adopted George from a local shelter 15 months ago, he is a German Shepherd mix, about 3 or 4 years old. From the beginning he has showed dominance towards me when he found food outside, going after me with a strong, viscous bark, but has always let me take away his food if I have given it to him. Since then my husband and I have given birth to a beautiful daughter who is now four months old. We have tried some training and met with...

I am writing to you about our 11 yr. old Lhasa Apso, Max. I have had him since he was 8-9wks old. As a puppy, he seemed to be afraid of strangers or anyone who tried to pet or touch him. He would scream and back away. I tried to socialize him, when people would come in that would play with him & he finally started coming out of his shell. However, about a year later he started biting the groomer & they informed me they wouldn't have him back. I had a dog trainer come into our home & work with...

I have been on your web site a lot and have learned a great deal. I know that you are in the protection dog biz and my pup is really not considered for his breed a protector I have a 5 month old Siberian Husky Male (Alpha of the Alpha's) What I want to know is in your experience do a lot of people mistake this breeds behavior for aggression? I am working him on a prong collar and have made some great steps forward. I have him in a formal obedience class and well those trainers need help b...

I am at a lose as to where to turn regarding dominance and aggression issues with my dog. As a young puppy, somewhere between 6 mo. to 1 year she was placed in the yard of an auto body shop. She had a doghouse and was fed regularly, but that was about it. My boyfriend visits this shop often and developed a relationship with the dog (I believe she is part Chow & part Keeshond). When I purchased my own home he asked me to take her in. At that time she was 3 - 4 years old. There is also an indic...

Hello--I learned a lot from reading your web site. My dog and I need help. I think my dog has "fight drive," to put it nicely. He otherwise is a very good, well-trained, obedient, Rottweiler, but when he gets angry he is practically unstoppable. It's a problem for me, mainly because he attacked me yesterday. I was picking some dried scabs off his face ...I know it didn't hurt him because the scabs were practically falling off. He was growling, and I was warned, but I couldn'...

Hi, I'm a "new dog owner"(My dad had a dog while I was alive and she eventually became my dog, but she didn't need any training.) We put her to sleep and I bought a Golden Retriever puppy. She's approximately 6 months old. She's pretty good most of the time. She took a beginner's obedience class and is pretty well potty-trained. The major problem is that she is aggressive. I was hoping I could tell you about it and you could give me a suggestion. When I give her a pig's ear, or some other...

Dear Mr. Frawley, I just adopted a 5 year old toy poodle. Her previous owner was an elderly single woman who kept her on her lap and had her sleep on her bed. She's a good dog. She gets along well with my 1 1/2 year old miniature poodle. My only problem is, how to get her to sleep in a crate and out of my bedroom. She connected with my husband and would love nothing more then to sleep in our bed. I managed to get her off my bed and onto a day bed but I rather she spen...