Obedience Q&As

Hello Cindy, I've watched the "Focused Heeling" DVD and am incredibly impressed. I've fixed a problem that I had been having for months in about 20 minutes! I have a question though on the leash pressure section. I show my Rottweilers (one 3 1/2yrs old and one 10 months old) in sieger shows and am unsure I really want to train the leash pressure because I need them to lean into the leash while stacking them. I use the pressure to change footing to get the best stack. I was wonderin...

Hi, I and my 17 week old GSD pup are in obedience class. I have been working with him in healing as well as trying to get him to keep his eyes on me. I have been using bits of hotdog and dropping them from my mouth when he looks up at me, as well as saying "watch me." He does this more when not moving, but not all the time on a heel. What do I need to do different? Or do I need to continue this as I have been doing. Thanks, John

I have a 3 year all black German shepherd that I am training for competition obedience. We have a CD and am working on her CDX. However, I am having problems with her and hope you can give me some insight. I have always trained with food and toys. She has high drive but is very soft and she is a whiner. When we are training, we have no problems. It's when we step into the ring, and the leash comes off. When we are training and does not have a leash on she heals beautiful. But once we cross ov...

Cindy, I have written you several times about my GSD, and my distraction problem with him away from home, when we try to work and I am working on this. He will do some very low key obedience away from home but with none of the energy or drive he shows at home. We were doing a little obedience work this morning in a pet store and he was his usual distracted self. I tried something just to see how he would react, here's how it went. At home I have done a lot of scent work with him, not track...

Cindy, sorry this is so long, I just felt a background is in order. I am very new to training/dog sports (11 months, first dog ever) and now I have to face the facts and gather your opinions. I have a very shy female GSD (20 months old, we got her at 8 months old from a local breeder) I have found out through time this dog was never socialized in the first 8 months of life, all she knew was the breeder, his wife and the other dogs. I have been doing everything in my power to...

Hi, Ed and Cindy! I've been enjoying your newsletter for a while, and I've got a pretty minor training issue I'm hoping you might be able to help with. My dog (papillon, 2 years) is not very toy motivated, and I've been trying to teach him to fetch as a game to get him some more exercise. He will chase a toy and pick it up, but the second I say his name to get his attention to call him back, he will drop the toy and run back to me, because he would much rather be with me than play ...

Could you please give me some in-sight on the term HDD (handler dependent dog) My trainer in agility is throwing this term around and I believe she has the wrong idea on what in really means. I believe a team needs to build confidence in each others and in return that helps a dog not be so dependent on our every move. But she thinks it means that a dog should be able to work with any one and wants us to let some one else take our dog through the course. I'm not so ready to turn my leash over ...

Hi, I have several of your tapes - they are excellent and I have learned a lot through watching them. I would recommend them to anyone. My question is on the recall. I have read your training articles on the recall and no one has quite the same problem as I have with my 8 month old male 27 kg Malinois. My problem is when I call him or even if he just sees me in the distance he will come at 100 miles per hour as fast - as he can and then doesn't stop in time and slams ...

Do you like to use a Tug or a ball for a reward in obedience?

Hi, Ed and Cindy! I've been enjoying your newsletter for a while, and I've got a pretty minor training issue I'm hoping you might be able to help with. My dog (papillon, 2 years) is not very toy motivated, and I've been trying to teach him to fetch as a game to get him some more exercise. He will chase a toy and pick it up, but the second I say his name to get his attention to call him back, he will drop the toy and run back to me, because he would much rather be with me than play ...

Hi, I have watched numerous videos from your website, including the Michael Ellis videos. I'm new to this type of dog training and everything else was perfectly clear to me except the transition phase. Moving from continuous rewarding to a random/variable rewarding schedule when training with food. I'm using the 'yes' marker, because I prefer it over the clicker, but I just want to make sure that when I switch over to a random (and then to variable) reinforcement schedule, will I stil...

Thank you for your very candid answers to people's questions. It is refreshing to see someone with a concern for the safety of both the dog and the people in the dog's life. It is not often that I hear the honest answer of "put the dog to sleep." After reading some of the serious concerns of your writers, mine may seem a bit trivial. In November, my husband and I adopted a two year old , 130lb female English Mastiff from the Rescue League. In the previous home the dog was raised wi...

Hello, We started our puppy out in a crate that was just big enough for her to lay down, stand up and turn around in and of course she out grew it so we purchased a wire crate with a divider so that we can adjust it as she grows. We did not have to many problems with her in the last crate and when we got the new crate today we took her bedding and her toys and transferred them into the new crate. The problem that were having is that shes been crying all day long! Were not paying attention ...

I have a 2 1/2 year old male Mal with high drive. I did not tug with him as a young puppy and teach him a reliable out. When he gets overly excited he will not out the ball, bite pillow etc. Is it too late to teach him a reliable out or is there a way to do it. Holding the object still, he holds and holds. Trying to trade one object for another does not work, food does not work as he is more toy driven. Penny

I purchased your dog obedience video. Question (re: Place) -- I leave her "place" mat out all the time for her to lay on (even when we are not working). On occasion, I've turned around (while not working the 'place' command) and see her down sniffing between her paws. She's a 7.5 month old Doberman and when she realizes I'm looking she gives me that tilted head Dobie velociraptor look ('hit me up bossman'). Ordinarily, I would view this as good (if we were working) and mark/reward her. But...

Hello, I am contacting you asking for your opinions on this situation. If you could I would appreciate it. Baseball has been on around here where I work with my dog at. So I decided to pick another area. Went to it with a friend of mine, got out, let my dog off leash to smell, pee... Cause he is nosey. After a couple of minutes, put him on leash and started the heel... I noticed he wasn't giving it his all. Came to a stop, he didn't sit by my side, so I told him to (he knows this). Afte...

I am the owner of a 1 year old rottweiler (male). I've had him since he was 12 weeks old. I found your web site about (8) months ago when I was searching internet trying to find more information on dog training. I have to complement you on the information you are providing to pet owners. I have purchased (2) of your DVD?s (your puppy 8 weeks to 8 months and basic dog obedience) which has changed my perception on how a dog should be handled and trained. My question is in regards to my rottw...

Hi Cindy, My puppy Cecelia knows all her basic commands except Stand. The way Michael teaches it is by having the dog sit, & then pushing the food hand towards the dog's face until they kick out their rear legs & stand. This has not worked on Cecelia - all she does is scoot backwards, still in a sitting position. I can get her to stand by having her sit & then moving the food an inch forward in front of her - is that wrong? Do you have any suggestions on this? Thanks, ~Tori

Hello, I have recently purchased both the Power of Food and Power of tug videos and will be getting my Malinois puppy this Friday. I have gone through the videos and taken notes, but have a quick question for you please. I just want to be sure that having the puppy follow a food lure into the sit, down, stand and heel will not kill drive. I understand that the luring needs to be done without command and without correction. Thank you for your time. My son was in Iraq twice over the last fe...

Hello Cindy, I have been watching (and enjoying) several of the Michael Ellis training videos. Sometimes he uses FREE as a release word and other times YES. Can you please tell me what the difference is and why he uses both words? Thank you. Mary Ann