Obedience Q&As

I bought the 3 DVD set "Heelers Toolbox." I have never been a fan of treat training but I want to try it. My question is, what are the best treats to use when training heeling? I want a treat that will be light and not fill the dogs. What would you recommend?

Cindy, I'm new to the world of competitive dog obedience (getting ready for Novice A this spring) and have a question about the order of training. In my current routine, I take her to a local park where we train for about 30 minutes. After ending on a high note, I have been taking her for about a 40 minute loose leash walk around the park. I believe I heard on one of the videos something about putting the dog away after training so they could process what they learned. My question is should I...

I am re-watching the heelers toolbox and at the section about "head position" I notice it when I work with my dog and feed him with his head up high in the heel position, he eats the treat head down in order to swallow which breaks up our momentum. What am I doing wrong? Or how is that fixed? Or can it be fixed? I am using the Happy Howie's food reward.

We will be moving overseas to Japan (military) with our dog. Any tips in general and any favorite pet shippers? Dog (Dutch Shepherd) is only 65lbs, but because he has such a long neck/long legs and big pointy ears putting him at 35" tall while sitting which equals giant #700 kennel and cargo only status.

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.

I had my first Rally class today, and they recommended a thin leash. They said I had too much leash in my hand and requested I get something really thin. What is the thinnest leather leash you carry? I like your leather leashes and would love to use one in my Rally training.

Cindy, I'm having a hard time switching over from food to toy rewards. My dog will play tug with enthusiasm at the house, but when we are out she will show no interest if something else remotely interesting is around. I am trying to get away from carrying around food rewards and just keep a tug on me. It just seems like that will not be motivational enough for her. She likes the flirt pole but that's hard to take around. Do you have any suggestions on how I can increase her interest in toy...

Training question for the 8m 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 point sho...

Hi Cindy, I have The Power of Playing Tug online video, and have been playing tug with my doberman but when I let him win, some of the time he shuffles the tug in his mouth so he's holding the handle. Then he shakes it by the handle and brings it back. I tried cutting the handles off one but the he does the same but with the end of tug instead! How can I stop him playing with the handles?

I've purchased all of the Ellis DVDs and the Basic Dog Obedience DVD and the Clicker Training DVD but still am unsure how to train the basic "stay" command - whether in a sit or down. All of the DVDs seem to assume the "stay" command has already been taught to the dog. Anyway, please help me re: how to teach the "stay" command so that I can move on to some of the more skilled obedience commands in the DVDs with my Dutch Shepherd. Thank you!

Hello, I have a question in regards to teaching tricks (sit pretty, roll over, ect) to puppies that are in protection sport training. I have a 3yr old DS that I never did protection work with as she is too soft nerved. But I have taught her many tricks and I enjoy teaching them. We now have a 4 month old pup that we are doing protection work with in hopes to be a FR dog. I was told that teaching pups tricks when training for these type sports can take away from their fierceness and isn'...

Hi! I recently purchased the leash reactivity self study course from your online classes. After watching all the videos I noticed that the trainer only talks about dogs that are reactive because they aren't comfortable with a social interaction/want more space from a another dog ect... I could be wrong, but I believe that my dog has the exact opposite issue in that he desperately wants to interact with the other dog. He's a 2 year old dutch shepherd and LOVES playing with other dogs but can b...

I have watched the video on training with food with Michael Ellis. The dogs follow the food with their noses and push into his hand but my 8 mo. old GSD bites and gnaws at my hand when I try to lure him. I have practiced holding the food in the correct way etc. but can't get him to stop biting my hand and instead just follow/be lured by my hand. Any advice? Thanks!

Hello Ed, I have started dog training and I am currently mentoring with someone with over 20 years in the business. Today I shadowed him whilst he did a 2nd home visit to a couple with a pitbull mix (PB mix) and a boxer mix, (Bmix) both females. The couple had recently moved in together. The man owns the pitbull mix who was seemed very friendly and wanted to play and the lady owns the bulldog mix who had started to attack the PB mix. The trainer had the lady play with the PB mix (not...

Hi. I was interested in taking the Basic Obedience course offered online, but I am unsure if it is relevant for me. I have just adopted a 1 year old male German Shepherd from a very good breeder that recommended me to your site. He does know a bit more than the basic commands. I would like to learn the recall, better walking on a leash... he's not bad, but could be better. Basically I think my question is, is this course for teaching a puppy and should I be looking into a different cou...

Cindy, I have been reviewing your Heeling toolbox, but have one concern. I have a small 10.5 pound Bichon. To me, dealing with a small dog is very different. Does your course address that? I am ready to compete with this exceptionally hard driving little descendant of JR except for the fact that her healing can somewhat weave in and out from me. She forges on the inside Figure 8 and left turns and stops, but is right on with all else. She also rat-ta-tatts with her little feet when we stop...

Hello. Sure love the information you all provide. It has helped me establish a solid relationship with my German Shepherd dogs. I have a question about having 2 German Shepherds at home. My 45 lb. spayed female is scared of our 90 lb. intact (but soon to be neutered) male. She hides and barks when he is out. As a result only one dog can be out at a time. Any tips for settling the female down? Thanks

I have a 9 month old Hovawart female, spayed, we have been through basic puppy class. I want to know what class to pick for her. She is extremely smart, very food and toy oriented (tennis balls). I have just enrolled her in agility. I don't need the basic sit, wait, down course I would like something at the next level, I also want to do some tracking with her in the spring. Thanks for your advice.

From playing tug to attacking another dog: I have 1.8 border collie who hardly ever shows any aggression towards other dogs. I've been working on playing tug with him outside, with distractions, and this morning we had a great start to the session, with him running after me from sit-stay and grabbing the tug with energy. But then a dog passed on the road near our yard (whose door was open to let in more distractions) and when I told him to 'get it' he ran past me and to the dog (who by this t...

I recently bought Michael's DVD on teaching the retrieve. She's all about retrieving, but she chews on the dumbbell. I switched to the pvc pipe like Michael suggested in the DVD. I've been working with her for two weeks using the pvc pipe and I'm not seeing any change in the chewing. I've tried reinforcing the hold by giving the command again and using my hand under her chin to hold her head up. She still continues to move it around in her mouth. Also, she's a maniac when she runs out to...