Puppy Training Q&As

I read your article on "Dealing with the Dominant Dog" about a year ago. At the time, I thought that perhaps you were a little heavy handed. I have since eaten my words...more than once. I had asked my mother to search the net for articles concerning GSDs. That was the one article that she decided that I needed. (Indicating her feelings about the breed, apparently). At the time, I filed the article in my "K-9" file after reading it. It did not apply to the(AKC) female GSD I had at the tim...

Our puppy is very, very mouthy. It grabs my kids, my arms, my pants. What should I do to stop this?

I teach a puppy kindergarten class. I have a question from one of my students about their dog that I cannot answer, and I am looking for some advice. They have a 12 wk old golden retriever that is showing some dominance. Today it bit the owner in the back of the leg and broke the skin. They were in the front of the house playing, and decided to go to the back yard and play. She started walking and the puppy went after her and bit her in the leg. Also, the puppy seems to play at home very ...

Hi I have a question regarding my 3 month old German Shepherd. I read some of your answers about a dog being 'mouthy' vs. being truly aggressive. My dog is mouthy and bites our pant legs and socks etc. However when we tell her 'no' a couple times she then barks at us, and when my husband tells her 'no' she barks at him and sometimes growls when he tries to correct her. Are we not correcting her enough or do you think this may be a temperament problem?

Right now we have very big problems to make our puppy quiet, his whining and barking (he has a very loud and sharp voice.) Every time something is against his wish. What should we do to make him quiet? (Especially because we live in a block flat with neighbors that want silence!) Another question is about how to make him stop biting our hands, trousers, the leash, etc. (especially our hands)! And the last question I have is about the fact that he already drags in the leash (he is l...

I recently read your article 'Bite Training Puppies,' which I found to be refreshing for lack of a better word. I currently have a 4 month old pup who has been mouthy every since I've had him. Sam growls at anybody he doesn't know, but he is fine with the immediate family, he also had a habit of snapping at the heels of strangers. Last month I took my dog to see the vet and my pup started growling at the vet. The vet told me my dog had a socialization problem, and I need to get him socialized...

My 5 Year Old Lab has a problem with going to the bathroom. A good friend suggested I contact you. I hope you can help. My Lab poops in the bed of my truck everytime I load him up to take him to the river or for a run in the country. He just gets so excited, I don't think he can help himself. My Lab lives to hunt and retrieve! That's all he's interested in. He doesn't care for petting and playing, just working. He gets a good deal of excercise as he walks three miles with me each ...

Ed, I have a GSD puppy just short of 5 months old and have watched your 8 weeks to 8 months video and looked at your website and Q&A, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. It seems that everyone has an opinion on how long my GSD should be able to hold her pee or poop. A friend told me puppies can hold it for 1.5 hours for each month of age. Is this true? My wife and I continue to take her out almost every 4 hours and she performs satisfactory each time (strange conside...

Hi Ed, I've been following your advice for some time now; I have a 7 year old mini dachshund and a 2 year old smooth collie. The collie has been a no brainer to train - she could be your textbook dog. the dachshund is also very well behaved, non aggressive, obedient but it took a lot more effort except for one thing: My specific question is on housebreaking. The collie was housebroken in 2 weeks 100% using a crate. The dachshund is not, but just in my home. I take her to my ...

Hello Cindy, I tried to find this on your site before I asked but I couldn't. When I take my dog out to go potty, I don't have trouble with him peeing, but when it's time to poop, he has to find the right spot. He with sniff around, and get ready to poop and stop and move around and sniff some more. This drives me nuts. It's like he has to find the perfect spot. Why does he do this? I didn't have a problem with this when he was a puppy. I would bring him to the spot I wanted him to...

Hi Cindy, I made a mistake with the potty training with my new pup. I had 3 ex pens for her, one outside for a potty area, one in the garage for middle of the night trips (necessary because I don't go out in the middle of the night due to wildlife and bear that visit our deck) and one in the kitchen area for containment. I either have my 9 week old tethered to me, in her crate or in the pen. I follow all the housebreaking rules as best I can. Here is the problem. Due to wetness...

Hi, My puppy is six months old, we got him over the summer and did not get a crate since I am off at that time. We used puppy pads and now I have a monster, he will go outside but not to potty. It don't matter how long I stay out, nothing happens, but as soon as we come in, on the pad he goes. Those pads cost a lot after a while, especially when the puppy already weighs 50#. Any ideas on where to start undoing this mess I made? Other than this bad habit, he is well behaved, just tr...

I have two pomeranians female & male around 5 months old. The male uses pee pads most of time-he's more calm & listens better than female. She uses pee pads sometimes but loves to chew them up. I went & bought natures miracle brand which did help her to pee on pad more but still they want to chew them up. I'm very tired of this. I've told them 'no' firmly & corrected them over & over & over! What can I do? I have used the treat method also. I'm exhausted. I've never had this type of pro...

Good morning, Ed. I read your site, and especially your article on crate training. I bought a dog 3 weeks ago - she was a rescue. Overall, I think her training has gone pretty well. She doesn't go to the bathroom in the home, but I believe that's mostly because I've been watching her constantly when she's not in her crate. I put bells beside the door, and have been training her to tap them with her nose when she needs to go to the bathroom. She's doing that MOST of the time ...

Hello Ed, I have a 3 year old Pitt/Shar Pei that I rescued about 8 months ago. About 4 days ago I was taking him out of his crate and before I could put the leash on him he urinated. He did that through out the whole day no matter how many times I took him out. After doing that for two days he did not go in the crate but went as soon as he got out of the it. Then the day after he goes when we are at the front door. I don't know why he just started it or how to retrain the habit any help wi...

Hello Ed, I had a few questions about e-collar training. Do you think it is a good idea to use an e-collar to house train a dog? Would you simply correct the dog with the collar when they are actually in the act of using the house to potty with a stern NO! command and then place them outside in the area they need to go potty (then reward when they do go in the right place)? I am figuring that this would teach the dog, if you go potty in the house, you will get a shock.

Dear Cindy, Warm Greetings from Maryland! I have a very specific question about Housetraining that only has to do with the time period in a puppy's life when it is very young from 8-12 weeks of age where it has very little bladder control. (I believe you said about 2hrs. or so is max. time between potty-breaks). I know your #1 rule is to teach the puppy to stay clean IN his crate and Rule #2 is for the puppy to learn to go to the bathroom OUTSIDE ONLY. Here is where I'm un...

Our 10 month old Cavalier is mostly housebroken. The problem we have is at other people's homes and when we take him to work. Even if he has just gone out, he will come back in and relieve himself within a few minutes. Michele

Dear Ed, I have a Pit, Shar Pei mix that I rescued who is about three years old who is still intact. My wife wants me to get him neutered because she is afraid that he will urinate (mark) in the house and on the furniture. Would getting him neutered prevent him from marking in the house since he is already in the habit of marking? Kind regards, Frank

Ed, Great website. I have a question that I did not see covered in the Q&A section. My fiance and I have a 10 month old King Charles Spaniel. Before recently moving in with me she lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex and worked long hours. Therefore she trained our dog to pee on the pads. Now they have moved in with me and while my backyard is somewhat small it does have grass and I would prefer the dog use the backyard rather than the pads. Also, the dog poops on my rug ...