Puppy Training Q&As

We have an 11 week old puppy. He appears to be very dominant. We think we are having problems establishing our pack structure with him- we have watched all your videos but can't seem to find a solution. We are crate training him and he seems to have picked up on housebreaking pretty quickly. The problem is that he has a mind of his own. One of the problems is when he is biting something. We will tell him to stop- and he will stop. But then he will wait a few seconds and try t...

I have an almost six month old female German Shepherd that I purchased for my first working dog with high prey drive. She is not my first dog. I have a 12 year old shepherd too. They are never together. The pup loves food treats and she also loves to play ball. According to your videos she is a hard dog. When corrected she sometimes grabs your arm or hand in her mouth with a look like so what are ya gonna do about it? She has never growled . She has always been mouthy but we were able to ...

Hi, My husband and I have a four month old Boxer who likes to put his open mouth on our hands, arms, feet while playing, but he never clamps down. How should we discourage this behavior? We have been holding his jaw closed and saying "no biting" and then putting him in his crate, but this seems to be unsuccessful as he continues later on. What are your ideas on improving the situation? And now when we come to the crate to let him out, he has been cowering his head. We ignore this and ...

Hi, Can you tell me at what age I can start using the dominant dog collar. I got a puppy that is out of control with the biting. He has been like this since he was 6 weeks old and now he's 16 weeks old. I have your DVDs on pack structure and puppy training 8 weeks to 8 months and nothing seems to help I had to put him on a choker for self preservation. Please help he acts at times like a viscous dog. I don't know if its my fault in this training process or what, would a prong colla...

Hello, I have read dozens of Q&A responses on your web site and several of your articles in search of what to do about my puppy. I have a 11 week old, 2 pound, Cockapoo that I have had since she was 8 weeks old. I am sure that in my quest for raising her to be a good, well behaved, puppy I have probably confused her so I want to make sure that whatever I do from here on out is a final approach! Here are my 2 main problems with her: (1) I think she may hate my husband. Re...

My wife and I have two kids. We have a son (7) and a daughter (4). They desperately wanted a puppy and we came a cross a seven week old female boxer puppy. She is adorable, but has aggressive tendencies. She's very playful, but she will start growling and bite to the point of drawing blood from the arm. I'm a little concerned that she may hurt one on the kids. First thing in the morning she's fine, she wags here tail and is excited to see you. However, as the day progresses, it's like she tur...

When you say puppy prong collar are you referring to something different than just a normal prong collar that is small enough to fit a puppy? My 10 week old border collie is biting near constantly and through most every correction given to her. I've tried the basic ouch!, a low growl, scruff shaking, picking her up by the cheeks, pressing down on her tongue lightly but firmly, pushing my hand into her mouth to force a gag, pushing her away, holding her down, taps on the nose. All result in he...

I am a first time dog owner, and I was directed to your site by the breeder I purchased my now 9 week old german shepherd puppy from. I just ordered your 8 week to 8 month video for my puppy, in the meantime I have questions I need answers to. I want to know how soon does a dog start showing dominant behavior? My puppy (Rex) constantly bites and chews our feet, toes, legs and whatever he can get his teeth into, I know this is normal for a puppy by reading diff rent articles on your web site.,...

I have a 7 month old male GSD and I have a problem with him chewing on things. If anything is left outside or in the kitchen, were he sleeps he will chew it up. I have completed your basic obedience video and we are continuing to train him. But I don't know how to stop him from chewing things up. I have been giving him corrections when I catch him in the act, but those times are few and far between. Can I correct him for chewing if its the next day when I find something chewed up. ...

I know you are extremely busy, but you are the acknowledged dog expert from so many different circles, and I am running out of ideas on what to do with my dog, so forgive me for taking your time... I adopted a rott/shep mix when he was 6 mo old, and have had him for a year and a half. As you have probably already guessed, he is a fear biter. We have been to several different trainers, and he is somewhat more comfortable around children after our follow up trips to the park, but he is stil...

I received and viewed your "puppy" video. Thanks, it helped, although I already knew most of it from having a Doberman and GS years ago, though the refresher was appreciated. However, I now have an 11-week old Rottie. He is friendly, outgoing, and learns quickly. However, when we walk by, he will "latch on" to our pant legs or legs if we have shorts on, the jeans will rip as he will not let go until the command of "no bite" is given. We want to stop the original bite. We hadn't planned to do ...

I have a question for you. When I am working with Tasha I have to correct her, because she will try and bite my hands, or even try to jump on me. When she gets her fingers pinched she gets madder and really bites at my hands. This especially happens if I have to correct her after inappropriate behavior towards other dogs. I know this is training oriented, but I have never encountered this before, this is a recent behavior, and I am not sure how to approach dealing with it. I need your adv...

We have a 10 wk GSD that has so far shown no signs of dominance. My question: is it OK for her to chase my two kids ages 7 and 9 around the backyard? She is mouthy so the kids try to stay just out of her reach. Everyone is having a great time with this but my husband thought it might not be a good idea. I was thinking it was fine but that maybe we should correct her if she puts her teeth on them. Or should we just let her outgrow her mouthiness? I have your video Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 M...

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 ...