Most Recent Q&As

I take my dog to a training group where we train for an 1hr once a week it's mostly fun stuff, since we finished out good citizen scheme. But I still struggle a lot with her food drive and after about 45mins at training she just switches off and refuses all the treat I offer. She also will refuse to play at all at my training club. I've worked a lot on engagement, making her work for her food. She just has very little interest in food (sometimes she doesn't even want breakfast or dinner after...

I just got 10 week old Australian Cattle Dog. He has been home 5 days now. I read about not letting others not pet you dog and I have a question. I live alone in a rural setting in a neighborhood with about 4 houses pretty close by, so I interact with the neighbors a lot. One of the neighbors will be emergency contact for the puppy. I carry a tag on my key chain that says my pet is home alone please call .... and the neighbor will make take care of the dog. Should I let the dog interact more ...

Hi! I was wondering what characteristics you would advise looking for in a PTSD service dog prospect in a litter of pups? I?ve selected an outstanding breeder, whose previous litters had pups that went on to successfully complete service dog training, so there?s a history showing promise in genetics. So as far as temperament, what specifically would you look for if you were choosing an ideal candidate? Thanks so much!

Not sure If I should call it defiance, but my 5-month-old malinois puppy has gotten defiant and bit and growled at me when I tried to correct him with a verbal "nope" command when I went to pick up a bag of trash. Typically the "nope" command works well. He started to drag a bag of trash that was sitting inside the fence that I was about to take out. I think he may have just gotten amped up into thinking it was a game of play because it seemed like he thought it was more of a fun game like tu...

Hello, you've probably been asked this a million times but, what treats to do you use when you train? Thanks.

Hi Cindy, I train dogs in the UK and have recently been helping a family with a 7 month old Frenchie. When I first went round it was because he was showing aggression over food and objects but not just his own. If anyone had food he could show signs of aggression toward them. The family was getting ready to move house so there were boxes around and he started to guard the boxes. He was a nice dog but he jumped up, pulled on lead, barked at dogs on lead as well. We stopped all of those t...

Hi Cindy! I've emailed before for help with my Belgian Malinois pup and your suggestions have been helpful, particularly in regards to puppy biting. A new problem has arisen: he barks, and it appears to be motivated by him seeking my attention (there is also the possibility that the attention seeking barking behavior may result from anxiety - anxious about me leaving - but I'm not sure.) Question: Any suggestions to curb/minimize the barking behavior other than ignoring the behavior?

Thank you for the recent correspondence and the great deal on many of the videos. We chose Ed and your basic and intermediate videos because quite frankly, my fiance and I are beginners. Our puppy however is brilliant!! We have our first GSD puppy, a female rescue from CA. We live in Oregon and my question pertains to our schedules. I am a graveyard electrician and I do most of the training and exercising with our puppy. The pup wakes at 2-3am when I get home and is instantly in full "dri...

Hi Cindy, I have a two month old puppy that has no treat or enough toy drive. Thus I can't do luring, crate training, etc. He is also very slow eater with same food from breeder. Have never experienced this before so I am a bit perplexed. Any advice please?

I have a 13 1/2 week old puppy that I feed a raw meat and bone diet to. For the last few days I would give her a raw, meaty shank bone to chew on while she?s in the expen. Just today I noticed two of her small front teeth missing and one is loose. It seems too early for her to be teething (but maybe not). Is it a bad idea to give her beef bones with baby teeth? And is there any potential problem with her teeth missing early? Thank you.

Hi Cindy, I looked through the barking Q/A and didn't find anything on young pups - 12 weeks. Initially, regardless of how often I would take him out, my dog would poo while in the crate as he caught on that it would get him out. After isolating him for 24 hours and only taking him out for potty breaks, he figured out to poo outside with lots of praise and fun accompanying. I brought him back out into the living room to be part of the pack and he has been fine about this since. Recently...

I am getting a 8 week old Belgian Malinois pup in a couple of weeks. At what age do you recommend that I begin feeding him bully sticks?

I have an 11 month old GSD that hasn?t been socialized much. He is a rescue; I got him at about 4 months old and have had him out in public, but he needs obedience training. He is non-reactive to other dogs, cats, children etc. I want to try and train him to be a service dog (I suffer from PTSD) as he appears to have a very good temperament. I purchased the Michael Ellis self study Training with Food. He is too old for the puppy video you have and was wondering is it too late to train him for...

My German Shepherd puppy literally has to be under me ever second I am around. He will not go in the back yard without me to use the restroom, he stays under my feet, in between my legs while we are walking or standing still, he'll sit on my foot when I am cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc. Even when I vacuum the house, the vacuum cleaner noise doesn't deter him from up under my feet and in between my legs or following next to me. It's like he has to see me, watch me, and he lit...