Recommended Q&As

Hi Cindy, I will be getting an 8 week old golden retriever puppy and he will be a family pet. I plan on using a harness at the beginning to take him outside, explore etc., but wondering at what age range you recommend beginning formal loose leash walking on a collar. Do I even need a flat collar at this point? Thank you!

My sister has 2 Boston Terrier's. The older female is smart and has an excellent temperament. They purchased a male when he was 4 months old, he is now 2. When they first got him he would run up to people and was very playful, then around 1 he still comes up to people all excited but the second he gets close he snaps, growls and barks. They've tried everything including medication. Yesterday my daughter 12, was over and she was laying on the couch watching TV and he managed to escape his cage...

We have an 11 week old mastiff puppy and we are struggling with him biting the leash (he wants to hold it in his mouth or tug with it) and he wants to play with us by biting. We have tried redirection with toys and food. He is not food motivated at all so we have struggled to even be successful with engagement. He is under weight and even with deprivation he is not interested in training with treats. Redirecting with toys almost seems like it is a reward to him so he goes back to biting and...

hi, my 3 year old spayed malinois is fear reactive. I have the courses of Ed about dominant dogs and the course of Michael and Tyler about reactive dogs. My question is: she also does this behavior at home behind the fence towards dogs and people. And of course, these dogs or people disappear, which gives her a feeling of victory. How do I fix this problem? because this is the behavior that she also does outside the house towards dogs and sometimes people. So is my work outside perhaps for no...

Hi Cindy! I'm training my dog on the recall command. I'm also working on getting him more comfortable outside as he can be skittish. For a while, my dog would hide underneath the dining table if he anticipated that we are going out for a walk. I believe he's slowly making progress and he's getting more comfortable outside. When we go out for walks, I would let him know ahead of time that we are going out for a walk and then I'll give the recall command to put the leash on him. Sometimes durin...

I have a 2 year old Rottie. He is being trained to be my service dog for PTSD. He has been going with me to work and everywhere since he was 6 months. He has been in professional training since 3 months old, first in basic, then advance, has his CGC and is ready to start the disability training. I could take him anywhere. He would just lay down, and people didn't even know he was there. He has started to bark at people in my office, especially when they rise to leave. I used to take him to re...

I have a 9 month old Pointer puppy. I did lots of desensitization with her as she grew, and up until a couple months ago, she was perfectly fine with other dogs and people. When she hit her fear period, everything was scary, but we worked through it for the most part, and she was good up until offleash dogs rushed us on a walk. Ever since then, she's been terribly reactive to dogs, and even, sometimes, people. My goal is to get her back to being neutral with other dogs, but in all honesty, I'...

Our high drive border collie is scared of noisy things that are new like trashcans, shopping carts, skateboards, etc. She has always been a little jumpy/noise sensitive and highly reactive even for the breed (we are experienced past border collie owners). I am able to get her comfortable with objects by playing frisbee around these objects working them into games (jump over the trashcan, get the frisbee from my hand while i am skateboarding), but then a new object later will trigger her ag...

My 5 month old Aussie puppy is obsessed with my 4 year old Aussie. It’s not aggression—just the opposite: she is demanding to play. But it not like a polite request. Instead she grabs a mouthful of the older dog’s fur and won’t let go. If she gets anywhere near the older dog, her eyes light up and she pounces, jumping and biting. On the other hand, she is very uninterested in me and no treat or toy can get a rise out of her. The older dog puts up with her for the most part but sometim...

My 10 month old male wl GSD has started to show signs of resource guarding his cot and beds from anyone outside of his family. He is perfectly fine with me and my husband touching him/being around him no matter where he is or what he is doing but he has started to guard them from strangers. A little info; he is my service dog in training and I have had him and have been working with him since he was 8 weeks old. He has completed both basic and advanced training. He has been socialized (no...

Hi Cindy. I purchased your video: Your puppy 8 weeks to 12 months. In module 4 segment 3 Ed talks about taking puppy to different locations and doing engagement exercises for one minute and then take it to another place and do some more engagement practices and so forth. My questions is: do I need to be concerned with my 5 month old Rottweiler puppy jumping in and out of the car due to its growth plates? Will this affect his bone development? Thank you for your reply. I so respect what ...

Hi Cindy, I have a 13 month female GSD. She has been in Shutzhund training for 9 month and she is doing exceptionally well. Her barking during protection is very aggressive and I am happy with that. However, away from the training field she barks at new people, not a I’m going to bite you bark but more like a hey I’m not sure about you bark. New dogs however she has a violent bark until quite some time has gone by and they get comfortable with each other. My question is how can I fix the...

Hi Cindy, I have an 8 month old working line GSD that I would like to do agility with. We are working on loose leash walking and engagement games. And she is smart as a whip! I would like to take her for longline sniffs walks but am afraid she will not want to focus on me if I allow her to just do her own thing on the longline. I have numerous dvd's from Leerburg so if the answer is in a dvd would you point me in the right direction? I should also add that I am 76 years old and have...

I have a 3-month-old, 30 pound Doberman with whom we have used a harness and 6 foot drag line except when he is in his crate sleeping for the night (he also has a pen for daytime use when we are not directly training or playing with him). Over the past 10 days, have noticed that he will pull hard against the 6-foot line when I'm with him outdoors (as well as jump on my legs and try to bite) but not when I'm using the 20 foot drag line. Wonder if the amount of pressure exerted by the line ma...

Hi Cindy, I have a 14-month-old intact male mix breed dog who recently developed a fear of overhead objects like signs, statues, and awnings. All day to day things he been exposed to before. He’s well exercised with 2–3 off-leash walks daily, plays tug, is e-collar trained, and walks politely on leash. This started after a desensitizing session outside the dog park. He’s very social and excitable (no aggression), and I was applying negative pressure with a slip lead when I saw si...

15 months, Aussie, intact male. Hard Natured, stoic but sensitive. training since 9 weeks. In our training my dog no longer is as interested or driven to work with anyone, he still has a desire and seeks things to do but has no interest in the training and his body language is flat. I get some motivation but he will disengage and seems to act begrudgingly. I included more game-based but still seems bored. Trained with +reinforcement and limited corrections, herding weekly, trick and ...

Hi Cindy, I work at an animal shelter and we have a very large Dane mix (160 pounds) with us at the moment. He's an unneutered male, just over 2 years old. He grew up without boundaries and pulled his previous owners off their feet several times, even broke their leg and shoulder. We trained him to walk nicely on the leash without distractions, but he is very reactive to other dogs (sex doesn't matter, so I assume it's not a testosterone issue). When he sees dogs he lunges like crazy, ...

Hi! We have a 7 month old male Corso pup that we got when he was about 15 weeks old from a good breeder. I don’t think a lot of training was done prior and we’ve been constantly working with the dog thru the crazy puppy phase. We can’t seem to break him of this jumping and nipping that he does to me, my husband, and teen son. It seems to come out of nowhere and once he starts it’s hard to redirect without blurring the lines of rewarding bad behavior or redirecting. He’s good driven ...

So I have a new 8 week old Siberian on the way, it it’s been almost 30 years since I’ve had one this young - even though I’ve had four previous huskys. I’m looking for advice on the first few nights, and with all the videos and trainers I feel like everyone’s training advice is all different. I have a crate, but it’s not in my bedroom (although my house isn’t huge - about 1600 sqft). I think I have enough of the right gear, and am always up for other suggestions. But I will ...

I just listened to Ed's video about your advice to the lady whose veterinarian recommended to neuter her GSD at 10 months as it stopped growing. I only agreed with Ed on one thing -- that this Vet was a moron. He said that vets should stick to what they know -- i.e., medical related areas -- this is no true -- many don't even know their medical stuff. I strongly disagree that you and him recommend to neuter a dog after it matured. The research on this matter is clear - there is no hea...