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May 2, 2025
Your advice on neutering is WRONG!
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...
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May 1, 2025
I tried to use a whistle to call my dog and he's terrified of the sound! What should I do?
Hi Cindy,
I was very excited to start whistle recall training with my dog. I ordered an ACME dog whistle. I brought out high-value hot dogs and had the hot dogs in hand. Blew the whistle, and the dog tucked his tail under and ran away. I've never seen him so scared. Nothing would help bring him close to me, not even the hotdogs. It took a good 30 minutes before he would even be in the same room. I think I'll be returning the whistle as I feel it's damaging the trust I've worked so hard to ...
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May 1, 2025
My 5 month old shepherd still has completely floppy ears, they sometimes stand for a few seconds but then drop. Should I intervene or give him more time?
Hi Cindy,
I would not have dreamed of asking you this question but I read an article that Ed wrote about it, so thought it may be a valid question.
My 5mo shepherd still has both ears down completely. They stand up but flipped at top occasionally when alert for a few seconds but then drop. They didn’t stand up before teething either. How do I know when teething has finished? Is it when the baby teeth have all come out or when adult teeth have fully grown? Should I intervene at this age or...
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April 30, 2025
My male dog has started marking inside the house, how should I address this?
I’m facing a problem with my male indoor dog. I also have two outdoor dogs—one male and one female. The outdoor male is actually his son, and there has been competition between them, which is why I separated them.
Lately, my indoor dog has started marking inside the house, but only when I’m not home. When I return and try to correct him, he doesn’t seem to understand or respond to the correction. I suspect this might be related to the competition between him and his son, but I’m ...
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March 5, 2025
My 5 ½ month old German Shepherd grabs my other dog's leash constantly if I try to walk them together. She does well on walks by herself. How can I fix this?
When I walk my five and half month old female GSD along with my smaller dog, an eight year old Cavaton the GSD grabs his leash constantly. If two of us are walking and I walk her 10 yards away she pulls like crazy. Is this something that I can fix besides walking them separately? I have yet to give the GSD a leash correction and she has been doing well on solo walks even when passing other dogs.
Thank you
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March 3, 2025
My American Bulldog killed my kitten, I need help.
My dog killed my kitten today. She was lying at the top of the stairs, and the kitten jumped on her trying to play and in 4 seconds he was gone. She has lived with cats in the past and has never done this. I am so heartbroken. I need to get her fitted for a good muzzle.
She also tries to dominate me; she sits on me in bed and growls if I try to move. She is also aggressive to other dogs.
Please how do I handle this? It can not happen again. I kept them separate for weeks. and weeks aft...
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March 2, 2025
My recently adopted 8 year old pointer recalls well in the yard but when she wanders off she won't come back. Should we train her with an ecollar?
I have a pointer and when I walk her I can't let her off the leash in the woods. She becomes focused on smells in the bushes and not respond to commands. I know that her instinct is to hunt and she is so focused on the smells around her. We recently adopted her and she is 8 years old, so we don't know how much training she has had. She is very good with recall at home in the yard, except a couple of times when she wandered away and went to the woods which are across the street. She didn'...
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March 1, 2025
My 13 week old German Shepherd is suddenly reluctant to go on leashed walks, what should I do?
Hi Cindy;
My German Shepherd pup is 13 weeks old and I think we are entering a fear stage. He is suddenly reluctant to walk on the leash around the neighborhood, what is the best way to navigate this phase ...
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March 1, 2025
My young female German Shepherd guards toys from our older male dog. How do we resolve this possessive behavior?
Hello,
I have a 1.5 y.o. Working line Female Gsd and 5 y.o. Male Gsd. Both r neutered.
The female is guarded with possessions toward our male. When we are in the house relaxing and our male gets up to move towards a toy way across the room the female will rush and grab the toy. She’ll chew on it (Maybe, she just doesn’t want him to have it)then perhaps the male may a few minutes later go after another chew item. She’ll go after him again- and either take this new toy or guard it s...
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March 1, 2025
My hunting dog does an awesome retrieve during training but when out hunting she may stop and chew on the freshly shot bird. She knows how to retrieve, where have I gone wrong?
Hi Cindy,
Me again......I really appreciate being able to ask questions and getting good answers! Thank you! I have a 2y old upland hunting dog (by now you probably know I have Springers) who I have trained to retrieve using Michael Ellis's methods. She is awesome.....until a bird is shot. Seems a warm, just shot bird is different than the dead ones I thaw and use for different training activities. She marks and finds the just shot bird, goes out to get it, starts heading back with it ...
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February 28, 2025
My dog won't always come when called. I enjoy seeing him chase rabbits, should I stop him from doing this?
My dog knows to come when called but sometimes blows me off .I have now purchased remote collar training but no collar yet. My question is when we walk I enjoy seeing him chasing and hunting the rabbits will this have to stop?
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February 28, 2025
My puppy plays too rough with other puppies at puppy class and has been corrected by an adult dog who didn't like her pushy behavior. How can I help her learn to play appropriately?
Hi Cindy, first off, thank you for this wonderful service that you and Ed provide! My question is : I have a 16 week old australian sheperd/poodle mix. She plays too hard and approaches other puppies/adult dogs friendly but then wants to pounce on them and play very roughly. Some pups view her play tactics as aggressive and want nothing to do with her. We are enrolled in a 6 week puppy class that allows playtime and the trainer is working very diligently with my puppy. My puppy is on a ...
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February 28, 2025
My 5 year old dog obsessively chases reflections and lights. His breeder used laser lights to exercise and tire out the puppies. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Cindy, Hope your well.
I have a 5 year old intact male sporting dog (Pointer). We got him when he was around 12 weeks old. Since day one he light chased. The breeder use a laser light for the puppies to chase to tire them out. Anytime there is a light reflection he will sit and stare at it, wagging his tail and whining. If the light reflection moves, he chases it and repeats the behavior.
We have tried increasing his mental and physical exercise, but this actually makes him really sna...
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February 27, 2025
My service dog in training reacts poorly to some dogs in public, almost like he has PTSD, is there a course I can take to correct this behavior?
Hi. I'm training my dog as a service dog. He is just over 3 years old. He is a mutt mix of Blue Tick Coonhound, Siberian Husky, American Pit Bull, Labrador, and many other breeds. He performs his tasks well and learns more as my disability changes. We have been training for 14 months. In public, he reacts poorly to some dogs. A male black German shepherd bit him about two years ago. I've been working with a friend who has a male black lab. His reactions are getting better until I go to Fleet ...
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February 27, 2025
Our 9 month old dog destroys my things if we don't crate her at night, is this puppy behavior or something we can work on?
Hi. We used to foster through our local shelter, and foster failed with the last puppy. Lucy, the new addition , is around 9 months old and spayed. She was brought into the shelter with her litter mates at 14wks, and all were very timid. We worked a lot on obedience and commands, building trust, not rushing her - luckily she's very treat motivated. Lucy gets plenty of exercise everyday - we own a gym, and I work from home, so it's usually play with toys, the other pups, or a long trail walk w...
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February 26, 2025
My 13 week old German Shepherd has started barking at other dogs when we're outside. Should I use a prong collar?
Hi Cindy,
I have a 13 week old GSD and she’s been great, but the other day our neighbor’s dog started barking at her and she freaked out because she couldn’t see it (we were walking back into our garage). Then another day the dog came out of the garage and barked at her and my dog barked back (hair standing up, full on bark). Then she barked at another dog on our walk when they weren’t doing anything.
I told her leave it and tried to re engage her, but it was hard to get her t...
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February 11, 2025
My 7 month old German Shepherd bit me when I bonked him on the head with a rolled up towel for lunging at another dog in a group class. Do you have any guidance for us?
Hi Cindy,
I have a 7 month working line German Shepherd. I have been training him since I got him at 8 weeks old. He is wonderful at home and very obedient. However, as he got older his aggression towards other dogs increased. I have been working with a trainer who is very experienced and we have tried everything; a prong collar he gets more stimulated, a gentle leader did nothing, I tried rolling up a face towel and when he would start to stare at another dog, just before lunging I would ...
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January 31, 2025
My dog is well trained and perfectly relaxed in public but if anyone tries to pet him he reacts with aggression. He won't do this with people he knows. Is there a solution or is it better to respect his nature and not let strangers approach.?
Hello Cindy.
This is about a 3-year-old, male border collie dog, it's not a fearful dog, He is confident and he has advanced obedience training, and also agility training. He can walk among people in malls, markets, and massive events keeping quiet and relaxed but if a stranger whether a woman, man, adult, or kid, approaches and tries to pet him, he reacts with aggression, even if people only praise him from a distance. He won't do it with people he knows.
I would like the dog to stop rea...
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January 30, 2025
Will letting my puppy play with other dogs make recalls and engagement more difficult?
Hi Cindy, I am letting my 6-month-old puppy play with another dog that I trust in the morning to burn off some energy before work. How will this affect our engagement? Is it setting the foundation that other dogs are more fun and will make recall and engagement in the presence of distractions later on more difficult? I want to make sure as he gets older we continue to progress to a solid recall and solid sit in the face of all distractions.
Rescued this puppy about a month ago...
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January 29, 2025
My large dog has high prey drive and is selectively reactive to certain dogs and people. I have been using purely positive training with him. He pulled me down and dragged me going after a dog, is the prong collar appropriate for this dog.
I have a 4-year-old male large 80-pound dog that I tried to use Pure positive (I know better now) trainers and behavior vet. He has a very high Prey drive and is selectively reactive to certain dogs and people. He was pushed by a intact Samoyed at age 1 yr (he was intact at the time) dog got into his space he attempted to warn the dog to back off and a fight ensued. He has since been highly reactive with select Dogs and some people. He also has an insane high prey drive and has taken both mys...
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