Recommended Q&As

My dog got spayed about 3 days ago. While she was being spayed, the vet said that she was in heat and had to get her hernia repaired. She also got her rabies vaccination. Is it normal for her stomach and chest to be swollen up?

Cindy, I have a client who just purchased a super nice male pup from us. They have 25-30 chickens and want to introduce him to the chickens... What would you suggest as the best way to do this? Thanks in advance.

I am referring to Ed's article, What Would I do if Attacked by a Dog? After you pepper-spray a threatening, loose dog from charging at you and your dog, what if its owner denies his dog was unleashed and accuses you of animal cruelty?

Cindy, We have a Standard Poodle who is in the early stages of her first pregnancy. She has been on a raw food diet since she was 6 months old with no problems. We started her on the raw diet because she was having skin issues and goopy, runny eyes and the diet just makes sense. Her skin and eye issues have disappeared and she seems to be very healthy and happy. We live in a very small town so my Vet options are limited. I was told a Vet in town was familiar with the raw diet, but what...

Cindy, Can you tell me how you set up your training sessions? For example, do you work on only one exercise at a time? Do you go over learned behaviors and then teach new behaviors? As a trainer, I do the familiar exercises, then the new stuff, then go back to an exercise the dog does really well, so we can end on a positive note. How do you set up your sessions? How long do they run? How many minutes do your sessions run? How frequently? 7 days a week? 5? 3? Thank you for your input.

Cindy, We have a litter of 14 black and tan bloodhounds that were supplemented with Ed's amazing formula. They look fantastic at 3 weeks old. All sizes of pups are consistent, coats shiny like minks, and puppies are very healthy and content. We ordered Ed's DVD Whelping Puppies and educated ourselves on his excellent level of expert knowledge on newborns. We did not lose one pup. We are extremely grateful for Ed taking his time to put a DVD together with so much amazing information. ...

Hi Cindy, We have a 4-month-old Caucasian Shepherd puppy and he displays uncontrollable dog aggression to unfamiliar dogs. I have read that this breed of dog is very independent and does not have the best recall. Having owned a protection-trained Malinois and a German Shepherd, I am amazed at how intense this puppy can be. He lives with an 8-year-old male German Shepard and a 10-year-old female Border Collie. They all get along although his "puppy play" can be rough. We socialize him at...

Hi Cindy, I have a high energy 6 year old female GS. She?s gone through basic obedience but seems to have a growing issue with barking. My house backs up to a park and she often hears other dogs etc, which spurs the barking. I have heard the best way to control barking is to teach the dog ?when to bark? thus I would assume this works in reverse? If this is the case, can you give me some direction on how to control her barking when told?

I just got a male 10 week old GSD puppy 3 days ago. He has coccidia and I have started him on the medication the vet recommended. His appetite is decent not voracious. He is lively and healthy. However, I wonder if I should hold off beginning high value rewards for marker training until he finishes the medication? At the moment Zuke's small cookies do not interest him enough.

First, let me say all of your videos/articles on engagement have made my life much easier, but I've run into something where I'm stumped, as is everyone at the dog school where I take agility. My 2-year-old Pit runs great for me at home and everywhere, except our dog school, where she will run for everyone but me. When I walk in the main agility ring with her, she stops and looks like I'm about to beat her. I can do my engagement exercises with her and get her engaged and playing with me,...

My compliments to you both for such an informative website! I have a 6-month-old high prey drive GS female. I've been doing the marker training since she was 9 weeks old with excellent results. I've purchased several videos including the "Tug" and "Retrieve." I've used the food throwing and rewarding inside and outside with great results. She will bring the tug back promptly inside without a leash, outside on a long leash, but when off leash outside she will stop about 3 to 5 feet and ...

We have a no vac, raw fed male who is 4 years old. His Dad was no vac but his Mom was given vaccine. He is strictly a pet. We have one of your E-collars. Recently he decided he would NOT go for a walk with me. Only if my wife goes will he go out the door for a walk. If I try to take him, he flops down and no amount of stern commands, yanks on the prong or delicious treats will get him up off the floor and out the door. Would you recommend using the E-collar to break this habit? Put...

Hi Cindy, Your training DVD products look terrific. Let me give you our background (wife and I). We have had dogs in the past but never trained them to do any more than sit or fetch. Our shepherd mix is 13 and not doing well. We will probably put her down soon. I just got an 8-week-old Belgian Malinois girl. Her father was a police dog and mother a personal protection dog. I am in the military (guard) and my wife will be a stay at home wife after this school year ends. My desire is to ...

Hi, I have watched both The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog and Advanced Concepts in Motivation. I am a couple of weeks into implementing the techniques with my own dog and I have a question about growling--is it good or bad that she growls when we tug? If it's a bad thing, how do I address the issue? When I release the tug and run away from her she comes charging back to at me--she will even jump towards me with the toy in her mouth. She growls while we are tugging, while she is jumpi...

Hi, I'm trying to find a answer to my GD that has decreased his like in eating raw. He is going to be 3 years old in June. I got him when he was 4 months old as a rescue. He had demodex mange and was yellow from all the mess they had him on trying to treat the mange and his GI problems. I put him on raw and has been doing great ever since. He was never a big chicken eater. I went through the necks, back, thighs, leg quarters stage. That is he would eat it for a while, then not like it a...

I have a mellow, neutered male 12 year old mix breed med sized house dog and recently acquired a JRT puppy. Is it alright to let the old dog correct the pup with growls and barks when she pesters him or jumps up on him? He wants nothing to do with the puppy and usually walks away from her. He is tolerant of sharing his bed if she lies quietly beside him. The pup is doesn't always get the message, however, and continues to bug him until he gets up and goes to another spot.

We have a rescued SCWT who, after a year of walking with the same group, is still agressive toward the others. I'm wondering if I try her with a muzzle, will that help her interact and realize that they will not harm her? Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed.

Hi Cindy, I love your training principles, eBooks, podcasts and videos. I have encountered a couple of contradictions in the material. Mostly with meeting people and playing with toys. Are the rules less strict for non-working, non-agressive dogs? I'm trying to develop a training plan for a medium family dog (30-40 lbs) and I just want to make sure I'm doing a good job without overdoing it. Thanks Cindy, Matt

Good Morning, We are raw feeding our 5 month GSD. He absolutely hates sardines. We have tried food processing, blending, whole frozen raw, chopped raw, and mixing them with all sorts of foods. No results. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks. Ron

Cindy, I am currently feeding Honest Kitchen?to my adult dogs and recently contacted the company to ask what age I could begin feeding our puppies. I believe the gal I talked to was Kat and she suggested that I ask another breeder that was using the products with their puppies.?Can you give me any suggestions in regards to when to introduce the Honest Kitchen and any other information you think may be helpful. I just ran accross your website for the first time and will definitely mark it ...