Recommended Q&As

I have a 5 yr old female German Shepherd that is still intact and has never been pregnant. Is there a danger to her health in not getting her fixed and is she too old to have a litter? Thank you

Hi, again. I'm hoping you can direct me to one of your courses to help me out. I have watched your basic and intermediate obedience videos and Relationship Games 1 plus parts of some others. My 15-month-old Parson Russell terrier is doing very well with all the food exercises. He is very good at "leave it / yuck" until he gets hold of a ball or frisbee or tug. I would love to eventually have him reliably retrieving, but while he will sprint after anything I throw, his next instinct is to dest...

Hi! Thank you for great contents on YouTube! My 6months old mini Australian shepherd loves to chew on sticks and branches when tired after play session and that cause vomiting wood chips afterwards. Any suggestions to stop that behavior or is it ok for him to chew on sticks? Thank you!

Hello! I wanted to say first thank you for answering a previous question I had sent to you. We just picked up a 17 week old puppy today. Our puppy ended up lunging at our toddler three times and one was at the face. We’ve never encountered this before and don’t know what to do. We have a crate for their space and keeping him on a leash (which I’ve seen done on leerburg videos). Is there anything specific or tips you’ve found helpful that we can start right away? Plan is for our pup t...

Hi. My 5 month old boston terrier bit my mother monday because she wouldn't let her keep jumping on the couch. last night i was petting the dog on the floor and she was sniffing in my pockets for treats. i didn't have any and she got frustrated and nipped me. i am shocked and horrified! Do you think this is a result of poor training (I have been training her since she was 8 weeks old) or a personality issue? If it's training, would I be able to rectifiy it? I am really the only person that tr...

Good morning, I've just recently adopted a 8 month old female husky. Her precious owners were Hobbie breeders, and she was kept in her kennel constantly. I have no other behavior issues with her beside when she is kenneled and I'm not home she becomes frantic and will try to destroy the kennel. What is the best way to recreate train a puppy that panics in their kennel? If I am in her eye sight she will lay in her kennel with the door open or closed with no issues. She will engage in relax...

Hi Cindy - I am a new student of Michael's videos for my puppy I pick up on Monday. He is a 10 week old German Shepherd. Should I buy him a Kuranda bed he will grow into or start small?

I’ve been working on the forced retrieve with my terrier for the past 2 months. I started from the very basic. From take, to hold and now bring. I also used a starter kit similar to the one sold at Leerburg. Which includes a pvc section as well as a dowel. He’ll pick up and bring the pvc and dowel. He just will not pick up the dumbbell. What did I do wrong? Also, what can I do to resolve issue? Thank you in advance for your response.

My 15 wk GSD is confused and I know I caused it. She takes the down as I am trying to use spatial pressure to push her into ‘back up’. I don’t name it til I love it, so I have successfully Named/marked ‘Down’ with her . It’s just the movement toward her that I think confuses her. What or where should I ‘Go back’ and focus on to truly distinguish this for Her.

Dear Cindy, we have 2 dogs (a 5-year old Beagle/GSD mix and a 4-year old Australian SD/Lab/Black retriever mix, both males) which have been exhibiting increasing aggressive behavior issues over the last 3 months. I am not sure how to identify what type of aggression it is (fear, frustration, or simple prey drive) and therefore what type of training/counter conditioning would be the most suitable one. Indeed, I suspected fear aggression. However, I learnt in one of Michael Ellis' videos that ...

Hi! I love your website and refer to it often. I have a 15 month fully intact male GSD. He is our first GSD so we are learning

Hi Cindy, I‘m about to get a male puppy in 2 weeks and the breeder told me now that the pup has a small umbilical hernia which is not congenital. Would you still consider getting the puppy or not?

I got a friend of mine the 6 inch training tab for her new Standard Poodle puppy. She’s never used one before. How would you describe how to use the tab and why/what it’s used for?

Hi, we have an 13 year old terrier who is diabetic and blind. Recently we visited a family member with her. Also living there is a sister who has 2 large rescue dogs, both with bite histories. Their owner trains them daily. They are mostly leashed when outside, except when she is out with them. When we arrived for the visit, both of these dogs were off leash but I didn't see their owner (she was around the corner at her car). The female dog was wearing a cloth muzzle. I walked to the hous...

Hi, I've been watching your videos and they really helped me to realize what is normal with puppies. We have a 6 month old female Rottweiler we also have 5 children ages 15 to 6. We did puppy kindergarten at 8 weeks and then at 16 weeks we did a 4 week training class where we dropped her off 4 days a week and brought her home every night at 4pm. We still go back for training 2 times a week together for a half hour. My problem is when her leash and prong are off she forgets all her training...

I am watching your tug videos. Michael Ellis says that letting your dog carry and keep the toy will build possessiveness. Mark Keating seems to say the opposite. I have a 3.5 year old shepherd mix we adopted. He seems mostly motivated to take whatever toy we tug with to keep and chew. If I give him wins, he keeps walking away and when I bring him back, he gradually loses interest. The other day I thought I would try just tugging and outing, never giving the tug to him completely. Now h...

I have a 5-month old malinois mix as a house pet. I want a calm submissive dog in the house. I use your streaming service to build trust and engagement. She loves games, waits patiently at all doors, makes eye contact, and is crate trained, and has learned the “place” command. I also let her jump on the furniture at her own discretion. I watched your video on Pack Structure and I’ve decided I only want her on the couch if I allow it. She jumped on the couch (and on me) and I told her ...

My dog tugs/shakes aggressively and wants to run off with the tug and "kill" it. How do I get my dog to calm down a little around the tug and play nicely?

I recently adopeted/rescued husky mix female dog from its owner in February of this year. She was I year old at the time. She is now 16 months and the one thing I havent been able to retrain this lady out of is her agressive attitude in open spaces with my 4 year old siberian husky. Everyone keeps telling me she is a puppy and thats how dogs figure out who is top dog, yet watching her pounce and attack from behind, chace and nip his hind quarters AND watching my 4 year olds reaction to th...

I have a 10 month old golden who has not been properly socialized. He is very reactive to people and other dogs. He lunges at them and jumps all over them wanting attention. He never calms down. High energy level no matter how much exercise he's had. He is not at all aggressive. I don't know how to teach him to be calm and not jump and lunge at people / other dogs. He knows basic commands, although he considers commands to be temporary and thinks its ok, for instance, to only sit or stay for ...