Puppy Training Q&As

Hello Cindy. I really hope you can help us. Less than a week ago, we got a 9-week puppy cockapoo. He is wonderful in many ways, but he really bites when putting into a crate. He also very nippy and saying ouch does not work. Today during playtime outside, when the puppy was on dog run, he started to run around like crazy and growl. Could you please advise me on how to deal with this behavior. I worry for my children. Thank you

Dear Cindy - I purchased a puppy in hopes of getting a companion who would also be a deterrent to intruders. I spent a whole lot of money on him and was able to watch both parents do protection work. My breeder assured me that he would be an excellent candidate for protection work but not sport since he’s a little sharp. (Though I don’t really want to do protection work, I just want a companion/deterrent dog.) My concern is that he isn’t very good at being a deterrent. Lol. It seems lik...

Hello, I just got my puppy at 9.5 weeks, I put her in the expen so I could make dinner but she is crying so much and climbing the walls to try to get out. I don’t want to reward this behavior and want her to see the expen as a good thing. How do I stop this? I gave her toys and food in the pen and put her in when she was napping but she’s still fully freaked out. I had her in there earlier playing with toys and food to familiarize herself with it but I’m not sure how else to acclimate h...

Our German Shepherd pup is 14 weeks old, now, got her at 8 weeks. Bought the Leerburg Come When Called video, and your puppy video, 8 weeks to 1 year. Recently , off leash, mainly outside with distractions and around our horses, puppy is ignoring the come when called command. Suggestion? Too soon for off leash? Goal is a family pet, that comes when called.

Hi Cindy. All is going well with the Dutch Shepard pup thanks to your support. In an early segment of the video you recommended. An ex-pen is recommended. Unfortunately the pup has been able to climb out so it keeps trying. Would you recommend an even higher one (ours is about waist high) or another method for keeping the dog around activity but not always trying to escape. Many Thanks,

My puppy is 10 weeks old and is already engaging really well, even in new places and with small distractions. I plan to continue socializing him by going to new places and doing engagement, with progressively more difficult distractions. He's an Australian labradoodle and obviously doesn't focus as intently as the high drive malinois I've seen but I imagine it continually improves with practice. I'm wondering when I should start luring and shaping behaviors like sit, down, look, etc and in...

Hi Cindy, My 15 week old red and white setter appears to be regressing with potty training (pee only). We’ve had her since she was almost 9 weeks old and she had little to no accidents in the house until recently (she was even beginning to signal when she needed to go). But for the last week or so she is having more and more accidents. When in the house she is either tethered to me or gated off in our small kitchen (it acts as her X-pen). She has no problem sleeping 9 hours thru the nigh...

Hi Cindy, We have a 16 month old male GSD, (we picked him up at 12 weeks old), he’s great at home a great demeanor, playful. When we take him for walks, he barks at people. Strangely, in a couple of situations, when they came close with open palm and a non-threatening demeanor, his bark changed to a whimper, almost as afraid. We have been crate training Max and working on establishing the pack hierarchy. Please note, when we arrived at the breeder and initially met him, he did not ba...

Is socializing really that important? I have a very confident 14 week old working line German Shepherd I’m raising for Schutzhund and people in my club said they never have socialized their dogs and their dogs are great.

Hi Cindy, I pick up my new puppy next weekend I have a couple of questions. 1) Its about a 4 hour drive to get the dog. It will have its first immunizations; if I stop on the way home to give it a bathroom break am I putting it at risk of contracting a disease it I stop at a rest area (obviously other dogs would have done their business there too)? 2) The first couple of nights should I have him sleep in a carrier or box next to my bed or just let him tough it out in his crate in the livin...

How can I get my 11 week old pup to sleep longer. We take his water up an hour before bedtime and he still wakes up at 4AM?

I have a new 5 month old Belgian Malinois that I am training with the goal of her being a future search and rescue dog. Just like many Malinois, my pup is super cute and thus everyone wants to pet and give her treats (even with a vest that says working dog do not pet) but I personally don't want her to see every human as a treat and pet machine but of course, she has to be "socialized" as one day she will be tasked to associate finding people with her toys/rewards. In the future I want he...

4 month old Boston terrier has no bite inhibition. Prong collar for correction? If so, what type? He weighs 7#.

I have a now 4 month old (European) Doberman puppy. We have done a fair bit of crate training, and he sleeps in there at night, and readily jumps in with a treat. He doesn't "hate" the crate - but since day 1 when he came home at 10 weeks old, he HATES being locked up and not being right by you or what interests him. Barking and throwing a fit since the day he came home unless he's flat out exhausted, and sometimes even then. There is plenty of play, exercise, training, enrichment, etc. H...

Hello Cindy I have a 3 year older female Border Collie and am hoping to get a new puppy in the future. Do you have any advice on how to introduce them successfully? For example, should I keep them separated in the house for the first few days so that my adult dog realises that she is not missing out on anything and can gradually get used the idea of sharing the home? My adult dog ignores strange dogs outside, except when they come rushing up to her or me, in which case she charges at ...

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...

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 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?

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.

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...