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Obedience Q&As

March 2, 2024

Recommended Will I always need to use food rewards with my 7 year old dog?

Hi again! I have a dog that is 7 years old. I trained him at Petco and he passed the Advanced Canine Good Citizen test 5 years ago. I was never taught how to fade food rewards. He now only really listens to me when I have food rewards and checks out after I reward him. In the Basic Obedience Course, Frawley stated that if I hadn’t moved to a variable and random reward schedule after 2 years of a fixed reward schedule, that I would not be able to fade the rewards. Will I need to use food r...
100% (3 out of 3)
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March 1, 2024

Recommended What is the difference between the "stay" and "good" command?

What is the difference between "stay" and "good" command? I know we use "good" to give duration as per the article on Marker training.
100% (4 out of 4)
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February 2, 2024

Recommended My dog insists on walking in front of me at the end of the leash unless I give her a treat. What do you suggest?

My dog insists on walking in front. Not necessarily pulling but taking every bit of leash to where it’s not really loose leash walking. We use a martingale or slip chain collar for walking. I stop and change directions when she moves ahead. Most of the time she notices that I have stopped before the leash gets tight and she stops and turns with me then She will follow until a treat is given then usually moves ahead again. She does pretty well if we are working in an area like around cones. ...
83% (5 out of 6)
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February 1, 2024

Recommended I have 2 dogs and would like to add a third dog to our family. What age and sex would be most compatible with my existing dogs?

Hi Cindy, I have an 11 yr old male Doberman and a 1 yr old female Malinois/GSD cross (neutered and spayed). Both have received their CGC certificates and get along well together. I would like to add a 3rd dog to the family. I was wondering if the sex of the 3rd dog was significant (which would be better) or whether the potential compatibility was more a related to the personality/temperament of the specific dog? Second question: Are there any recommended ages I should be looking for...
100% (2 out of 2)
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January 1, 2024

Recommended Family members misused the remote collar on my dog when I was on vacation ! Is my training ruined?

I’ve followed your recall and remote collar program and my dog is near perfect on recall mostly. He was very well behaved off leash on our property. We are very protective of the collar training only me and my wife but we left the dog with family for vacation who used old school shock punishment style and made my cattle dog collar-wise. Haven’t been able to break it. He now won’t come without the remote collar on and will hide from putting it on. The no longer coming without ...
93% (13 out of 14)
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October 21, 2023

Recommended How do I teach my rescue dog to come to me when I don't have food or toys?

Overriding instinct: making coming to me better/stronger than chasing a squirrel. When I train recall, my pup will come when she knows I have food/ toys. How do I transition to train without food and toys?
100% (9 out of 9)
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October 20, 2023

Recommended My dog regurgitates treats during training and immediately eats it again. Does that count as a reward or should I give him another treat?

Hi Cindy, I have a German Shepherd who is 1 year and 3 months old and is very well trained. My question is a bit of a silly one but it's happened quite a few times now so I'm just curious. Lol. When training at times my dog will regurgitate a treat after he performs a command and he'll immediately go and eat it afterward. (Mind you his treats are small bite-size pieces no bigger than half a pinky.) Does that count as me giving him a reward or should I still reward him after? Thank you and...
100% (6 out of 6)
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August 14, 2023

Recommended My terrier is possessive and will destroy toys. He will not release his ball for food, I have to trick him into releasing by showing him an identical toy. Is there a video that addresses this?

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...
100% (6 out of 6)
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August 7, 2023

Recommended My German Shepherd gets whiny when he sees people or goes to a new place with us. Can you help?

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
100% (6 out of 6)
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August 1, 2023

Recommended I have a 6 year old rescue Pit bull that I have had for 2 years. When I play tug with her, she shakes it aggressively and wants to run off with it. How do I teach her to play nicely?

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?
100% (1 out of 1)
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July 9, 2023

Recommended I'm working on leash pressure for future heeling work with my dog but when I pull straight back he sits or drops into a down instead of backing up. What can I do to help him learn what I'm asking?

Hello, I’m working my way through Michael Ellis’ focused heeling video and I’ve gotten to the part where I work on leash pressure with my mal. He’s awesome with the forward leash pressure and immediately gives. When I pull straight back to attempt to get him to give backwards he constantly drops into a sit. If I keep applying pressure backwards he drops into a down. What can I do to help him learn what I’m asking? Should I just keep applying steady pressure backwards? I’m using a...
100% (3 out of 3)
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July 6, 2023

Recommended I use food for training my 8 month old Plott hound and she does quite well but friends have told me that my dog should work for me without treats. When do I stop rewarding? Also, how do you suggest getting her out of her crate when she's sleeping? Treats don't work for this.

I have a 8 month old Plotthound which is trained quite well for a hound breed I think, meaning she can focus well on me when I demand it. I do however rely heavily on treats during dog training - my dog gets all her meals during training. Some "friends" have told me, my dog should work for me even without treats (to which I usually answer, that they should work for their employer without pay), and while I do sometimes demand small "rows" of commands before giving the reward, I still pretty mu...
100% (4 out of 4)
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June 18, 2023

My 18 month old German Shepherd struggles to focus when away from home, every noise or movement distracts her and she is overwhelmed by the environment.

We have a 18 month old gsd that we have had since a pup. She has had training in puppy preschool and basic obedience since she was 5 month old. Our trainer follows the styles of Michael Ellis, Robert cabrel and Nino. Lots of movement and play, treats and timed corrections. My gsd struggles to focus when out of the house, at formal training she will not eat or play. Every noise or movement distracts her from focusing on me. At home I can get her to follow instruction, and she looks...
100% (4 out of 4)
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June 8, 2023

We are working on teaching the dumbbell hold. I got a hard plastic dumbbell but it seems slippery and hard for her to hold. Should I teach her with the wooden style instead? 

We are working on hold. I like the size of the dumbbell I got from you & it is the hard plastic one. Is the wooden one better for teaching this? And the plastic is better for when she has it down solid. and it’s not possibly clanking against her teeth? It seems harder to grip. Gets slippery. Not that’s it’s an excuse for mouthing it! I just wanna be fair to her and she’s learning. She can when she wants to though.
100% (4 out of 4)
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June 8, 2023

Recommended How do I get my dogs to respond to their names and follow commands when they are together? They seem confused.

If I have two dogs and separately they know their names and respond to commands, how do I get them to respond to commands when together depending on whose name I called out? For example, if they're in a sit and I say "Lexi, come" I only want Lexi to come and Roxy to stay seated. They're getting confused when I attempt this. I want to keep the motivation high and not use "no" every time the wrong dog responds.
100% (6 out of 6)
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June 5, 2023

My shelter dog doesn't seem to know how to play with toys, what do you think I should do?

Hi! We adopted a shelter dog around a year ago estimated to be around 4 years old, a female Shepherd mix. She doesn't seem to know how to play with toys, even though she will show some interest in small stuffed toys I toss, she quickly loses any motivation she has. If try to trade or toss her another toy to get her to play with me, she would drop the toy very easily and refuse to get it again. She likes and chooses to play With me, punching and running, play bowing. I just can't get her to ho...
100% (3 out of 3)
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April 13, 2023

My Friends Think I'm Overreacting By Not Allowing My Dog To Be Around Their Kids

Hello Cindy, I have been following your training advice with my 18-month-old English Lab, gently starting when he was 8 weeks old. He is doing pretty well and we continue to work on commands and manners daily. I don't like for visiting, screaming, small children to have access to my dog, and definitely don't leave him unattended should family members bring kids. In fact, I remove him from the chaos when the kids enter the house. Friends with bratty kids believe there is nothing wrong with ...
100% (8 out of 8)
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March 17, 2023

I can't keep my GSD's attention on the club field only. Any suggestions?

Hello Cindy, I really need your help! I own a 2-year-old GSD with a great pedigree and I'm not able to get his attention on the club field only. He works for me perfectly anywhere in public. I also purchased Forrest Micke's Engagement Skills foundation which he mastered just fine and I still continue on a daily routine. What worked in the past was only a deflated big ball, but a workshop trainer from Finland by name of Marko told me to put it away and get back to engagement, which I di...
100% (1 out of 1)
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March 3, 2023

Is using the 'No' reward marker considered an aversive?

Hi Cindy, I saw an article recently on the subject of marker training, specifically the use of a no reward marker or negative marker. The article argues that the use of NRM’s while it may not seem like it, is actually “aversive” to the dog and that it does not help to tell the dog that they did not succeed or that they did something wrong. They said that dogs learn faster if just encouraged through what they do correctly. This is the first I had ever heard of this idea and I know you...
100% (8 out of 8)
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November 8, 2022

At what age is it appropriate to start leash pressure training? 

At what age/stage is it appropriate to start leash pressure training?
100% (4 out of 4)
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