Hello all,

I am new to this forum and have enjoyed learning about dog training the last couple of days.

my situation... i bought a wonderful GSD mix puppy (14 wks) back in June and the training and bonding had been going smoothly. However, after having her for only 3 months, I had a short notice deployment overseas and left in early sept. I am still deployed and get back in late-Jan. The good news is that she is still living in my house, and still a confidant, curious dog. The bad news is that my friend taking care of her tells me that she is jumping on people, chewing shoes and pulling on the leash (things that i thoguht i taught her before i left). my soluion was to buy the puppy / dog training dvd's from mr. ed fawley. i will make sure to incorporate his training methods on luna when i get back.

my question is as follows: what is the psychological impact of luna having me as her alpha / caregiver, then disappear for 4 months? she undoubtably has gotten attached to my friend taking care of her. but what is the best approach with her since i have been gone so long, plus the fact that i only had her for 3 months prior to deployment? how should i treat her in regards to my friend, cause once i return she will all of a sudden disappear on her as well. What is the loyal / attachment / pychological impact on her with all this moving around and trips? There is a network of people at the office who take care of eachothers dogs (includng me)... however 4 months is a long time to be away. Thanks for the advice.

In addition, after doing my research i went ahead and stuck with this site. what is the assessment of dogproblems.com and sites like sitstayfetch? i didnt like the marketing techniques, hence i stayed away from it based on that. in addition, the owner of dogproblems.com has called me. ed fawley a "cronie," yet didnt criticize his dog training methods (just his business competition pracices). i dont want to get involved in all that but i do wonder if investing $30 at dog problems is a good thing as well to help out my friend with discipline ideas between now and the end of jan. Thank you.

unfortunately i'm not experienced enough to answer your question, cross your fingers and hope that ed notices this thread and gets a chance to answer it.

i'm curious as to what about ed's business practices the owner of that website has a problem with? is it the fact that ed's giving away information, while i can't see any information that one could judge the merits of given up without requiring a registration.

for someone who is somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to web resources, clicking on a link (especially one that doesn't say "registration required" anywhere) and being told "whoops you can't see that without doing this" is really quite annoying.

i for one am somewhat guilted by the fact that i haven't given ed a red cent yet, and yet every time i've had a question his site (or the people on this forum) has offered up an answer for free, and it's usually right on the money. you can imagine i'm chomping at the bit to get some of his dvds.

perhaps that website owner has had the displeasure of having ed disagree with him at one point? if you genuinely want ed's advice personally, have a thick skin. ed is blunt, brush, and all manner of other adjectives, but in my experience he's usually also been right. he doesn't see the need to sugar coat stuff.

anyway, sorry i couldn't actually help you, but if it were me i wouldn't spend $30 on that website, and i'd download ed's catalog after reading a few of his articles - hint: you'll be there a while.

Thank you for responding ma'am. Should I have titled this post "Read me please Mr. Ed"?

All kidding asside I have read Ed's responses and fankly I like it. Cut to the chase and be sincere. Thats what I do in my job. The colonel has no time for me to beat around the bush.

I just hope Luna, my GSD, doesnt suffer for having me disappear for 4 months, especially as a puppy / adolescent. I know that Ed has good insight and I want the best for her (she is my family right now, what can I say?). I hope he does throw in his 2 cents. So sir, if you are there, thank you for a great website and I already purchased your video (see it when i get back to the states) not only for myself but for a friend in Miami as a Christmas gift (she got a Rott around the same time I got Luna.. and she has A LOT more problems than I do with Luna). Ciao.

0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Don't Believe The Haters..., November 20, 2004
Ed Frawley and his cronies are addicted to drama and will say and do anything to lambast the competition... me. Don't believe their lies, half-truths and distortions. Visit our website and draw your own conclusions. Dogproblems.com provides a wealth of information for the average dog owner. If you're looking for fair and balanced dog training techniques on what it takes to get your dog to listen to you, anywhere you go, then Dogproblems.com is the place for you. In contrast, our competition is purely motivated by selling over-priced German Shepherd puppies to uneducated buyers and creating instructional videos that drone on for hours and hours.

source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2G8RO7VIMECYM/ref=cm_pdp_profile_reviews/103-1906804-8213443

Richard, the only issue here is that your friend obviously has no clue how to train and properly live with a dog. If you'll be back in January, then you can fix everything when you get back. I wouldn't let anyone train my own dog, especially an inexperienced person. You might have to go through the bonding process again but if you proceed as normal, training her, exercising her, playing with her, and going about your business as a good leader, handler, and owner, she should improve greatly. I think you'll do well by purchasing the videos and doing all the training yourself. Hit the classes when it comes time to proof your dog under those levels of distraction. Don't forget socialization- you may have to make up for a lot depending on how your friend cared for this pup.

In any case, jumping on people, chewing shoes, and pulling on the leash are all easy things to fix with good training and solid leadership. Just tell your friend to sit tight until you come back and make sure he keeps her well under control. The last thing you need is a rookie teaching your pup with all the wrong methods.

For the record, I am sticking with Ed Frawley because I could not find anyone to discredit his dog training techniques, although I did see several personal attacks, including him getting kicked off the Texas K-9 police dog association or something. I care about Luna and I am grateful to Ed for putting out a source that works. If doproblems.com offered something better I would switch. However, my research / gut feeling (always trust your gut) tells me that this is the best resource for me.

With that being said, I still want the question concerning my dog answered, if anyone has one. Thank you.

 Quote: jamie fraser

.... is it the fact that ed's giving away information, while i can't see any information that one could judge the merits of given up without requiring a registration. .... perhaps that website owner has had the displeasure of having ed disagree with him at one point? ... i wouldn't spend $30 on that website, and i'd download ed's catalog after reading a few of his articles - hint: you'll be there a while.

Neither would I. I couldn't agree more.

One of those sites is really the guy who writes "the most jealously guarded dog training secrets in history."
http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/88349/page/0/fpart/2

And the other writes eBooks ..... unreviewable until you pay for it.

I'd so much rather read the free articles online here, download and listen to the free podcasts, and then order the videos. You will know the quality and tone of the product when you listen to the podcasts and read the free articles.

Seems pretty foolproof to me.

I checked out that posted site. I like how he gives such a low rating for clicker training. He must hug his Koehler books every night before going to bed. Obviously this dogproblems.com guy is directly in competition with Ed with the way the site is laid out, although his site is very expensive to use; Ed's is gratis.

You know, I can't really get much info from the site other than the guy clearly loves money- everything is on a pay-basis. I don't like how he touts behavior changes overnight. Yes, implementing leadership where there was none does make for a big change, but it's not overnight. I watched some of the sample video clips and I wasn't impressed. Looks like avoidance training. The golden in the boundary video looked nervous and unhappy and the bulldog-type didn't look so thrilled either. The beagle looked like a statue. It's hard to tell with just a website alone, but I don't think I'll be bookmarking dogproblems.com.

What Connie said!

thank you connie and diana. i still hope ed gets a chance to catch my original posting.

i have been reading the articles. however, i can not see any of the podcasts because the internet connection here is very poor. the bandwidth usually clears around 3 am where you can actually download something.

i started my research no-kidding 2 days ago after the "your dog has issues" phone call. i just want to test the competition out there. Plus with everything I have learned from Ed these past two days, I have done many mistakes and need to correct myself when I get back (can't wait to be home). But still open to other theories... jus wondering if you all had any insight to sitstayfetch and dogproblem.com. Thanks all.