Todd H
I have a 5 month Dutch shepherd that is over stimulated when seeing any people, other dogs or about anything else. She does extremely well in a quiet environment, shows no aggression, just loses her mind around different people and places. Ignoring her works well until the person engages then she becomes immediately excited.
Jesse
I’m fostering a 4yr old mal that was rescue pulled after being euth tagged due to kennel stress. She’s super green, came to me only knowing sit/down & I would consider her overall a medium drive dog with high ball drive. My last mal was fine with cats but she wants to chase/ exhibits frustration (whining, barking etc) when she sees it. They’re separated & she’s leashed when the cat is out or she’ll charge the xpen barrier, but will recall with no or minimal leash pressure. I’d appreciate advise on impulse control training priorities as I’d hoped to keep her.
Neil
Hi Robert! When we give Archie, our 18 month old male Cockapoo, an edible chew treat, he stashes it in the house somewhere. He’s saved a beef tendon since we gave it to him on his birthday in July 2023, and he’s doing the same with a dried fish skin he got for Christmas recently. If, when cleaning, we disturb one of the hiding spot, he finds a new one and sometimes gets a bit distressed if he has trouble finding a spot he likes. We just watch him with fascination, but let him do his thing. Question: what do you make the dog’s behavior? Would you do anything about it? Thanks!
Kristin
I have a 5mo old female american bulldog. She is incredibly calm…too calm. She’s not interested in toys. My bf will grab her by the nose to try and play wrestle and she’ll just lick him. Our doberman looses her mind with same action. The zoomies start and she brings all her toys. Ducky has 0 toy drive. Doesn’t chew. She’s healthy. Only time she gets excited is if I pick her up and hold her. How do I give this dog some play drive? She only cares about me and nobody else. If I’m not home she velcros to my 5yo Doberman but only if Im gone. She is supposed to be my service dog eventually.
Robert S
I am currently training K9s for our veterans in South Florida and assigned to acclimate the K9s to the “WORLD”. I have noticed with many of the K9s I take out that they get very hesitant when I take them into the cold areas of the grocery sections. I have tried engagement, play but seems that they are very focused on the areas. Have you ever come across this in years? and if so any suggestions? To add I am a retired law enforcement K9 handler and really never had this with out working dogs.
Joe D
First thank you for your site and answering our questions. Without it I wouldn’t have been able to keep my pup. She is now 1 1/2 yr old GSD. Her obedience is at a pretty high level but we’re still working through some behavior issues. One new one is when in the car and we pull into a parking lot, once she sees another dog she gets reactive barking aggressively and does not listen to any commands. Do you have any ideas for us to work on to help with this? Once I get her out of the car she is OK. She rides in the back seat with a seat belt latched to her harness.
Beth W
We have a 6 month Czech Working Line German Shepherd. At 3.5 months she started resource guarding food & chews. We got a k9 behaviourist in and she used a pet corrector spray and got us to where we could drip feed into the bowl and “share” high value treats with her (hold while she’s eating and then release to her). About 3 weeks ago the resource guarding has returned. She will be on the floor next to the sofa and then suddenly start growling intermittently. I am nervous to correct the growling with everything I’ve read online but also want to resolve this while she’s relatively young still.
Jane J
We have a 10 week old working line GSD and three other pet line GSD’s. He seems super confident and full on and we find him almost on the agressive side when playing with our 8 month old. The new puppy growls and snarls at him when he gets over the top and we don’t know how to handle it? We are worried that as he grows fights will break out. The older two shepherds will have none of his nonsense and tell him off so he is very wary of them but torments our younger one. I want to do high level obedience with him but now worry that I have bitten off more than I can chew!
Gina
Hi Robert, when practicing recall using a long line I’ve been saying, “Donato, come!” and when he turns to run to me I say “yes” and then give him a treat once he gets to me, or I’ll say good boy or pet vs food, am I using “yes” at the correct time? Also, he’s intact so at times a smell is super distracting and he doesn’t listen to my come command, what’s the best way to correct him ignoring me? Say no, leash pop, and would you reward once he comes or no bc he didn’t listen initially? Some scents are more engaging so it’s hard to break his attention at a distance to come back to me on his own
Dallas
Hi Robert, can you give me some tips on how best to integrate a new puppy with an older dog. I have thought about adding a new pup in the next couple of years, giving my kids an opportunity to learn how to train one, but my concern is how to manage the relationship with our current dog. She is 7 years old, and gets all the love and affection. Just looking for some tips on how to go about integrating them together, or if that’s even good idea to begin with. Thanks!
Jacob
Hello Robert, I just became a member and I really want to thank you for enlightening me about my relationship with my dog. Before I found your course I never knew anything about structure but now I know it’s very important. Right now I’m working with the light switch game. It’s been a little over a week of at least 3 times a day. I can tell my dog is learning but every time I say look he keeps his eyes on me but when I add good look he doesn’t hold eye contact as long. Am I doing something wrong?BTW he is 8 years old and I never really trained him until now. Thank You
Clarissa
Hey Robert! I am getting my first dutch shepherd puppy soon. I have been watching your videos and member content for years, as well as several other trainers I admire. I am wondering for an owner trying to get into dog sports, how do you approach marrying all the information together? Peter and Connie Scherk are AMAZING and their philosophies make so much sense to me, but they are teaching with different little tricks than say Nino D. or even Steve S. And all those masters may teach differently than the club I have access to. So. How do make a clear, intelligent plan, with all of the info?
Emilie
Just over a 1 year old Shepherd, only had for 6 months. Zero training prior to me.
Dog lunges and barks at other dogs (not aggressive, just wanting to get over and investigate). Have a really hard time focussing to me while stationary. I remove us from situation and he focuses back on me great. I’m the fun space for everything else but having trouble curbing this bit. Other than continuing to build the relationship and making myself more fun than anything else, is there other things I should be doing? I know it isn’t fear/aggression due to other body language. Ideas?
Christina B
I have watched many focus vids but not helping. Isla is 1/2malinois/1/4 G Shep/1/4Dutch shep. She is 1.5 yrs. I train every day for over 1.5 hours. Our training is mixed with long walks/jogs to the beach, off leash exploring, chuck it chasing balls, play, leash obedience. & play in my backyard. I can get her to focus on me for about 1-2 minutes on our walks, then she goes back to HIGH alert looking at cars, people, squirrels, etc. She will loose leash walk for about a block then back to pulling in front of me. I am constantly correcting. Its no fun. Ive tried all of your suggestions. pls help
