Sam
Hello Sir, I’m going to pick my puppy up this week (Belgian Malinois). The thing is I haven’t had a “puppy” in 12 years. I have an impact crate for the pup when I’m gone, usually no more than 4-5 hours a day. I have a trainer in place to start the week I get back. How do I start potty training and crate training? Just the first steps. I’m well aware of the kinda dog’s belgians are, I’ve had a belgian/dutch mix and that was a rescue. Just a little guidance for this would be very much appreciated.
Didi Y
Hi Robert and Janet, I need leash walking training with a 6 month old female GSD. Lyla is more reactive to dogs while leash walking. We have been using a gentle leash, but as she is growing big, I feel we need to go back to basic leash/obedience training to make sure she is walking safe. Where shall we start? Thank you!
Didi Y (Missed question from 1/21 video)
Hi, 6 month female GSD, every morning after i feed Lyla, we do some fetch in the backyard. In the middle of the game, I give “sit” command. It seems Lyla needs time to react – She would stop her “fetching” mode, walk around (since she was panting heavily)? and then I give “come” & “sit” again, she would come to my side and sit. We continue our game after I praised her. Is this good obedience? Is she supposed to “sit” right after I give the command? Do I need to use e collar to reinforce? Thank you
Patricia s
Watched your video on youtube can’t find it again do you have it on here or can you tell me how to get it on either tv or phone thanks trish
Sabine
1.Some trainers condition the e-collar for recall by turning on the collar first (low stim), 1 second later add the command so that the dog learns how to turn it off.
2. Some use it simultaneously.
3. Some trainers do not use the collar before the command but use it as a low level correction straight away. Am I right in thinking that you teach the latter method?
Please could you explain the rationale behind each method and if you think that one is better than the other?
Irene
My gsd mix is food aggressive with animals.Its only happened twice cuz my pets eat separately but first time there was an accident where she stole my Anatolians food then attacked him.Recently she tried to attack my cat for eating cat food.It concerns me that she tried to attack my cat for eating its own food.She is never food aggressive with people though.I’m wondering if this is something normal or if I did something wrong. I’ve never had food related animal aggression issues with my Anatolian.
Diane J
My 6 month old Malonais x American bulldog seems to be rebelling. Rolls lips when being corrected. I work with him daily and holding on to the advice you gave..must work for treats etc Does very well with commands. But feels like he mostly has the attitude. Nope..I don’t want to stop my behavior (jumping on people. Silly stuff) what do I do to stop this?
Alex
Hi Robert, Thanks for answering my previous question I have made an active effort to enjoy my puppy more and it’s resulted in more obedience, my question for today is now my border collie Roger is 1 would you recommend moving onto a slip lead rather than a martingale? I feel the martingale isn’t having the desired effect it should sometimes and can you recommend how tight should these collars be? Apologies in advance if you’ve answered this a thousand times.
Brian S
My Lab auto sits or auto downs when a dog he doesn’t know is near. He learned that I will let him watch the other dog when he does this. He learned this because I have him “sit” and then say “go see” before greeting people or dogs that he knows. Is this behavior okay or should I correct him and keep walking with dogs he doesn’t know?
David
I have a 1yo Mal with a history of human/dog reactivity. With your videos and a lot of work, I can now walk him on lead through parks and stores with little issues. Now he is reactive to people who get too close and stay for a prolonged period of time, even people he’s met prior. The other day he came out of the truck and met my brother (who he’s met prior and suddenly tried to bite him. I’m wondering if this is an overstimulation issue or how I can work on him becoming more steady of a dog. Thx.
Noah M
I don’t quite understand how a walk (on or off leash) should proceed. When is the dog allowed to sniff, go potty and be away from you? What is a command for this? How should I teach my dog to walk off leash? I don’t want him directly next to me, but I also don’t want him far away and out of control. Thanks for answering all my questions!
Tammy
Hi Robert, Let me start by saying I’m a big fan. My 3YO Leonberger was very well socialized when he was young as well as ongoing socialization. We train several times weekly in a group setting and he does well. My issue is his fear when in new places or meeting strangers. He has never been aggressive or mean, never growled but I see his back legs shake & I see his discomfort. Do I continue introducing him to new places and people or do I respect his discomfort and not push the issue.
Kim B
Hello Robert – Do you have any suggestions on how to stop a dog from barking at the neighbor dog? We are working hard with obedience, e collar, etc. and making progress however when my pup sees our neighbor dog, he barks aggressively. It is as if all his training goes out the window. Thank you for any assistance. We will, of course, continue on our path with training and hopefully it is a matter of reps that makes his recall under heavy distraction better.
Sherrie L
Good afternoon sir. My 2 year old female Belgian Mal does not want to release the reward which is a tennis ball with a 3 foot rope attached. The reward is used for training her and myself in Basic explosive detection. She is currently learning odor recognition. I have to resort to pressure on her choke collar to get her to release the ball. I don’t want to blunt her drives, can you please give me any advice. I could attach a video if needed. I want her training to be a fun game, not stressful.
Nik K
I have 3.5 year old bull terrier x had him for 7 months. He was rescued by animal welfare for neglect. I have built decent bond with him. He is good on sit come down stay. He is reactive to dogs. my question is I started e collar training and when I say here with no stim he will come happy sit in front. When I put the stim on and say here he will start scanning around looking for something. Is it just time till he gets it or is it something else? It’s on 6 on dogtra. Thanks heaps
Ivan
Hey Robert, posted a question like this before but it didn’t get answered, I’m guessing because I linked a youtube video in the form. Basically, there is a video of Kangal getting attacked by another but he awaits permission of his owner to engage in a fight, your thoughts about that? I think either Kangal didn’t see another dog as a real threat or was surprisingly loyal to his owner, no idea. Greetings from Croatia!
Alex
Hi Robert, New member here – exceptionally well structured and informative website, congratulations!!
I have a question: when do you (if ever?) wean off training tools (prong collars and e-collar specifically)? 8 months old gsd here that has been slowly and positively introduced to those tools; I’m still in the early conditioning phase for the e-collar, but almost never need to use the prong at this stage; which got me thinking, when/how to wean off tools? Same for the crate.
Tiffany
Hi Robert. F/U (Follow up) on a previous post about my resource guarding corso pup. Previously we were working w/a trainer that recommended purley dominance based methods, “alpha rolling”. After a couple sessions w/her & her witnessing his behavior, she recommended prong collar corrections while he was eating. She wanted us to pet him while he was eating. As soon as he would growl/ lunge, harsh correction w/the prong. This escalated things quickly. We are now working w/a behaviorist & have a solid plan.
Cody
6 mo old hound mix(Duke)on martingale collar w/long line.had him 5 weeks and he is doing well with recall, sit, etc. also have cats inside the home. Duke is reactive to them, especially when the cats hiss or run around. We keep them separated for this reason. Duke was able to complete a 10 minute training session with cat sitting nearby without any reactivity. However, reactivity to cats and neighbor’s dog. Even if other dog is calm, he is lunging/barking etc. should I introduce e collar or prong.
Danny
Morning Robert and Janet, I have the new vest and it is very functional. Question is, during your earlier vids of making training fun, you used a magnet on your shirt high up on your shoulder, I find this is a perfect position. If you do any upgrades or redesign of your vest would you consider putting a magnet pocket on the shoulder? I do have extra magnets, placed them where I wanted, but it doesn’t look as nice. Plus a lighter color for our central Ca. summers. I know you can’t please everyone.
Christa
My question got skipped over a couple videos ago, so I will repeat it here. I have an almost 6 month old puppy, small dachshund beagle mix. When we go on walks, she constantly stops to smell things. I have not done extensive leash training with her yet. However, it’s not so much that she pulls me constantly… It’s more that I feel like I’m constantly having to pull her away from smells so we can get her exercise in. Plus she has an issue with eating poop, both her own and others. Suggestions?
