Questions & Answers
on Raising and Training Puppies
By Ed Frawley
I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It’s common sense.
Table of Contents
1. What are the best toys for puppies?
2. What kind of dog crate do you recommend?
3. What are the concerns in adding a 3rd dog to a family?
4. The ears on my 14 week old German Shepherd pup were up. 2 days ago one went back down. Should I be worried?
5. I am 64 years old and have a very hard time cutting my 19 week old German Shepherd puppy’s nails. What should I do?
6. My 8 month old Rottie growls at me when I try and take his toy away. What should I do?
7. I have a 10 week old American Pitbull Terrier. He is very aggressive toward strangers already. Should I be concerned ?
8. My pup seems to want to fight with other dogs, what do I do?
9. My wife and I have ordered a pup from you and have a few questions on puppy training.
10. My son has a 4 month old German Shepherd. It snaps or “bites” quite often to a degree than can be pretty painful. Otherwise, it has a lovable, friendly nature. Should this be acceptable considering his
age or would you recommend an attempt be made to correct it?
11. We have a 3 month old pup German Shepherd and a cat who play chase a lot!The problem is when we call the pup to come he acts like he doesn’t hear us. How do we correct this and get his attention?
12. Our pup is 4 months old. She is almost impossible to walk down the street because she pulls so hard. She also wants to chase cars. Are these things she will get over or do I need to take corrective
measures to stop them? I am just concerned with not wanting to make a mistake.
13. Why is it so important to work with a ball on a string with young pups?
14. Can you tell us how to housebreak our puppy?
15. I have a 7 month old puppy that walks around the yard at a very fast pace. Is this normal?
16. I only have 30 minutes a day for my dog. How do I train it to be a protection dog?
17. I bought a 6 week old puppy, (the last of 14 in the litter). It screams when we go near it. What should I do?
18. What does the “Stamped Normal” mean on a pedigree?
19. I have a 5 day old litter, should I be concerned over the weight gain on our small female?
20. Should I imprint my new puppy for police work?
21. When should you neuter your puppy?
13. Why is it so important to work with a ball on a string with young pups?
14. Can you tell us how to housebreak our puppy?
15. I have a 7 month old puppy that walks around the yard at a very fast pace. Is this normal?
16. I only have 30 minutes a day for my dog. How do I train it to be a protection dog?
17. I bought a 6 week old puppy, (the last of 14 in the litter). It screams when we go near it. What should I do?
18. What does the “Stamped Normal” mean on a pedigree?
19. I have a 5 day old litter, should I be concerned over the weight gain on our small female?
20. Should I imprint my new puppy for police work?
21. When should you neuter your puppy?
22. I have an Airedale pup who throws a fit if it doesn’t get its own way. What should I do?
23. Almost every day my 6 month old Britany escapes from her crate when we are at work. What can I do?
24. My husband corrected our 12 week old Border Collie for running to the food bowl. Now he won’t eat. What should I do?
25. When we are gone our 7 month old GSD chews up everything in the house. What should we do?
26. My 3 1/2 month old GSD has a slight overbite. Will he grow out of this?
27. When I work with my puppy on the puppy tug, he goes for the handle and not the tug itself. Why is this?
28. My puppy was attacked in a dog park. How can I recognize when a dog is going to attack my dog?
29. The puppy that we bought from you is terribly afraid of other dogs. Two older dogs bit it. Our local puppy class instructor told us to squirt bitter apple in his mouth if he screams when an older dog comes near him.
30. We have a 12 year old cocker and just got a puppy. The pup is terrorizing the older dog. What should we do?
31. Is there such a thing as a “fear period” that puppies go through?
32. We found what looks to be a purebred black lab roaming in the ditch in the country. We were thinking of getting a hunting dog and would like to know if this dog would work out for that.
33. I have a GSP that doesn’t want to bond with me. What can I do?
34. I would like to get a German Shepherd, but I am out of the house for about 12 hours a day, five days a week. How long can a dog remain in the crate?
35. I just wanted to let you know of a bad experience that we just had with our puppy and our garage door opener.
35. My male Jack Russell almost killed our new female puppy. What should we do?
36. Our young Leerburg puppy has developed a habit of wanting to chase cars when I walk it. What should I do?
37. Our Rot female puppy is constantly licking or lapping. It bugs me. What can we do to stop it?
38. We recently got a puppy. We have an in-ground pool and want to teach him to swim. What should we do?
39. We are trying to raise 2 littermates at one time. I have some questions.
40. My puppy has no play drive. What can I do to develop his drive to do protection work?
41. Our 8-week old puppy cries in the crate at night. My husband shakes it and scolds it, but it is not working. What should we do?
42. How long should our 10 week old puppy spend in the dog crate? We get up at 2 AM and let her outside when she cries, should we stop doing this?
43. My puppy has a submissive urination problem. When my husband goes near him he squats and pee, even if he has just come in from outside. What should I do?
44. Can you give me some ideas on how to get my litter off on the right foot so the pups are not dog aggressive?
45. My 41/2 month old puppy drools when I even walk him near our car, much less try and put him in it for a drive. We travel a lot and would like to take the puppy with us. What can we do?
46. My 15 week old GSD has started barking at people that come into my home. I want her to be a personal protection dog, so I am unsure of how to deal with this barking. Should I scold her and stop her from barking at strangers?
47. What kind of dog should I buy?
48. I bought a pup from another breeder and it is very shy. What should I do?
49. My 10 week puppy has a lot of drive for a ball on a string, but little interest in going after a towel. How can I get it to go after a towel to work on grip?
50. We have a 10 week old puppy that continues to bite. I shake it, the breeder tells us to slap the heck out of his nose when he chews on us. Now he’s shy - what should we do?
51. Our 11 week old puppy cries all the time at night. I have been hitting her with a roiled up newspaper to get her to be quiet. This only works for awhile. What can we do?
52. I bought an American Bulldog from good bloodlines. It seems to be very shy. I have only corrected it twice and it is very hand sensitive. What can I do?
53. I have had a trainer train my 5 month old puppy. The dog does sit, down, stay and heel. Can you tell me how to do 180 degree about turns?
54. My pup is 6 months old and friendly to everyone. Did I buy the wrong puppy because I want a protection dog?
55. My dog will not allow me to brush him or cut his nails. The vet has to knock him out to do the nails. What can I do?
56. I have a young pup and have to go away for the weekend. My vet has a boarding kennel that I am able to leave the pup at while I’m gone, but I’m concerned about leaving my pup when it’s so young. Will this affect his training and development?
57. I just bought 2 GSD puppies. They like being in the same crate. Should I allow this?
58. Our 12 week old puppy is very nervous when in the crate, whines and cries the whole time, and drools terribly. Will he get dehydrated?
59. We have a 10 month old GSD that we think is bored during the day while we are at work. Should we buy a second puppy to keep him busy when we are gone?
60. I bought a GSD puppy that is 5 months old. It’s the Alpha dominant pup. It is very protective- it barks very aggressively at any dog it sees when I am out with it. I have a few questions about this.
61. A local trainer recommended that we get a choke collar for our 16 week old Golden Retriever that pulls too hard when we walk him. Should we?
62. My puppy eats ROCKS and STICKS and GRASS every time I take her out. What can
I do?
63. I read your instructions on socialization of dogs. My question is how do you do proper socialization if you never allow your dog to come in contact with strangers or other dogs?
64. I have small children. My 8 week old puppy snapped at food from my hand yesterday. What should I do?
65. My obedience class lets the dogs all run loose together at the end of class. Should I let my 6 month GSD loose as well?
66. My 12 week old pup scratches and bites himself excessively even though nothing is wrong with his skin. Do you have any advice about what to do?
67. My 6 month old female GSD has been showing signs of being weak nerved lately.
What do you think?
68. My Weimaraner pup tends to eat her food too fast. What can we do to slow her down?
69. My 12 week old puppy will not follow us, and cries and screams when we pull her on walks. Please help!
70. We have an 11 week old Cockapoo that is aggressive. A trainer told us that this is not normal and we should put the pup down or give him back to the breeder. We have young children. What are your thoughts?
71. My 11 month old Schnoodle is terrified of the invisible fence. I have had the fence a week and she refuses to go into the yard. As a result she has had accidents in the house. What can I do?
72. My 4 month old puppy is very dominant over her littermates. She even tried to bite my husband when he tried to stop her. I want to send her to a trainer, but am worried about corrections at this young of an age. Do you have any suggestions?
73. I have a comment on the use of a puppy prong collar on my 3 month old GSD.
74. My 14 week old puppy pees when he is excited. He is also moody about his eating habits. Do you have any thoughts?
75. Ever since I corrected my puppy for growling at me, she acts fearful. What should I do now?
76. My dog tears up my bedding when I am gone. Do you have any ideas?
77. I have a 4 1/2 month old GSD from Czech lines. He is afraid of strange people and is dog aggressive to strange dogs. What should I do?
78. My 11 week old Shiloh Shepherd pup keeps eating rocks and mulch when outside. What can I do to keep him safe?
79. I am being pushed to join a puppy kindergarten class by the owner. I prefer to train my puppy myself. What do you suggest?
80. I just got a puppy. I can only take it outside once a day. Do you have any advice on training her with potty pads?
81. My puppy is afraid of other dogs? Is this a socialization issue? What should I do?
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