1. I have a German shepherd pup that weighs in at 55 lbs. he is a working bloodline and attacks me when he does not get what he wants, what do I do?

Your dog may be frustrated and does not understand what you want or you may be creating a pattern and unknowingly reinforcing it.

Example 1: If you try having your dog “sit” for 30 seconds and they jump on you within 20 seconds they may not be ready for that long of a duration. Instead, start back at 10 seconds until they are successfully sitting for that increment of time. Once they are successful, you may slowly increase the duration by 5 seconds.

Example 2: Captain is obsessed with tennis balls and won’t stop until the ball is destroyed. Before this can happen, we recommend giving your dog a cue so they know when “ball time” is done – I use “all done”.

For more information, check our Truly Force Free Animal Training’s How Animals Learn Webinar or Principles of Positive Reinforcement Training Webinar