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Posted by Muriel on January 06, 2002 at 10:17:41: In Reply to: Serious behavorial problems with Schnauzer puppy posted by Maggie Becker on December 20, 2000 at 20:53:17: : I'm hoping someone can help us. I also plan to call our breeder, but she is unavailable during the holidays. Our first Miniature Schnauzer died this summer from complications of diabetes. He was the ideal dog in every respect and we grieved for quite some time before calling the very same breeder and purchasing a male puppy from her. She is a highly respected and successful breeder, and we travelled across the country to pick up our male puppy. Not that this matters, but he comes from a long line of champions on both sides. We don't want to show him, but we simply bought him from this breeder because of the excellent luck we had with our previous Schnauzer. Our new puppy is now 7 months old and he is not neutered. I'm hoping someone can identify what his behavorial problems are and what we should do at this point. Some relatives have suggested he may be "mentally handicapped", as he is constantly under our feet (even after being accidentally kicked/tripped on several times, never seeming to learn), seems extremely sorry but doesn't learn from his mistakes, and barks and growls constantly whenever he sees ANYONE....more importantly, EVEN IF my husband or daughter re-enter a room and he clearly knows who they are! He seems exceedingly attached to me. He literally follows me around the house like a shadow without exception. If I'm not down the stairs at the same rate he is, he will climb back up the stairs to be at my side so that we walk down simultaneously. If my husband is holding and petting him on the sofa, he will jump out of my husband's hands if I leave the room for just a moment. If he hears a television or an odd noise in another part of the house, he will bark. If my daughter is talking in another room, he will bark and act like a burglar is at the door. This is our third mini Schnauzer and we are not novices when it comes to dogs or this breed in particular. In a nutshell, he seems hypersensitive and exceedingly attached to me. For example, he was just left back into the house now and raced up the stairs this moment to be by my side. To add insult to injury, we seem to be unable to properly housetrain him. Our other dog was 100% housetrained at an early age and wouldn't make an accident in the house if it killed him. We trained the new puppy the same way, but he has accidents all the time. We can let him out and he does his business, but then a few minutes later will urinate in the dining room. We have to be watching him constantly or he will always make an accident in the home. I must stress that we take him out all the time. There were no signs when we purchased him that anything at all was abnormal. The first sign was that he was, as my vet said, "just talkative!" when he would innocently growl when he didn't want someone to hold him a certain way as a puppy. I'm hoping someone can help us understand what is going on. Our vet says to have him socialize more with others in the family and we're trying, but he still seems 100% stuck on me. In addition, that doesn't take care of the housetraining problem. He IS an exceedingly LOVING dog and we sure could use some advice. Thanks in advance. Maggie, looks like you have acquired a little dog with a lot of caractere. However I do not think that your dog is handicap, or that there is anything wrong with him. It seems to be a matter of knowing who is the leader. At the moment it seems as if your little puppy thinks you and he are the alpha male & female. I am by far an expert on the subject but have recently read an excellent book entitled the "dog listener" by Jane Fennell. I would advise you to get a copy as it explains dog behaviour and how to remedy to the problems. All the best with your puppy, hope this will help. Muriel |
