Dog Obedience Training Tips

Biting and nipping is a common behavioral problem with miniature schnauzers.  This behavior can become very annoying and in severe cases, it can be rather scary and aggressive.  Stopping this behavior is a must.  However, you must start with understanding why your dog bites and then progress to stopping the behavior.

Reasons for Biting

Your miniature schnauzer may bite or nip for many reasons.  You must understand that it really is a natural behavior and that it is a common part of their behavior when interacting with other dogs.  You will probably notice that when there are other dogs around your dog may nip or bite at them to play, greet them or to show their dominance.

Biting and nipping humans may just be the dogs natural inclination and their way of interacting with you.  Sometimes they may bite to tell you they don’t like something you are doing to them.  They may do it to get attention or simply because they are excited.

It is very important to find out the reason behind the biting because the method you use to correct the behavior will be based on why they bite.  You should think about the times your dog has displayed this behavior and try to figure out why.  Most often your dog bites for two main reasons – to get attention or out of fear.

Stopping the Behavior

To stop your miniature schnauzer from biting, you will have to be firm and persistent.  Here are some things that you can do if your dog bites because he is trying to get attention:

-        When your dog bites or nips at you say “stop” or “no bite” in a loud voice, but not yelling.  Make sure you are consistent with what you say so not to confuse the pup.

-        When the pup bites, leave him alone right away.  If you were playing then stop and walk away.  Give him no further attention.

If your dog bites out of aggression and as a defense mechanism then you need to take different steps.  Try the following:

-        Expose your dog to more socialization.  Have him interact more with people or other dogs.

-        Try obedience training where your dog will be taught to overcome anxiety that often leads to biting.

-        Take your dog to new places and try to watch how he behaves. When he shows signs of anxiety, leave and try returning to the new place later.

-        Make sure when you are socializing him or introducing him to new places that you offer a lot of attention and praise.

Over time the methods you are using to correct the biting behavior will start to work.  You will notice that he doesn’t bite as much and it becomes something of the past.  It will take time and patience and you cannot expect him to stop biting completely since it is a natural reaction that is just part of who he is.  However, you can control the behavior so he doesn’t bite when it is inappropriate.

Barking is something that can be tricky to deal with.  It is the only means your dog has to communicate and in some situations you might encourage barking.  This can be so confusing for your miniature schnauzer.  He doesn’t always easily understand why sometimes he can bark and sometimes he cannot.  This makes it challenging to put an end to annoying barking.

Reasons for Barking

Obviously, barking is most often done to communicate something.  A dog could be trying to warn you, greet someone, express emotion or simply just wanting to let other dogs know he is around.  It is a very natural behavior that all dogs will do.

Barking becomes a problem, though, when it is excessive or annoying.  Some dogs tend to bark for no reason at all and they can become a nuisance, especially to neighbors.  Many times such annoying barking comes from boredom.  A bored dog is often a barking dog.

With a miniature schnauzer, barking is often a side effect of a lack of stimulation.  If your dog stays alone a lot then they will likely develop a barking problem.  Your dog needs socialization and when he doesn’t get it he will try to get your attention by barking.  Chances are when his barking gets annoying you yell at him, so gets the reward he wants.

How to Stop the Behavior

One rule of putting an end to barking is never to yell at the dog to stop.  Yelling gives them attention and in some cases, may make the dog think you are talking back to him.  If you start with a puppy and you yell every time they bark, then you are setting yourself up for trouble as the puppy is basically being taught barking gets a response so keep doing it.

Here are some tips on how to deal with barking:

-        While it may seem counteractive, teaching your pup to speak on command can actually help stop barking.  This is because once they learn to speak you can teach them to respond to the command for quiet.  The way to do this is to use a reward.  Show them the reward and teach them to speak.  When they speak give it to them.  Soon they will bark every time they see the reward.  At this point you can show them the reward and they will bark and then you will teach them the command for quiet.  When they stop barking they get the reward. Eventually they learn that the reward comes when they are quiet.

-        If your dog barks a lot when you are not home, try leaving on a radio or the TV.  The sound often soothes them and makes them feel like they are not alone.

-        Make sure your dog gets regular exercise.
Barking can be controlled.  Most owners who have trained their dog and keep them well exercised will not have issues with excessive barking.  You will have to work on training your dog and curbing the behavior, but eventually you should be able to teach your dog to respond with a simple quiet command.

Digging is a behavioral problem that can drive an owner crazy.  While digging can be great fun for your miniature schnauzer, it is not so fun for you when you have to patch holes up.  The good news is that you can stop your dog’s digging from getting out of control.

Reasons for Digging

Digging is a common problem, so chances are you will have to deal with it at some point with your miniature schnauzer.  There are many things that an lead to a digging behavioral problem.  Your dog may dig as a symptom of separation anxiety.  He may dig because he is bored or has too much energy.  Some dogs may dig to get out of a fenced yard and get to other dogs.

It is important that when you notice the problem that you try to find the reason behind it.  Many times by simply paying attention to what is happening that day and how your dog is acting can lead you to the answer.  Understanding why he digs will help you to teach him to stop digging.

How to Stop the Behavior

It is very easy to become mad at your dog when he has dug a hole in your yard.  However, yelling at him will not fix the problem.  He may stop digging when you are around, but the minute you are gone he will probably just dig again.

The better way to fix the problem is to be smarter than your dog.  One trick many owners use is to set up a sprinkler in the yard and turn it on when the dog starts to dig.  The dog then associates the sprinkler with the punishment and not you.  As long as that sprinkler is around he won’t likely dig for fear of getting punished.

If the sprinkler trick doesn’t seem to work then you may need to try some other things.  Here are some other things you can try to stop this bad habit:

-        Exercise your dog more.  If he digs out of boredom then this could end up stopping the behavior.

-        Make sure he is getting enough attention so he doesn’t feel alone or abandoned.

-        Keep him crated when you are away.

-        Give him plenty of toys to play with.

Sometimes nothing you do will stop your miniature schnauzer from digging.  Usually the only solution is to prevent them from being able to dig.  For example, if the dog digs under the fence then put in a concrete barrier.  Sometimes you just have to out smart the dog to fix the problem.

Digging is something you will probably come across.  Dogs like to dig and they do it for so many reasons.  It is often just their way to deal with things.  No matter how you deal with the problem, it is important not to just ignore the behavior.  You need to stop your dog from digging to keep him safe and to keep your yard from looking disastrous.

Chewing is a behavior that anyone who owns a puppy has to deal with. Your miniature schnauzer may drive you crazy with his chewing and you may think it is just something you will have to deal with until he grows out of it.  Think again.  You don’t have to put up with chewing.  You can teach your pup to stop chewing and put an end to this annoying behavior.

Reasons for Chewing

Puppies chew for three basic reasons – they are bored, they have excess energy or they are teething.  A dog’s mouth is their basic tool they have to explore the world around them.  As they are growing a developing they will naturally chew on things to learn more about them.  It is your job, as their owner, to help teach them what is appropriate to chew and what is not.

Stopping the Behavior

There are actually many things that you can do to stop your miniature schnauzer from chewing.  You have to understand that your dog often chews because he is teething and it is a natural thing he wants to do. With that in mind you need to first set up your pup’s environment to discourage chewing.  Try doing the following things:

-        Puppy proof your home.  Just like you baby proof your home before your child starts exploring, you can do the same for your pup.  Put away items that may encourage the dog to chew or that you would rather not have chewed up.  Cover electrical outlets and keep cords out of the pup’s reach.

-        Keep your pup in a crate when nobody is there to watch him. This not only keeps him from chewing, but also protects him since some things he may chew could be dangerous.

-        Always supervise your pup.  Keep a good eye on him and act quickly if he starts to chew.

There are other things that you can do once you notice chewing behavior to help train your pup to not chew.  Try doing the following:

-        Buy chew toys.  There are many doggy chew toys on the market, so you can find something your pup will enjoy chewing on.  Make his toys special and make sure he knows the toys are all his and that he is allowed to chew them.

-        If you catch your pup chewing on something he should not be chewing then act quickly.  Take the item away or remove your pup from the area and give him a chew toy instead.  Once he chews on the toy make sure to praise him.

-        You can also use a type of positive reinforcement training.  Place your pups chew toys along with some items he is not allowed to chew on the floor.  When he chews on the wrong items simply ignore him, but when he chews the toys offer him a lot of praise.

Sometimes your miniature schnauzer will chew because he has excess energy and needs something to do.  In this case you might want to try the following ideas:

-        Give him extra exercise and play with him until he seems to have burned up the excess energy.

-        Make sure that you always exercise your pup on a regular basis and avoid missing scheduled exercise and play time.

Getting your miniature schnauzer’s chewing problem under control should come in time.  If your pup’s main issue is teething then you can probably easily fix the situation as he will grow out of it on his own.  Even if it is a behavioral problem, with consistent work you should be able to teach him how to curb his chewing to only his own toys.