Miniature Schnauzer Behavior

[crk1971]

Hi,

I have a 3 yo mini schnauzer, and my wife and I are having a power struggle with him. He has been to puppy school,listens well, is great around people, is very energetic. We understand we have created some problematic behavior with him by giving him too much attention at first, my wife distanced her self and I did not. We have a 2 yo toddler and the adjustment to the dog and the baby have gone fairly well with a few problems that would be expected. We gradually introduced the baby and the dog and now they are best of friends and buddies. He is not denied attention in anyway.

I am sure i could fill a thread with the comments and questions about this, I am trying to keep this as focused as possible to my point. I tend to digress.

1st-The point

Killian has grown excessively needy, constantly scrounging for food, and has become very stubborn.

Now- The questions

1. How much food should he be getting a day, he is always scrounging and we are wondering if we should increase his food. He gets a 1/2 2x's a day now?

2. What can i do to counter act the behavior of him walking into a room and immediately scrounging for food?

3. How can I decrease his neediness?

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, he is driving my wife crazy. She is home with both of the kids all day.

 

[BlackDog]

Best thing to do would be get yourself into a puppy training class. Schnauzers can be a handful at times, especially if you have two toddlers running around your anckes at the same time.

 

[mojozen]

My suggestions:
*Look into NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) . Teach the dog you control everything about his life - the attention he receives (and when he receives it), the food he has, the toy access etc.

*Don't set him up to fail by leaving any sort of food out that he can scrounge. Put locks on the cupboards, keep the treats out of his height range, and definately keep a lock on wherever you keep your garbage.

*If you or your wife can't watch him he should be in his crate. If you don't want to use a crate, then set aside a small room where he can be contained and make sure it's puppy proofed.

Here's a link to how you crate train...

Good luck.

PS: I've crate trained and done the NILIF with my dog who I adopted as an adult. He still uses his crate, and I brush up on the NILIF whenever he starts to get out of hand. It does work...