New here, first time Giant Schnauzer owner

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LadyPhantom
Posts: 1
Joined: 15 Jun 2018, 02:48
First Name: Heather

New here, first time Giant Schnauzer owner

Post by LadyPhantom »

Hello all! 3 weeks ago we became the proud owners of our first Giant Schnauzer. Bonnie is 10 months old and quite lovely. We did lots of research on the breed before acquiring her. The minimal amount of training she had is nice but we are actively working on building upon that.

So far she seems to be fitting into our family well. She does love to chase our two cats but she is a dog so that is to be expected! We are working on training her not to aggravate them so much. So far we are going slowly with introducing her to our other two dogs, a female Corgi (12 years old) and a male Basset Hound (4 years old) because both of our previous dogs seem very hesitant and fearful of her. My Basset Hound has had problems with fear aggression in the past so we are keeping them separated in the house (by use of different levels of our home: hubby down in basement with Bonnie and myself on main level with Bo and Dixie). We do take them all on nice long walks together daily and I have noticed an improvement in Bo's reactions to her outside. He will wag his tail when he sees her and doesn't shy away from her as much. So we will continue to take it slow. Of course my hope is that we can integrate them all together soon. She, of course, is super excited to greet them both and has a hard time containing her exuberance.

She is definitely getting more comfortable here in our home and "testing" us. She has started barking loudly and long when she wants her way. She sometimes refuses to obey the basic commands she knows (sit, stay, come, etc) but with patience and consistency we can get her to obey commands after a couple of sessions of resistance. It seems to be a daily thing now to "test" us, but this is not our first time dealing with these behaviors so I have no worries that we will overcome this phase soon.

She really is a sweet and beautiful dog. And so intelligent! I am amazed everyday on just how smart she is. She has quite the stubborn streak too but that comes along with intelligence :)
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mikegoodson1
Member
Posts: 714
Joined: 31 Mar 2016, 11:52
First Name: Mike
Dog #1: Oscar
is a: Black Mini Dog
Born: 17 Oct 2015
Dog #2: Sasha
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 23 Sep 2017

Re: New here, first time Giant Schnauzer owner

Post by mikegoodson1 »

Hello and welcome :)

I have Mini Schnauzers but the Giants do look glorious, so of course we will need to see some photos of Bonnie :D

How did it come about that you have had her 3 weeks but she is 10 months old - is she a rescue or could her previous owner not cope?
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Robin black mini
Member
Posts: 1440
Joined: 03 Mar 2015, 13:48
First Name: Jo
Dog #1: Robin
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 13 Dec 2014
Dog #2: Stanley st poodle
Born: 24 Nov 2012
Location: Italy

Re: New here, first time Giant Schnauzer owner

Post by Robin black mini »

Hi and welcome?.
,
A few ideas..
Ten months is the perfect age to start her on a basic obedience course....this will tire her active mind for better than a long run..my rottie and mastiff used to be exhausted after even basic obedience session as pups..also you will bond with pup,and rules will be set...plus,huge importance is the pup will learn to work alongside other dogs in a controlled environment,this will be vital later when you want the dog to focus on you and ignore other dogs etc..

Be sure to put up safety gates in your home so the cats can escape...this will help a lot....

Start to teach her the " place " command..,she should have a place mat,( dog mattress,whatever) and be instructed this is her place to rest,chew a bone etc..at first you may need to put this near your armchair,use a shortl lead,and keep your foot on lead...but she must use this place to be a part of the pack,without harassing the pack.

Dog must have a secure place for time out away from group too...we used a safety gate on kitchen..

Teach her the quiet command..when she stops barking you say "quiet "and reward the behavior....this is an important command as you will stop an annoying habit that can get out of hand very fast. You can also teach "speak "too.....initiate a bark with a biscuit offer and a hand signal( signal thumb to fingers snapping)..then reward...then try the quiet...they soon catch on.

Ten months..perfect age...she is yours to be the dog you wish..but you have to put in the work now or bad habits can be established so fast and become a lifestyle..the basic obedience course will be the best thing for her to expend energy,mental as well as physical,mutual bonding,and establishing basic rules for her lifetime...plus it's fun!
Last edited by Robin black mini on 15 Jun 2018, 11:14, edited 1 time in total.
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