# 1 y/o Mini Schnauzer - growls at every little noise



## civilkevin (Oct 25, 2010)

Hello Forum!

I have a one year old mini schnauzer that growls pretty much every time he hears something outside. He also sometimes growls as we approach new dogs/people. He will bark but as soon as we get close enough, he's just happy to see them and growling/barking stops immediately. We have tried disciplining him when he growls/barks but it doesn't seem to have any effect. We praise him when he doesn't vocalize in a situations where he normally would, but again nothing seems to help. He is never, ever aggressive so I'm not sure whats going on. He also gets plenty of exercise. I know the breed is naturally vocal, but I have to do something! Any ideas?

Thank you!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Hehe....my grandpa had a Mini Schnauzer, and if he DIDN'T growl and bark at something it was surprising! So I don't know if it's a breed thing but that's my experience anyway.

I'm sure some more experienced trainers will pop in, but I do know that you shouldn't punish a dog for growling. This will only serve to remove their warning signals, so they go straight to bite. Obviously that wouldn't be good. Any reason you want to stop the growling?


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## civilkevin (Oct 25, 2010)

I agree that I do not want to completely stop growling, but it's excessive and noisy. It's almost constant at times.


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## JuneBud (Feb 17, 2010)

My pup does the same. It's getting better, but it's time consuming to explain to people and it's embarrassing. He'll bark, growl, and act viscious until he gets close and then he'll sniff, and be relatively friendly and will be happy to take a treat from them. Then again, if the person turns to walk away he'll go for the legs. With exposure, he is improving every day. "Dog people" seem to understand it, but others do not - thus the embarrassment.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

If he settles as soon as he gets to the people or dogs it's likely friendly excitement barking and vocalization. Irritating yes, but not aggression. This sort of problem is not something you want to use excessive aversives with, as it can change "friendly" to something else...

Just like labs (it's usually labs..lol) that go berserk out of frustration wanting to greet it is important to train calm behaviour. Impulse control training like Doggy Zen is a good beginning. Then you work on "You can't go meet xyz until you give me a sit and are quiet". This means PRACTICING and management. For example: if you know someone with a dog that he likes who is willing to give you ten minutes to work on the behaviour, you ask them to stand with their dog and you practice calm approach. Say your dog starts vocalizing at 30 feet...get the person/dog combo to stand this distance away and start walking towards them. If your dog pulls or vocalizes, you stop and cue sit. If you get the sit, you move forward again, if you don't, or you get vocalization, you BACK UP. It won't take long (say two or three sessions of ten or fifteen minutes) for the dog to realize that quiet and calm gets him the reward. His reward is to say hi. Manage the rest of the time, using the same method...no calm no hello. He'll get it. _But it will take time, patience and consistency on your part. _

You can also use the Look AT That Game from Control Unleashed as a way to work on the impulses. 

It's important to remember too that an extinction burst is likely as you get closer to fixing the behaviour. This means it will appear to get WORSE before it suddenly gets better. Most people give up at the "get worse" point and don't make it over the hump...when it is SO close, because they think the training is failing. But it's not, it's actually working...so keep that in mind.


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## Henjon (Oct 29, 2010)

Use treats and praising to make the dog "secure" with the noises and with strangers.


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## SchnauzerLove (Jul 7, 2010)

Cracker said:


> If he settles as soon as he gets to the people or dogs it's likely friendly excitement barking and vocalization. Irritating yes, but not aggression. This sort of problem is not something you want to use excessive aversives with, as it can change "friendly" to something else...
> 
> Just like labs (it's usually labs..lol) that go berserk out of frustration wanting to greet it is important to train calm behaviour. Impulse control training like Doggy Zen is a good beginning. Then you work on "You can't go meet xyz until you give me a sit and are quiet". This means PRACTICING and management. For example: if you know someone with a dog that he likes who is willing to give you ten minutes to work on the behaviour, you ask them to stand with their dog and you practice calm approach. Say your dog starts vocalizing at 30 feet...get the person/dog combo to stand this distance away and start walking towards them. If your dog pulls or vocalizes, you stop and cue sit. If you get the sit, you move forward again, if you don't, or you get vocalization, you BACK UP. It won't take long (say two or three sessions of ten or fifteen minutes) for the dog to realize that quiet and calm gets him the reward. His reward is to say hi. Manage the rest of the time, using the same method...no calm no hello. He'll get it. _But it will take time, patience and consistency on your part. _
> 
> ...


Cracker said it all!

On a side note mini schnauzers are known for being very vocal!


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