Hello everyone! I have a very sweet Miniature Schnauzer named Ernie. When he was younger, he wasn’t socialized with other dogs as much as he should have been, and now he is very reactive towards other people and dogs. We did have another dog he lived and played with until recently when the other dog passed away. He gets along well with dogs and people who visit us regularly, but if strangers or other dogs walk by (the sidewalk wraps around the side of the house and he can see them from the couch), he goes ballistic and won’t stop barking. He has a scary bark for a little dog, and I really don’t want him scaring other people. On walks, he pulls on the lead and barks/yanks towards other dogs or people, becoming very protective over me whenever we leave the house.
I’ve started working on his behaviors and was wondering if what I’m doing is the right strategy for improving his reactivity or if anyone has other suggestions. Since he always pulls on the lead and goes crazy as soon as he sees it, I’ve been practicing loose lead walking in the backyard until he calms down. Then, I prop open the gate and go into the front yard for short periods, rewarding him when he doesn’t bark and seems calm, and when I can get his full attention. He still barks a lot when people come by while we’re in the front yard, so I quickly walk him back into the yard, walk a distance, get him to sit next to me, and then reward him.
Does anyone have tips specifically for stopping him from barking? He seems to be making excellent progress with loose lead walking after just a few sessions, but we’re still having issues with barking at other people. Also, any tips for inside the house when passerby walk past would be appreciated. I’ve been considering a high-frequency bark collar but wasn’t sure if other methods might work better.
I would love to be able to take him everywhere with me (beach and camping), but it’s been hard with these behaviors. He is such a sweet dog, and I know he’s missing out on fun places we go where he could come too if he were better behaved. I’ve attached a photo of him for doggy tax .
Please don’t use aversive tools. If your dog is already reacting to these triggers, adding an unpleasant sensation or pain will only make him perceive the triggers as even more of a threat. This approach will likely make things worse, not better. In this non-aversive forum, we believe fear, pain, and discomfort are not helpful in training.
I think there might be a couple of things going on here: reactivity and ‘protecting’ the home.
Let’s start with some easy steps. You can get an opaque film that clings to your window glass. It clings rather than sticks, so it can be removed easily with no residue and reused. This will stop him from seeing passersby and should help reduce his barking.
Next, continue with what you’re already doing but try it away from home to reduce that extra level of tension. Find a big, open area that’s fairly quiet where you can walk or even just sit with him. Look for a place where he has enough distance from his triggers because the aim is to reward him for not reacting, not to stop a reaction that has already started. You want to catch him at that sweet spot where he is aware of the triggers but not reacting yet. Choose places where he has plenty of distance or where you can turn and walk away from anyone entering his ‘safe zone’. Reward his calmness to change the trigger from something bad to something positive.
I’d also recommend teaching a “quiet” cue. I like the yogurt pot method for this. Get a yogurt pot and smear the inside with something like wet dog food, meat paste, squeezy cheese, or even yogurt. When he barks, give him the pot to lick; he can’t bark and lick at the same time. As he is licking, repeat the word that will become your cue for him to stop barking. After several repetitions, when you think he has got it, give your cue word, and if he stops barking, give the yogurt pot as a reward. If he doesn’t, stay at stage one for longer. Gradually increase the gap between the cue and the reward. When you reach 5 seconds, you can start fading the reward to something more convenient.
I recommend the book “Click to Calm” by Emma Parsons. It sounds like you’re doing some things right, such as working on loose leash walking in the backyard where there are fewer distractions. The book provides a comprehensive program explaining the skills you and your dog need and how to start using them. It’s not an instant fix, but it helps get your dog’s head in the right space.
With a reactive dog, it’s important to avoid rehearsing the drama. I try to keep my reactive dog at a distance from other dogs and block his view by ducking behind a car or shrub if we can’t keep our distance. Understanding the concept of trigger stacking is also crucial. The effects of small episodes can be cumulative. A dog might hold it together for the first sight of a strange dog, but the second time might provoke a growl, and the third time could lead to a barking frenzy. I’m very mindful of my dog’s limits. When he starts growling, I know he’s at his limit, and I take him home. If he goes into full drama mode, I keep him home for the next 36 hours to fully calm down.
Remember, Schnauzers are notorious for being vocal and opinionated. Training can improve her behavior a lot, but some barking is probably just her way.
For some dogs, especially those that sit in windows, doors, or the porch/yard, they see a trigger (like a dog or person) approaching and bark to be intimidating. As the trigger gets closer, they bark more, and when the trigger eventually moves away, the dog associates their barking with making the threat leave, which reinforces the behavior.
The book suggested by the other commenter would be a great starting point. Our dog is reactive on leash and will alert bark at unfamiliar voices or loud noises outside. In the backyard, he used to bark at everything he heard, but now he’s starting to ignore some noises. When he alert barks inside, we calmly say “thanks,” and he usually switches to a grumble bark and then moves on. You might need more direct training for this.
For reactivity out and about, you’re on the right track by working on calmness and engagement in the least distracting environment (your backyard) and gradually increasing distractions. Counter-conditioning and pattern games have helped us. Initially, on walks, I gave our dog a treat every few minutes so he knew we had food. Every time we saw or heard a dog, or even if he smelled one, he got a treat. Eventually, I waited to mark and treat him when he disengaged from the trigger and looked at us. Now, he mostly just whines, and we can continue walking and treating him. Sometimes, he doesn’t even worry about other dogs and might do some displacement sniffing.
Keep an eye on the distance from triggers. Try to be far enough away so your dog can see them but not react. If you’re too close and your dog is already reacting, they can’t learn much in that state. My partner and I have been addressing our dog’s reactivity for about 1.5 years, and he’s made huge progress. You could likely work through this faster with a good trainer or by purposefully working on this type of training every day.
Remember, it’s a process, and every bit of progress counts!
You’ve received great advice above, and I want to second the recommendation of “Click to Calm.”
One of the most important things I learned from that book is that you don’t have to wait for the exact good behavior you want to click and reward (or, if not using a clicker, say your word that indicates to the dog they are doing the right thing, like “Good!” or “Yes!”). You can use that to reward even the slightest cessation or pause in the unwanted behavior.
For instance, with barking, the dog has to take a breath at some point, and you can capture that one second of non-barking and reward it. I found this immensely helpful with training reactive dogs.
Another excellent resource for training advice on barking, loose leash walking, and reactivity is the YouTube channel Kikopup. They have excellent, short, and to-the-point videos without a lot of extra talk.
Wow, this sounds pretty much like our story, with our adopted miniature schnauzer. She was aggressively reactive to virtually everyone and every dog she saw, even a block away on our walks. Early on, I knew I would going to need professional help, so found a trainer, highly thought of, and he started coming to our house three times weekly at first, then twice weekly, then once, and now haven’t seen him in a number of months. Our girl is settling down, but schnauzer’s are very vocal dogs, have a very strong prey instinct and are instinctively watch dogs, so will be very protective of anything she considers hers. She now knows a number of our friends and she will greet them and solicit attention from them, but is still very wary of strangers. I have found that when someone she does not know comes to our house, she reacts much better if we go outside and all walk in together. She seems to be more accepting if we do it that way. As far as the barking, and yes they have a very loud annoying bark, I have been teaching her the 'QUIET" command. She is learning impulse control. and now when she sees someone, even other dogs walk by the house, most of the time she will work to suppress her bark, but will run to either my wife or me for praise, which she gets lots of.
Have come to understand that schnauzers are wonderful dogs and we love ours, but they are unique and challenging to train, but we are continuing to make progress with ours. If you want more detail message me, we can have our own conversations, and I can give you more detail on things I learned from our trainer, and from Lexi, who we have now had for close to a year. You didn’t mention how old your schnauzer is, or maybe I missed it, Lexi was 20 months when we adopted her from the rescue, she will be three years early January.
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