My brother met Danda when she was about 7 months old. Sweet, cautious, quiet, cheerful, and curious about new people coming to our main house. My bro said that soon, Danda won’t be as friendly.
Surprise, surprise! The next time my brother went home to my parents’ house, Danda greeted him with constant barking and intense eyes.
You see, puppies during their early months are still discovering their family and territory. Once, they’ve established that, they get protective and wary of strangers and those they don’t live with.
Teach your dog how to behave when there are guests in the house. Introduce your guests to your dog as they come inside to show that they don't mean any harm. Dogs should stop barking and they should not jump on your guests. Use the same reward system in my ITCHY TEETH post. Use word commands “STOP”, "NO", or “SHHH”. If they stop barking after your command, praise them, say “GOOD” or “VERY GOOD”, then, give your MS a treat/reward. Later on, your dog should learn to follow word/voice commands even without getting a treat/reward.
If they don't behave, put them on a leash or in their cage, until, they learn to behave around new people.
Danda serves as our doorbell, we’ve already disabled our electric bell as Danda has proven to be 100% effective. She barks when people come towards our house, make a sound at our gate, or call on us. If people come inside our house, Danda barks non-stop, until, we include her in entertaining the guests or SHHHH her. Danda wants to sit with humans while listening to conversations. Mostly, we command her to stay in a corner away from guests.
Danda attending my mom's meetings :)
Mini Schnauzers can be a barker as they grow older and get territorial. Danda barks at Beauty (shih tzu) if she pee/poo at the wrong place or if she's doing something not allowed. Danda also barks at our other pets if they fight.
On the bright side, MS never really barks for nothing, so, check out why they are barking and what they want you to know.
It is important to train MS as early as possible when to stop barking. MS ears are also very sensitive, little or loud noise can make them very uncomfortable and irritated. Assist them during News Year's eve.
Danda easily learned routines and boundaries. If I wake up later than usual, she goes near my bed and softly barks at me. Also, she used to bark whenever we would leave the house, now, she knows that if we don't bring out her leash, she's not coming with us. MS are really smart and they understand commands/routines easily. MS are very respectful of boundaries, if they were taught not to enter a room or touch something - they'll never enter and touch, even, when you're not around.
