Lake

My nearly 12 month old puppy and I are really starting to develop a partnership and she's settling in as part of the family. There's one issue that impacts on the happiness of the household, however, and that's her pechant for stealing things. Anything is a target. Nappies (clean ones) are a favourite. She usually pinches things then runs outside to chew them. Part of it is that she wants mw to chase after her. I've stopped doing that, and just shut the back door, so that the consequence of stealing is being ignored. I try to remove opportunities as much as possible, but with young children in the house, there's always something on the floor. I try to keep her occupied as much as possible. We do obedience training, we go to the dog park, she has puzzle toys. She has plenty of her own chew toys. Any suggestions?

The comments about not comparing with previous dogs are very helpful. My last dog was a horror - a dog-aggressive escape artist - but she was my heart dog, and I would have walked over hot coals for her. This schnauzer is a lovely dog. She is affectionate, just not needy like my previous ACD/bull terrier cross. I deliberately got a schnauzer because I'm in a place in my life where I can't provide for a needy dog. Really, she's being just what I asked her to be! A big part of it is the normal teenage puppy stuff - I was having a bad day with it. My last dog was a rescue, so I didn't have to go through it. I know it's all normal, and not fair to blame on her, it's just new to me.

I have a 7 month old standard schnauzer puppy. I'm worried because I'm just not feeling the connection with her that I have with my previous dogs. Partly it has gotten worse lately because she's not been allowed to go to doggy day care or obedience club for the past few weeks, due to complications from her spay. This should change soon. There's nothing that she really does wrong - expect the jumping, which I've seen a trainer about. We're working on it. It's just that her personality is so different from my previous dogs. I'm trying NILIF, and some more trick training, which she loves. I'm walking her more, but I'm wary of walking such a young dog too far. What things have helped you bond with your dog?