My Mini Schnauzer is almost 6 months old and I am a stay at home puppy care giver, so he sees me most of the day. He sleeps in his crate at night with no problem and he also has a playpen to keep him out of trouble when he can't be watched.

My concern is that he has started whining, crying and barking (loudly) when we leave the room for any length of time. If I feed him and put him in his pen to play and go to the office to get some work done, he howls like someone is stepping on his foot. We get plenty of play time.. indoors and out although He won't stay in the fenced in yard very long without us, he notices we are gone and runs to find us. He has toys and chew bones and is pen is plenty big enough for him to run around. He gets a ton of love and attention. He even plays with the neighbor dog 3 or 4 times a day.

He has always whined a little, but not to this extent. It seems that he only does it when he KNOWS we are home. I have stood outside the door and watched him through the window and if he knows we are gone, he just plays. It's getting to the point where we just don't know what to do with him. We can't let him wonder around the house yet (he would love that), because he eats everything he finds. We have tried just letting him whine, but he does it for long periods of time and the longer we ignore... the louder he gets. The only thing that hushes him is if we say NO in a commanding voice. but 20 minutes later he will be back at it.

I really want to know why he is doing it. How can we make it better? Am I spending to much time with him?

My husband is convinced that he needs a buddy.. another mini. He thinks that he is entirely to attached to us and he needs a "brother" he can play with all day. I don't know about that. I agree that sometimes he seems bored and lonely, but we cant play with him 24/7. Although we try to play as often as possible.

Do you think we should get him a companion? I wouldn't mind another pup, but I don't want to add to the problem (to whining mini's? oh boy). Do Mini's get along with other Mini's?

What are your thoughts? No Flaming please, I really am trying to make us and the pup happy.

I have two mini schnauzers, Boston who is almost 9yrs old and Monty who is 6 months old, Minis are fine alone, you dont need to get him a companion. Boston has been quite happy all this time but i do think (imho) that dogs are happier when they have a buddy. But i wouldnt recommend having two pups at the same time.

If you do want two dogs I think its important that you raise your pup untill he is a little older and then he can teach the new pup all of the rules :)

With referance to the crying when you leave him alone....Minis are very affectionate/sociable companions and like nothing more than to follow you everywhere (including the bathroom :D). Its part of their breed to want to be with you so being seperated when you are in the house is not ideal for them.

If you *really* dont want your pup to be with you all the time then you are going to have to do some back to basics training with him, the usual leave him for five mins and if he is quiet praise him, if he isnt ignore him. Dont respond to his cries as you are giving him the attention that he wants.

Do you have 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey? That covers all kinds of hints and ideas for training your pup to be quiet when you want to leave them.

Im not sure why you wouldnt want your pup to be with you, if its chewing then you need to asses that problem instead of just confining him so he cant chew anything. Schnauzers are great companions and want to be near you, it upsets them if they cant be.

Hope that helps,

Roxanne

To address your question- Im not sure why you wouldnt want your pup to be with you, if its chewing then you need to asses that problem instead of just confining him so he cant chew anything.

It's not that I don't want him with me, but he likes to get into things and if I can't keep a protective eye on him, he needs to be put in his pen... ex.. showers, making dinner, on the phone.. etc.

He doesn't chew.. he eats. :) If his nosey butt can get into it.. he will.

Thanks for the advice, I'll pick up that book.

Lol! They are nosey dogs, always wanting to know whats going on and dont like to miss out.

It sounds as tho he just needs some reinforced training, just extend the time he is left alone whilst you are in and dont respond to him when he cries, The book covers all the steps in an easy to understand way.

Good Luck! :)

Roxanne

Your post makes me smile. You are so right about Mini's wanting to be with you when you are in the house. My 8 month old is confined to the kitchen and hall when I am upstairs and is only allowed in the other rooms when I am with him too - but basically, when downstairs he just follows me everywhere. I have a stairgate to prevent him going upstairs and this works really well. He will sit at the stairgate and whine until I am back down with him. But I do let him follow me around, otherwise they really do feel they are missing out. As for cooking etc. in the kitchen. He just watches now because the novelty of being around my ankles when I am moving about has gone. I noticed a huge improvement when I removed the puppy pen and the novelty of all of the strange rooms seems to have worn off. Keep with the basic obedience training and I am sure that he will settle soon.

Have you tried either leaving the radio or television on for him when you are not there. I have found that this does help if they can hear voices around them.

We have tried this, it doesnt help.

Funnily enough my mini Sch.is quite calm when we leave the house in the morning to go to work. He'll disappear upstairs to sleep on our bed with my whippet before we've even left. When we're around then he does cause a fuss if we leave him out of anything. He's follows us about the house, but is now content to just sit and watch or sleep in our proximity i.e. if i go to the study he'll be happy just lying on the floor nearby. He used to be into everything, so we had to reprimand him if he was being a nuisance, forever tipping the bins upside down and foraging through the contents. I've just made sure he can't get to these now, and now's he matured he's a lot calmer anyway. He always used to stand next to our feet but has now learned to lie down a little way from us. I think you just need a little patience (he's at that really testing time where they drive you mad). I'd say don't get another one until this one has settled down and knows the ropes, otherwise he'll be a bad influence on your next pup. I firmly believe it's the way they are, and you can't change him too much. He will mature eventually but at the moment you just have to put things out of his way that may harm him. Other may disagree.

Nicola, how old is your mini?

He's two years and three months. He calmed down at about 18 months, maybe earlier (hard to remember accurately) and it's only the past three months or so that he's become a much more mature and sensible adult. I suddenly find I've got lots more time on my hands to do all those things I never had the opportunity to do before, because he was such a time consuming youngster. I've now got quite broody again, and fancy another pup...but I daren't upset the applecart just yet.