Barking Mayhem

My husband and I have recently re-homed a schnauzer
 
(Scottie) who appears to be too protective in the house can display excessive barking and trying to prevent people coming into the house. He also barks at people in the street. In the house it takes approximately 10 minutes or more for him to calm down and even then if the person moves, he would continue to growl. We called on Brian from Dogschangebehaviour.com for help as we were aware of the help he had given to a friend and her dog. We have 2 schnauzers and they were out with the dog walker when Brian arrived and he was able to talk to us uninterrupted during which time he explained the psychology of animals which helped us understand why our new dog was doing what he was doing. Scottie then came in the house and immediately started barking. It was amazing to see how without many words Brian was able to control the situation though for a while Scottie continued to growl and give the odd bark when he moved. Brian made me personally aware that if I believed something could happen and showed that with my body language than it could actually happen as I am relaying that to Scottie. Myself and Brian (as my husband had to return to work) went out for a walk with both dogs. Brian showed me how to project myself as the alpha while remaining relaxed, which worked well. There was no barking, also no pulling and both dogs remained behind me and it was the best walk I had had in ages. When we got back to the house Brian warned me that Scottie may start barking again on him entering the house. Not so, there was not a peep out of him, in fact after I fed both dogs, he (Scottie) then laid in his bed and appeared very relaxed. This bed was next to where Brian was sitting. Brian has given me confidence in using the techniques he has shown me. He is a confident and unassuming man with a wealth of knowledge in animal behaviour. I felt comfortable in his presence and he was very reassuring and corrected me when it was necessary but I didn’t feel patronised.
 
I feel that we are at the beginning of achieving a happier life for both our dogs and us and it is Brian who has started this off. We are really looking forward to our next
session.

Una and Martin