u/ChemicalWeekend307

Just down the road from where I live there are two large orange signs that get posted out front of a house saying “AKC Giant Schnauzer Puppies” with a phone number attached at the bottom. Last year, I was curious and called them to ask about their dogs. This is the 4th or 5th breeding they’ve done with these two dogs. Neither are OFA/CHIC tested (I asked and they didn’t know what I was talking about). I asked if the dogs were otherwise health tested and they said no but they take the dogs to the vets and they’ve never had any issues health wise. I asked if the dogs were show line or working line and they responded by saying they guess that a few of the males from that litter could work if we really wanted them to. I asked if they had any titles on their dogs and they laughed at me and said no, they are just pets but they like breeding them.

My husband and I drove past their house again and saw the signs posted today. I’ve seen what their dogs look like and something isn’t quite right and their answers to my questions never sat well with me because there are actual ethical breeders who care about their dogs who are doing this. I got frustrated when asking the questions last year and just stopped after they told me how much they charge ($2,800 per pup) and they continue to claim the dogs could be shown despite large white markings on the puppies faces, paws, and chest (despite being black - not salt and pepper) which would be considered faults by the AKC and GSCA making them unshowable.

My husband and I are beyond frustrated with this because this is our breed, we absolutely love them, and are dedicated to its preservation. We have breeding mentors, are working towards titling our dogs, know their lineage 5+ generations back, are OFA/CHIC testing, spending thousands on training and vet checks and countless hours taking care of our dogs before even breeding them - and we won’t if they don’t have good OFA/CHIC tests and aren’t titled… it’s just frustrating when we see people constantly exploiting these animals and constantly breeding them but knowing nothing about their own dogs at the same time, and quite frankly it’s kinda discouraging because every one of their puppies sell but that just puts more unethically bred dogs into the system. I’ve seen two of their pups end up in the local animal shelter this past year and a half which I immediately recognized because of the white markings and head shape which were the same as a pup in a photo I saw of the puppies from a litter last year. I just don’t know what to do or think anymore. Do I call them and educate them about what they’re doing is wrong? Do I just leave it alone and hope they stop breeding after this litter? Do I ignore it? Or just tell people not to buy from them if they’re in the market for a puppy??

Hi everyone,

I have two working line giant schnauzers. One of which is 11 months old and has always had amazing prey drive for bitework. However, his obedience work is very difficult. He knows sit, down, recall, out/drop it, and place but doesn’t want to hold any of those for more than a few seconds. He doesn’t want treats no matter what we offer (turkey, dried liver, you name it), we have tried toys too and instead he just gets distracted and will go find something to pee on. He isn’t neutered which could explain why he gets distracted so easily and why he marks everywhere but it doesn’t explain why we can’t keep him engaged. He loves to play in our house, on our property, and in our backyard but when we take him anywhere else it’s like crickets. We have tried lots of movement to keep him interested in what we have similar to how the decoy’s movement in bitework works. We have tried different toys and treats as mentioned above with the only thing coming close to being interesting enough for him is a toy baboon octopus thing that squeaks. But after 5 minutes he is just done and wants to do his own thing. When playing fetch (to build engagement or test a toy so he thinks it’s a game) he will wander off and drop the toy to do his own thing after one or two throws.

We work with trainers with each dog (we have 3) every week who are amazing, never had any issues with my other giant who is 15 months old training for the same sport. She is motivated and constantly engaged with me and at his age she knew sit, down, place, recall, recall to heel, out/drop it, focus heel (with a toy/reward and we are still refining it so she isn’t “crabbing”), center heel, watch, and bite (decoy). But my husband cannot seem to get his giant engaged enough to go beyond sit, down, recall, and place. I’ve tried and he does ok with me, whenever we use a toy in obedience he is so excited that his teeth literally chatter. But after a few throws of the toy and some tug as a reward he is just done, especially in new spaces. The trainers say it could be a maturity thing but if my husband can’t keep him engaged with him then everything at trials will be based purely on luck as to if he feels like working with his handler (my husband) or not that given day.

We have spoken with his breeder who is also a dog trainer. He has said to focus on bitework for now and work on obedience later.

An unrelated issue to the title but he also pees constantly in his crate with no warning. He will just lay in it until it bothers him and then will start scratching at the crate door. We take him out every 1.5-2 hours to try and avoid this but if he hears us walking across the landing at the top of the stairs, he will pee and then start barking. If we walk in front of his crate when prepping dog food, he will pee. If we let another dog outside, he pees even if he was just out. Every time he goes outside he pees 5-6 times in various places and then will come inside and still pee in his crate. It’s not like he is in his crate all day, it’s just when the other dogs are eating or we are rotating the dogs outside because he doesn’t know how to play with them without harassing them resulting in being corrected by our oldest dog. My husband and I work from home, so it’s not like he is ignored all day or doesn’t get to go out frequently to be worked or played with. He just isn’t interested in anything except for peeing on everything outside of the house or outside of his crate. He won’t pee in the house or on the furniture. It’s exclusive to his crate and outside.

We know giants are hard to potty train and that there is a relapse in house breaking around this age (went through it with my female too), but that combined with the constant peeing on everything else and the lack of interest in any toy or treat we try has been frustrating. He isn’t where he needs to be obedience training wise at this point and we don’t know what to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated. TYIA!

TLDR: 11mo male (intact) working-line giant schnauzer falling behind in obedience work because we cannot find anything that will keep him engaged beyond bitework. His priority is peeing on everything outside and in his crate even when we take him outside every 1.5-2 hours. My husband is at his wits end with trying to figure out what *will* work. We have spent thousands on working with trainers every week, board & trains, toys, and various foods/treats to try and find what works to no avail. Any advice on how to get him more engaged with us for obedience training so he can get to where he needs to be training wise before trials is greatly appreciated!