Hey guys. I got a miniature schnauzer which I picked up from my neighbourhood area last year. Apparently his original owner abandoned him due to his cleft lip defect. Now I think he is almost 2 years old. However, my whole family has a big problem with him. When I first picked him back, he was very obedient and let us touch and hug him. But 5 months or so after keeping him, he started to become very fierce and resist us to touch him until now. When anyone touches him slightly, he will bark and try to bite us. Everyone in my family has been biten by him before. My mom and I consulted a vet, he said maybe my dog has a surge of hormone during puberty, and he suggested us to have him castrated. So,3 months ago, my schnauzer was castrated. It seemed like he became a bit tamer, but didn't change much. He gets moody easily, sometimes can be extremely playful and active, sometimes just not as active as usual, and this is the time we cannot touch him at all. And he will bark at everyone except my family and me. Whenever some strangers walk past or near to my house, he will keep barking until lose sight of them. When friends or relatives come, he will bark and try to rush toward them, seems like he wanna bite them. My mom and I are worried that someday he might bite people and he will have to be put to sleep. My vet told us to give up on him, saying that dog who bites its owner cannot be kept. But my whole family loves him so much that we can't just let him leave. We wanna caress and hug him, but we can't. And sometimes we have problem bathing him, since he will bite us if he is not in good mood.

I really wanna know what are the possible reasons of his attitude and what can I do to make him tamer. Please gimme some suggestions. Thanks.

I don't think it's because the previous owner tortured him, because when he was abandoned, he was only about 3 months old and after I picked him back, he was very obedient and let us hug him whenever we want. But he indeed had a hard time. When I picked him up, he was bony and he even ate grass and lizard stool until we gave him dog food for a month, then only he stopped.
I think he started become aggresive due to puberty onset. I don't really sure when because I went oversea after 2 months keeping him. My mom told me that was the time he changed. I think something has been wrong with the way my family treating him. My father treats him like a little kid that he will be like "Oh bibi, look at you, you have become so fat now, let me pat ur ass ya." Maybe my dog doesn't like that and started become resistant to our stroke.
One interesting thing is that after he bites us, his mouth will tremble and he will hide in a corner, seems like he is scared or what. It looks like it's not his will to attack us but he just can't control himself. But when we wanna touch him again, he will become fierce again.
Honestly, we spend a lot of time playing with and talking to him. And he will be very happy and active, but when we touch him, he changes abruptly. Now, sometimes we can touch him just for a few seconds when he is distracted and in good mood, but not more than that. We also let him socialise with other dogs. He like his species very much but we don't dare to let him be close to others coz we're afraid that he might attack.
My vet also told me maybe there is pain in some parts of his body so he doesn't let us touch. But after examination, nothing was wrong. Sometimes he has skin infection but after recovering, he is still like that.
And the vet clinic is run by father and son. The father is the one asked me to give up but the son is very nice. And the father is the only person my dog scared of, coz the father scolded my dog very loudly and fiercely before when my dog barked at him and tried to bite him. When the father shouted at him, he immediately shut up. LOL, not bad also he has someone to be afraid of.

Haiz, I really have thought and tried all of the ways I can think of to change his behaviour but only little improvement has been seen. I know it's a really rare situation because miniature schnauzer should be tame and obedient as a home pet. But don't worry, we will never give up on him, just that we are worried that someday troubles might arise due to his behaviour.

Outdoor. I don't mind if he barks at strangers. But at least shouldn't bite me and my family. I bought some toys for him. He likes to bite things very much and it's definitely not playing when he bites us. Because he will become very fierce at that time.

My miniature schnauzer had seizure/epilepsy few weeks ago. It was during last week that the vet told my family that it was epilepsy, when they told the vet about his condition. I was so shocked when I knew it just now because I've never thought that epilepsy can happen in dogs as well. The worst is the vet said he can't do anything. No medication or prevention. If epilepsy happens again, we can only pray that my dog himself recover. Whether he can survive, it depends on my dog himself. And epilepsy might cause death. This really make me worried so much now. It will be so horrible that we can only see my dog suffering while we can't do anything, if epilepsy happens again. He is still very young. I'm not prepared to lose him.

If anyone has more information or advice about this kind of disease, please do tell me. Your help will be much appreciated.

The vet said the epilepsy might be genetic or due to some neurological problem. Since my MS was a strayed dog which I later picked back home, I'm not sure whether it is hereditary or not. But I have castrated him since he has inborn cleft lip.

So there are medications to manage epilepsy. Gonna find out. Thanks.

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Added on February 1, 2010, 2:51 pmHmm...canine distemper vaccination? I don't know since I'm studying overseas so it's my family who takes care of him. But from what my mom told me, I don't think he has been given such vaccination. But I'm gonna consult with the vet, since I really have many things that need assurance. Sometimes it's really inconvenient since my family has little knowledge and experience in dogs.

Thanks so much guys.

This post has been edited by Aeiou11: Feb 1 2010, 02:51 PM