Is the the right thing to do? Help please.

[OhWellNeverMindEh]

3 yo mini schnauzer. Always been very wilful and not obedient, despite training. Very small so has been 'moved' around, into car, from room to room a lot, instead of responding to instruction. She just sits and stares when you give her instructions.

We know that we haven't been firm enough with her. And this is completely our fault.

She stole a toy earlier and ran under sofa, she refused to come out so I pulled her, she growled/snarled very angrily and snapped very angrily at me, twice and caught my hand she did the same when dh was telling her to come out.

She knew she'd done something wrong.

She came out and was sent to her bed.

I know where I've gone wrong and I realise that she was provoked (I shouldn't have pulled her) and I also realise she does not have enough discipline or respect, if you like, for us.

I want to go back to basics with training again, out walking, in house etc. Is this the right thing to do or do I need outside help, is 3 (almost 4) too old?

All advice appreciated.

Bumping

Yes, outside help would help
If
Nothing else, it is going to give you some discipline about a training regime and I have found that hearing out loud what you're doing wrong tends to resonate more than reading it on the page of a book

It isn't too late, and you can turn this around but you need to stop thinking along the lines of the dog being 'too wilful' and whatever other excuses you are coming up with

The dog isn't 'too willfull' - you are are giving up too easily!

Good luck with it all. Schnauzers can be great dogs

start being firm. Praise when she does do things you want.

Of course she snapped when you pulled at her, think how you'd react.

And unless it's immediately after the 'offence', dog will not understand why they're being disciplined

Use treats/ toys to bribe dog to move, do x or y or z. Expect it to take longer to break these bad habits than training in the first place.

It will take work and determination. And frustration

Never too late. I find the phrase 'ignore the bad, praise/reward the good' is very helpful, as is asserting yourself gently (e.g always go out of the door first, schnauzer second). Staring competitions (never look away first, no matter how long it takes) with a deep 'no' seemed to work well with one of ours when they did something wrong, and it establishes the hierarchy.
It's hard but keep calm and stay confident and I believe, if you take it slowly, just a few issues at a time e.g 'come here' and 'no' to start with you'll get there slowly but surely.

I don't think its a case of being firm, if she is just sitting and staring at you when you give her an instructions, then it sounds as though she is listening (which is a good start) but either doesn't see any benefit to her complying or just doesn't understand what is expected of her.

More consistent and regular training, praise and high value rewarding is required.

The toy guarding/snapping is a bit more serious and I would go for outside help for that one and expect the training to be ongoing for a long time.

Try exchanging the toy in question for a 'high value' treat e.g. ham/ chicken

What Weallhavewings said. You need to be consistent and reward with high value treat when you get the response you want.

Trying to get her to do what you want by pulling at her is not, as you've found, going to work, and I suspect most dogs would have reacted as yours did. Very much doubt it means she turning into a vicious dog.

Also punishing her by sending her to her bed is something she won't understand.

Dogs don't understand the concept of shame over doing something 'wrong'. They will doubtless react with fear if yelled at or hit in some way but that's fear, not an understanding of their own 'bad' behaviour.

Someone posted something recently that advised dog owners something along the lines: 'if your puppy poos on the floor, take a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself over the head several times whilst saying 'I must take puppy out to poo more regularly'.

In other words if a dog is making mistakes, it's the owner who is to blame not the dog.

Pretty sure it's not too late to get your dog's training sorted out.

My mams is a little bastard.

Her party trick is jumping on an unattended table to steal food. My parents have 4 the rest are all really well trained.

I did wonder if it was a breed trait but looking back she got meningitis as a puppy which interrupted her training and led to her being over indulged.

Crikey don't try to out stare your dog that's just likely to escalate problems! Have you been to training classes? 1 to 1 training might be helpful too.

Eric can be a little devil when he wants but I have the sausages and the ham so he generally decides it's worth his while doing what I ask . I even get away with him doing stuff for free because he will comply on the off chance there is something in it for him although I have to be careful not to do that too frequently, just when needs must really. I think you need to find what your dog considers an incentive and use that to get your dog to behave as you want. Sometimes when Eric doesn't want to trade what he's stolen for sausage I put a couple of his toys on the shelf that he can't reach and tell him "oh no!" He hands it over then in return for his toys which makes me laugh because he has loads and none of them are particularly precious, well apart from the cow (that is hidden in the study which he thinks I don't know about) but I'd never move that one.

We have behavioural issues with our 1 year old mini schnauzer. She's highly anxious and gets aggressive when strangers try to approach her. Our vet has given us tips and printed off some guidance notes for us but he has recommended we see a behaviourist too (and also anti anxiety drugs), but he said a behaviourist would be really beneficial as we'll really have to go back to basics and get the fine details right.

That's interesting socks about going out the door first, I'd not heard that.