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Schnauzers look like they’d be a great addition to your home, but are they good with kids? Some breeds are exceptional with kids while others ought to be stayed away from.
Are Schnauzers Good With Kids:
Schnauzers are generally excellent with kids. They were bred to be guard dogs which makes them instinctively want to protect their family. Other reasons why schnauzers are good with kids are they’re loyal, affectionate, energetic, medium sized, hypoallergenic and low maintenance.
In this post you’ll discover 13 important things you should know about schnauzers being around kids.
- Why they’re good with kids
- Things to watch out for
- How to ensure a schnauzer has a great relationship with your kid(s)
And much much more.
Let’s jump right in.
5 Reasons Why Schnauzers Are Good With Kids
1) Great Protectors/Bodyguards
Schnauzers were bred to be hunting dogs as well as guard dogs.
This means instinctively they’re drawn to protect their family.
AKC uses three words to describe a schnauzer. Fearless, smart and spirited.
They’re much less likely to do anything to harm their family and are fearless when it comes to preventing strangers from harming the ones they’re protecting.
This means your kids will have a loving bodyguard keeping an eye on them and protecting them from potentially harmful strangers.
A few other ways schnauzers make for great protectors are;
- Loud bark
- Love to have a job and will always be on duty
- Considerably Alert
- Eager to please
- Vigilant in keeping family safe
- Fearless
Schnauzers are very much devoted to their family which makes them a great breed to have with kids at home.
Related Reading: Do Schnauzers Make Good Guard Dogs? What To Expect
2) Not Too Big, Not Too Small
A standard schnauzer will weigh anywhere between 30-50 pounds.
This makes them a medium sized dog.
Not too small where they can’t handle kids rough housing with them, but not too big where they might accidentally injure a child.
Of course there are miniature schnauzers and giant schnauzers if you’d like a larger or smaller dog.
3) Lots Of Energy
Schnauzers aren’t known for being lazy dogs.
Which means your high energy kiddo will always have a playmate in your schnauzer pup.
Schnauzers love attention just as much as kids do which means they can be there for eachother.
Your pup will love the attention they get from your kid(s) and enjoy how much they want to play.
And your kid(s) will love the attention/affection they get from their furry brother/sister.
It’s always a good idea to supervise their play as you don’t want either one of them to get carried away.
But a schnauzer will almost always be up for playtime and be entertaining for your child to play with.
Important note: Schnauzers aren’t the MOST energetic dog of all the breeds. On a scale from couch potato to bouncing off the walls they’re somewhere in the middle. Likes to be active but also enjoys some resting time.
4) Low Maintenance
Something that’s always an important factor when bringing a dog into a home with kids is, how high maintenance are they going to be?
Thankfully, schnauzers are quite a low maintenance breed.
They don’t shed excessively.
They don’t drool or slobber all over the place.
And they’re very smart which makes them easier to train.
While you likely understand that bringing a dog into your home will require additional work, you don’t want it to be excessive.
Schnauzers are great to have with kids around because they’re on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of maintenance.
Frequent brushing is necessary but you won’t find your home covered in fur or drool like some other breeds.
You’ll also find they pick up on tricks/training relatively quickly which means you don’t have to spend hours each day attempting to train them.
5) Hypoallergenic
The fact that schnauzer’s have a hypoallergenic coat makes them even better to have around kids.
The last thing you’d want is for one of your kids to have a reaction to their new furry friend.
Many people have seasonal allergies and the last thing people want is to bring an allergy machine into their home.
Especially for kids as allergies are new to them and they wouldn’t be an escape from allergens without a hypoallergenic dog.
So the fact that schnauzers are hypoallergenic makes for less sniffles and itchy eyes throughout the year.
A study in 2018 also found that having a dog in a home with young children actually helped the kids become resistant to allergens.
So a schnauzer could help them build up an immunity to outside allergens while keeping your home allergen free (from dander and fur).
4 Things To Know About Schnauzers If You Have Kids
1) Loud Bark
Schnauzers have a surprisingly loud bark for their size.
This means if they go untrained, they may cause quite the disturbance through their barking.
While schnauzers don’t typically bark for unnecessary reasons, if they feel their family is in danger they may bark, and bark a lot.
So when it comes to kids having a nap or simply being startled by the loud bark, it may take some getting used to.
Related Reading: 14 Reasons Why Schnauzers Bark So Much + Anti-Bark Tips
2) Can Be Stubborn
Because schnauzers are so bright, they need lots of variability.
They can learn tricks pretty quickly but will also get bored pretty quickly if they continue being taught the same thing.
Which then means they’ll become stubborn.
Whenever you’re dealing with a highly intelligent dog they have an increased chance of being stubborn.
Simply because they’re so smart.
Which is why it’s important to give them some variability in their training.
Whether it’s new tricks or new places to further cement their learning.
Increasing the variability in which you train a schnauzer is important to stop them from being stubborn.
This is where having kids can actually be helpful for a schnauzer.
They’ll have new training partners and need to learn commands in different tones of voices.
3) Need Lots Of Exercise
Schnauzers are certainly no couch potato, they need a good amount of exercise.
This means it will require additional time from you or someone in your family to take them for runs/walks/hikes.
And this can be difficult with a full time job and kids.
So if you don’t have any free time because your kids take up much of your time after work, a schnauzer may not be the best choice.
4) Need Proper Socialization
Socialization is super important for schnauzers given they have strong protective instincts.
There’s a good chance your kid(s) will have friends come over every once and a while and your schnauzer will need to behave.
And the only way to get them comfortable around unfamiliar people is to socialize them while they’re young.
Taking them to meet different dogs and people while also seeing new places is important.
It will teach them that not all strangers are potential threats and help them allow new people into your home without suspicion.
Of course, whenever introducing a schnauzer to new kids it’s important to supervise the interaction.
The earlier as well as more often they socialize in their life, the better they’ll be around unfamiliar faces.
4 Tips To Make a Schnauzer Great With Kids
1) Teach Your Child Do’s & Don’ts
Any dog, no matter their breed will have limits to how much their buttons can be pushed.
This is why it’s important to teach your kids some important things not to do with your schnauzer pup to keep the peace.
First would be to not over-excite them.
When a dog gets overstimulated they may nip or scratch out of excitement.
They’re not trying to be harmful, but they’re so riled up that they aren’t able to control themselves properly. And this is how accidents happen.
Second is to make sure your kids are gentle with their furry brother or sister.
Sometimes kids will grab on to a dog’s tail, ears or limbs and pull simply because they don’t know any better.
This is why it’s important for you to teach them to be gentle when interacting with your schnauzer.
Third, they need to give their pup some space when it comes to eating and sleeping.
Sometimes if a pup is interfered with when eating or they aren’t given time to sleep they may get irritable.
And whenever someone is irritable it makes them much easier to agitate and do something they wouldn’t normally do.
Fourth, it’s important to let you kids know not to scream or be excessively loud super close to your schnauzer.
Dog’s have far better hearing than people which means if you find your kids being loud your pup might find it unbearable.
This can also obviously make them irritable.
Lastly would be to let them know not to leave their toys out for their four-legged friend to get.
Your kids toys weren’t designed to deal with chewing the way dog toys are.
Which means they’ll likely be more easily broken and pieces could then be swallowed requiring a visit to the vet.
While it’s important to train your schnauzer how to behave around your kids, it’s also important to teach your kids how to behave around your new pup.
2) Let Your Child Help Train
Of course you’ll have to take the lead when it comes to training your schnauzer, but including your kids in training is great to help them bond.
Once they learn some simple commands like sit, stay, and come, have your kiddo say these commands to your pup.
Let them reward them with treats and affection when your schnauzer listens so they continue to listen to not only you, but your kids as well.
This will strengthen the bond between your schnauzer and your kids to ensure their relationship grows healthily.
3) Consistent Training
Many people’s training becomes inconsistent the longer they have their dog at home.
It’s understandable, life gets in the way and things always come up and there.
However, it’s super important to be consistent when training certain behavior you want to see from your schnauzer.
One day of training isn’t enough to cement certain habits.
It needs to happen for weeks on end during their puppy months/years to ensure they don’t learn any bad habits.
Such as jumping on every new person they come in contact with, barking at anything and everything, not knowing how to stay, pulling on the leash constantly.
All of these behaviors can be trained out of your schnauzer when their training is consistent.
It may seem repetitive but the effort will pay off when your pup grows up to be a well-mannered, obedient doggo.
4) Lots Of Exercise & Mental Stimulation
A schnauzer with too much energy and nothing to do with it is a mischievous schnauzer.
Whether they decide to destroy something in your home or they get the zoomies and aren’t able to calm down.
Making sure they get at least an hour of good exercise everyday is important.
They need to get rid of all their pent up energy in order to behave and listen to your commands.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, it’s important to give your pup their space when they’re tired so they can rest up.
Making sure your kids give your pup space when they need to rest is important to ensure no nipping happens.
Schnauzers aren’t known for nipping, but if a kid screams loudly beside a sleeping dog, they may react without being fully aware what’s going on given they were asleep.
Other posts you might find interesting:
Are Schnauzers Loyal To Their Owners? 9 Facts Revealed
Can Schnauzers Swim? 6 Facts, 5 Dangers & 5 Helpful Tips
Why Do Schnauzers Sniff So Much? 21 Things You Should Know
Citations:
Pet-keeping in early life reduces the risk of allergy in a dose-dependent fashion