Schnauzer

Question
We are in the process of possibly adopting a schnauzer and have him for a fortnight while his owner is on holiday to see how we all get on.  However he whines and barks at night as we want him to sleep downstairs and he has been used to sleeping in his mistress bedroom!!!  How can we stop this?  Do we just let him continue to whine and ignore him and get no sleep (for however long it takes!!!) or is there some other way?  Some advice would be gratefully received - thanks - Ann

Answer
My feeling is that, in fairness to the dog, the whining, barking and sleeping arrangements are things that can be addressed after you've decided whether to keep him or not.

If he ends up going back to his present owner, there is no need for you to embark on any re-training process, which will most likely have periods of stress for you and the dog both.  I do feel that, in the event you keep him, these issues can be resolved, but it will require patience and consisency on your part, due to the fact that this present behavior is something that was learned over the period of time during which he lived with present owner, however long that was.