Miniature Schnauzer Aggressiveness

Question
Max will be two years old in September. When we got him at the age of 6 weeks, we had a young adult Doberman named Rocky. For reasons beyond this discussion, we found it necessary to find Rocky a new home, making Max the new king of the hill. Max has always been a sweet and loving little dog, but when Rocky left Max began getting increasingly aggressive with strangers as well as with our son (who is and always has been an animal person) and his daughter, barking uncontrollably and biting if not restrained. In January, we got a female Miniature Schnauzer who is now 7 months old. When Max barks, Lady also barks, though she is not yet biting.

Max is not aggressive at the vet's office or at the groomer's. However, he barks at anyone who walks past our car in parking lots, at anyone on the road when I take them riding in my golf cart, and even at people in cars at stop lights. We are aware that hitting him or otherwise hurting him will accomplish nothing, but don't know what to do. Unfortunately the dog whisperer does not live in our area. Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer
There are several things going on here. First of all, Max was acquired at too young an age, before he learned to inhibit his bite, and, apparently, that was never sufficiently taught in your house.

My assumption is that the Dobie was the dominant dog, and when he left, Max took over as the Alpha, exerting his control to his fullest extent. (I am assuming that this is not a fear response on his part since you gave no indications of that.)

My favorite saying is that dogs only do what they are allowed to do. Without guidance, allowed to grow up like weeds, schnauzers particularly can become most obnoxious creatures. (They are so darned cute as youngsters, and SMALL, so people tend to think they don't need training like the bigger guys! ERROR! They are terrorists in little fur suits!) You need to get this dog under control NOW before you end up in a lawsuit. And don't pet him and tell him "that's okay" when he is being so obnoxious (don't know that you do... but reassuring a dog that everything is alright is a most common error); what this does is tell the dog that he is doing EXACTLY what you want him to do... this is called inadvertent training... you are teaching him that this is the behavior you WANT.

First of all, sign up for obedience classes at a GOOD training center (not one of those PetCo places)... more than just 8-10 weeks. Plan on going for several months (take the puppy to classes, too!), and work with those dogs EVERY SINGLE DAY. You might even want to contact an animal behaviorist for special one-on-one instruction.

You also need to make yourself Alpha by enforcing the "Nothing in Life is Free" routine in your home 24/7 (http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm). They must EARN everything they want... from petting, to treats, to eating and going outside. It is very important that the dogs learn that they are the lowest on the totem pole in your house... NOT at the top! Depending on how dominant Max is, a Gentle Leader Headcollar might be a training aid that would benefit him. A good trainer should be able to instruct you in its usage. http://bargraph.com/gentleleader/

And last, in the future, do not bring in a second dog/puppy until the first one is trained to your satisfaction, as the second dog, as you discovered, learns a lot from the first dog.... both good AND bad.