We brought a wonderful mini schnauzer home about a month ago (now 13 weeks old) and she's been great. We did everything right according to the books by picking the quiet puppy. And boy is she quiet--we had to attach a cat bell to her collar so we could tell where she was in the condo!

But ever since the first night, I've had something bothering me and it wasn't until today that I realised what it was...I have no connection to this dog. Instead of picking the puppy that had a connection to me (chemistry) I picked a puppy according to the books. I think my dog sort of feels the same so she is kind of distant and not very affectionate. She doesn't really enjoy being picked up-she squirms like she's being strangled. She does lick and enjoyes getting pats but not too much and she loves treats and doing commands and she's already potty trained. She loves meeting new people--especially children.

She tends to go off by herself a lot of time and kind of "sulk" as if she's bored even though we take her out a lot and she doesn't really enjoy walking all that much either because it's too cold and she absolutely LOATHES the tugging of the leash. We try to play with her but she'd rather "sulk" most of the time instead of chewing her toys or playing. We have so many toys for her it's not funny.

She is crate aggressive (growls if you stick your hand inside her crate) and she is scared of new places. She's also extremely moody--it's as if she goes into depression and it takes a lot of cajoling to get her to cheer up if you discipline her--all we say is "no" when she does something wrong--it she's very disobedient (biting, chewing electrical wires, jumping up, growling or nipping heels) we confine her in the kitchen area by putting up a gate for a few minutes and that really depresses her--it's as if we hit her or something. For mouthing, we use the puppy yelping technique and it works ok. But not really but we're afraid of doing anything harsher for fear that she will go into depression again.

Are my feelings normal? Or am I being too needy? Have I done something wrong? Is this just her personality that I have to accept? Does anyone else have a dog like this?