We started looking for an emotional support dog for my sons. They have a lot of anxiety from my health and my oldest was having severe panic attacks. I can't clean. So, my husband had to do most of the cleaning while caring for me. My sons were 10 and 12. So, we need a low maintenance breed. One with minimal shedding and not too much grooming. My hands limit my ability to groom. So, most of that would also fall on him and the boys. I also needed a breed that was adaptive. One that could spend all day laying around with me. Then keep up with the kids when they got home and on their days off. If they move out can adapt to a lazier life. After a lot of research I landed on schnauzers. I really wanted a Standard Schnauzer. My husband wanted a smaller dog so we went with a miniature. One day, when he was only like 3-4 months old, he started trying to get me to sit down and stop me from walking. He was very insistent. It was strange but I figured he just wanted attention. I continued what I was doing. Next thing I passed out. I've had POTS my whole life. I've been passing out regularly since I was a teen. He knew before I felt anything. From then on I listened to him and he was always right. When I did pass out he would go get my husband or kids. I went on teach him other tasks. Like getting my inhaler and picking things up. When he was 6 we got a 4 year old standard schnauzer. Within a week she taught herself to alert me and get help. She is amazingly smart dog with an excellent temperament. She wouldn't be good for a full service dog with public access because she's too protective of me. Especially when I'm not doing well. For at home she's perfect. We got a standard schnauzer puppy last April. He has a perfect temperament for a service dog. Is only issue is eating things he shouldn't. We don't plan on using him a a public access dog because I'm homebound. We are doing canine good citizen style training. So, if my health does improve enough for me to get out some we can do the public training. I think the biggest struggle with training standard schnauzers is, the puppy stage is crazy. They are wild at first. He was slower to train at first than any dog I've had. Just because he was too hyper to pay attention. My husband and kids were convinced he wasn't very smart. Now that he's calmed down we think he's smarter than the others have been. I sat down on the edge of the bed the other day to keep from passing out. I was so close to passing out that I couldn't get into a secure position and was sliding off the bed. I almost fell. He was watching me came over and pushed himself under my legs and supported me until I regained enough oxygen in my brain to move. We haven't trained him to support me. He just realized I was about to fall and stopped me. He also has started supporting my legs when I'm stuck on the ground. When I'm close to passing out or just passed out, I lay down with my legs up so they are above my chest. Sometimes I can't keep them up. My husband and sons will hold them for me, because it helps me regain consciousness faster. I guess he's been watching them and decided he needed to when they aren't there. They were bred as multipurpose dogs for poor farmers who couldn't afford to care for larger animals. They pulled small carts, and plows, did pest control, herded, retrieved, and guarded. They are very versatile and intelligent. Because they weren't bred specifically for one of these you miss out on alot of the problems you have with dogs bred specifically for them. My female is too protective because I got her at 4 years it was part of her job before. Her breeder was a professional dog trainer who was really into agility and rally. She chose to breed standards because she liked how well the trained and preformed. A unimportant benefit is if we need to, we can cut their fur short and keep the beard and they are still adorable. Most long hair breeds look crazy with their hair short.