Miniature Schnauzer

Please tell me about your miniature schnauzer! Are they good with kids (small kids and babies)? Shedding? Grooming? Good with other dogs and cats? Energy levels? Any info would be appreciated, I am considering this breed. Thanks!

ETA more questions:
How affectionate and loving are they? Do they want to sleep in your bed?

Message edited 11/20/2011 5:39:09 PM.

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

We got Marty, our black Mini-schnauzer in August. He was 12 weeks old... so he is 6 months now. He has a lot of energy, but is VERY sweet. Loves people, loves my kids. He does not shed, I have taken him to be groomed 2x in the time we have had him. I have severe dog allergies and I am not bothered by him at all.

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

wanted to add, we got him from Ruff House Rescue.

He probably would sleep in our bed if we let him, but he is crated at night. He loves to snuggle into something comfy so when he isn't crated during the day and wants to sleep he has a little bed.

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

We had my DH's childhood dog and he was great. Very friendly. He was older when he came to live with us, about 14 yrs old so he wasn't as active. But he was a great dog.

We rescued a schnauzer/terrior mix a few yrs later. A schnauzer was the only dog DH wanted. We came upon Pepper at the Brookhaven Animal Shelter and he is the most loveable, friendly dog. Alll our friends kids LOVE him!

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

Darwin is 4 1/2 years old and he is AMAZING. I seriously love him more than anything.

He doesn't shed and we get him groomed every 6-8 weeks. They do require brushing and we give him 1-2 baths in between groomings.

He is a goof ball and very smart. He was completely house broken a month after getting him home. (I took him home at 8 weeks). He learned the basics; sit, stay, come, down, paw pretty quickly but I will say he does have selective hearing when we call him.

He loves to cuddle, sit on our laps, play, run around. He will sleep in our bed sometimes but on warm nights he likes to sleep on his own. He prefers the cold to the heat.

Darwin LOVES LOVES LOVES other dogs. We've never really had him around children but I have heard they are good, they just need to spend time with them. He loves when people come over and is good with strangers.

His energy levels kind of match ours. There are days he wants to play and run but if we're having a lazy day he just hangs out with us on the couch.

There were a few rough patches when he was a puppy. He destroyed a few pairs of shoes, ripped a few impatients out of the ground in my yard and has eaten 5 pairs of eye glasses but any breed can be destructive when they're puppies.

He also loves the snow but hates the rain and LOVES to shred paper. He also has a tendency to eat things that crunch. He won't kill bugs but barks at them so as to alert us to the danger. They have amazing hearing so they will bark when they hear the mailman or anyone coming to the door.

He does some strange things like drag his bed across the living room so it's directly in the sun coming in through the windows. He has a bone that he carries from room to room before bed time and he has NEVER destroyed one of his toys. He still has toys that he got when he was a baby. Sometimes he'll trick DH to get up in the morning making it seem like he wants a walk but as soon as DH gets out of bed Darwin will hop up in to his warm spots. He catches bees in our yard but doesn't eat them, they sit in his mouth, I have no idea why they don't sting him... He also yodels, it's hysterical.

I really love the breed. He's such a mush and always makes us a laugh.

ETA: Sorry for the novel, I just love talking about him

In case you were interested we got him from a breeder up in Brookville. Carolane Miniature Schnauzers (516) 626-1524

She was VERY old when we got him and I honestly don't know if she's still breeding but Darwin is very healthy and I know a few people who have also gotten dogs from her who were very happy.

Message edited 11/20/2011 10:37:35 PM.

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

We have an almost 3 year old mini schnauzer and she is amazing!! we get her groomed about 5 times and year- we like her fuzzy, she doesn't shed at all. Daisy has a good amount of energy but is very mushy and loving, she sleeps in our bed most nights and enjoys our company alot, she is a very social dog. We live in a condo complex and most people know Daisy, she is very popular she gets along well with other dogs especially males. Like a PP said Daisy never destroys her toys she has ones from when she was a baby, she does the same thing with bugs she traps them between her paws and stares at them and barks to let you know she has one, Daisy can be very vocal. We are in love with her more than you can imagine she is a great companion and fits into our family perfectly. I am 39 weeks pregnant and I think Daisy truly knows, she likes to lay on my stomach and DH and I always tell her to kiss the baby and she will lick my belly
Good luck, I think you can't go wrong with a mini schnazuer!!

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

We have two Mini Schnauzers... Charlotte and Reagan. Charlotte (currently curled up atop a pillow next to me on the couch) is almost six years old. Reagan (currently curled up RIGHT next to me while I type this on my laptop) will be two in April.

My parents had a schnauzer a million years ago when my sister was real little. So, when Vinny and I were looking for a good pet of the canine kind, my parents suggested this breed. We had no idea what a wonderful dog we were going to get! Charlotte, as a puppy, was the sweetest, most easy-going, and loveable little girl. She, and Reagan for that matter, have a "human expression" - they will look you right in the eye with like a puppy-dog/child-like face. It's like they read our minds! They know what I say - when I say, go to your bed, do you need to go out?, ok come on (when I'm leaving in the AM), they know exactly what to do and trot over to their bed, the door, or down to their area when we go to work. It's just amazing - it's like they speak our language. They know when I'm sick, they know when I am happy -- they kind of just go with our mood. If I'm watching TV, they will sit and watch TV. If Vinny is being playful with me they are playful. When I clean the house, they are my two little shadows - they just walk around with me and follow me.

They are very protective of our home - in a good way. Reagan does not bark at all which is very unlike a typical terrier! Charlotte barks when someone comes to the door to 'alert' us. Neither of them have EVER snapped at anyone, bit anyone, or tried to bite anyone - ever. We have discouraged this since day one. They are EXTREMELY OBEDIENT. When we tell them what we like or don't like, they know, and they act accordingly. It's like they just want to please us. Char and Reagan know over eight commands on both verbal and non-verbal cues - my husband taught them, almost effortlessly, on his own to do things like: sit, down, lay down, head down, dead dog, paw, up, etc.

They LOVE people and THRIVE on attention and affection. All they want in life is to be loved. Reagan, especially, LOVES people. We live in a condo community and she knows which houses have people living in them who sometimes (when we walk her) will come out and pet her. So, she will kind of 'slow down' and look for the people to hopefully come out as we walk by! People can't get over her and how loving she is. Charlotte is very "us" oriented -- loves to say "hi" to other people but she is all about our family - my husband, me, my parents, his parents, our siblings, etc. She is very loyal. They have distinct personalities - Reagan and Char are very different and yet very similar. They are extremely close.

Both Reagan and Charlotte, among all else, ADORE children. I think they feel like the kids are about their size - but without fur, so I feel like the dogs either think they are almost human or that kids are almost like a fellow dog LOL it's bizarre but they just love kids. In fact, one time, in Port Jefferson, we were walking Charlotte and a five year old boy wanted to pet her. So, he was and I was chatting with his mom. At one point, I wasn't paying attention, and I heard whining... I look down and he is pulling (with one hand) Char's tail, and with the other hand her ear! She is whining in pain -- but doing nothing else. Just hoping I will notice and ask him to stop. She never nipped him, bit him, nothing. The mother was SHOCKED. She said, I cannot believe she didn't bite him. So, I said oh no - we trained her that biting is unacceptable. So she goes "and she listens?!" I thought, of course she does! They do whatever we say! lol!

They enjoy a brisk walk but they don't "need" one daily -- if it rains, we can get away without taking them and they are fine. They, actually, don't like inclement weather lol.

They sleep with us in the bed every single night once over the age of one -- before one year old, when pups, they were crate-trained, which is A-number one a must when you get a dog. I highly recommend it and strictly. It's hard because they are smart so they master the "piddle" immediately and they were really "trained" within a matter of two or so weeks because we kept them on a strict schedule so they picked it up right away. So it was tempting to let them out of the crate but until they are out of the puppy stage, so about a year, we crated them at night in our bedroom. They were fine with it AS LONG AS they were in the same room as us. They are very loving and attached to their owners so they want to be with us especially when pups. Usually, schnauzers love the whole family but they will develop a "favorite person" that they love most of all -- you can see they have an affection for them slightly more than other people. For Charlotte, it is me. For Reagan, it is Vinny.

My sister has a schnauzer too - Lily - and her favorite person was my grandfather before he passed. It's just funny how she took to him. My mom and dad have a schnauzer too now (everyone followed suit after we got Char b/c they are addicting!) - Teddy is their dog and his favorite is my mom for sure. He actually was trained on a bell to go outside. They tied a bell on a string and hung it on the door knob. They would take him out and ring the bell each time he would go out to make.... after a while, he would just ring the bell with his paw when he was ready to go. Still does it to this day all the time. We trained ours on the word PIDDLE - when I say that word our GO OUT they go right to the door and we let them out. It's like magic.

People think we have had them professionally trained, but we didn't. It's just the breed, the intelligence, and taking the time to SOCIALIZE them -- they were around other puppies from day one, they would go to the park with us and I would ask as many people as possible to pet them, hold them, handle them, especially ones with kids. Then, I would do the same with people with other dogs. The dog park was great too. Now, they just love everyone and they are so used to everyone. I also got them used to the car - wanna go for a car ride? is their fave thing to hear!

You also asked about shedding - nothing. My nephew and sister have severe allergies to dogs and my sister HAS a schnauzer and my nephew is around them all the time and they are both fine. So, that is wonderful. I can actually hold Reagan in my hands while wearing a black sweater and I have nothing on me. It's fantastic. We have them groomed at our vet - you can use any groomer but our vet's groomer is the best - probably once every 2-3 months. They come out beautiful - the schnauzer cut is stunning.

I recommend using a very reputable breeder -- look one up in our area by using the AKC.org breeder search option. :) They go through a teething phase just like any other pup up until about 9 to 10 months, maybe longer. So, lots of very hard nyla type bones that can't come apart and are hard to destory really help!

Hope that helps! They are the best dogs, just the best. People ask us all the time, how are they so good? And it's funny because we had Char first so my MIL said, you will NEVER get another dog like that dog - she is so amazing. And I thought yeah you're prob right! But then we got Reagan when we moved into our first home as a companion for Char. And Reagan is just as amazing!

BTW, I recommend organic food -- their skin sometimes gets irritated with dry food that contains wheat or glutin - so we go for organic dry food (they sell them at any store - Petco, PETSMART, etc) Just check the label and as long as there is no wheat or glutin in the first five main ingredients you are fine. We try to buy food that has nothing but MEAT or real stuff as the first five ingredients... Like "Blue" or "Wellness"

GL!! It'll be the best thing you ever do!

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

Charlotte and Reagan:







Char is thirteen pounds and Reagan is 10.5 pounds -- full grown. If you get a female they'll be a lil smaller like ours.





The only thing you are going to want to avoid, btw, is table scraps or people food -- schnauzers have a higher level of fat in their blood than most dogs already so if you feed them anything fatty they'll get real sick. So, we give them carrot sticks in moderation and apple slices as treats -- that's it. They can't have any kind of pork or fatty people food of any kind.

Reagan

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Re: Miniature Schnauzer

Message edited 11/27/2011 11:01:40 PM.

Re: Miniature Schnauzer

Re: Miniature Schnauzer