We wish to have a small dog, this will be our first time. My husband is very picky about the hair and so one of my friends suggested a miniature schnauzer since they are easy maintenence and are considered 'hypoallergenic". We both work and are out of the house ~ 8hrs. Ofcourse we would look into getting an adult god preferably form the rescue group.
I would appreciate any ideas: good or bad that you folks have had with this dog breed.
Thanks!

I had my parents in laws for 8 months and what a doll!!!! She was a lovely dog, sweet, fun and just a joy to have. My only complaint was she was pretty vocal which I hear is somewhat normal... She wasn't noisy when we weren't home but very talkative with us.

The only maintenance is getting the hair cut, she was kept in a puppy cut which made life pretty easy.....

I am a Miniuture Schnauzer breeder and have had several people that have allergys and have said they are not bothered or haven't had any trpouble with them since purchasing one of my babies they are non shedders and great pets altogether.

Would not trade mine for anything. Yes, they are very vocal. They love to talk to you. The non shedding is also a plus. No hair on anything. MIne are also yeppy when strangers come around. I find they are much a one family dog too. They love to stay right with you. All three of mine are with me right now. If I go to another room in the house , here they come. They are very devoted. When their daddy comes home at nite they are right there to greet him, all three talking. I don't think you would ever regret getting one of these babies.

I had a toy poodle who is two years old and I figured it was time to get him a play mate.

Well one of my good friends' mothers (still lives at home with her parents at the age of 24 poor thing lol) miniature schnauzer just had puppies.
I went over there and helped out when she was home alone because they had 3 grown adult dogs besides the five puppies.
I had never seen any kind of schnauzer in person in my life. I fell in love in about 5 minutes IF that. These dogs have such personality. The ways that they look at you with those "precious moments" eyes, sit and lay, slam their paws down, and "roo roo" as Merkiba would say ;)

So when I would go home I spent forever trying to tell my boyfriend about these dogs, telling him I wanted to get a friend for Owen. He is a typical cheap guy couldn't see me spending 550$ on a "dog", and paying a friend.
Basically he was not on board and he thought I got ripped off from one of my own friends.

Well I got her anyway (my favorite pup since day one! the little runt), and took her home it took him less time than it took me to fall in love!
Now she is his girl, and I swear in his eyes she can do no wrong. She is about to turn 6 months and I think we all know that is a bunch of garbage.
Puppys are puppys, and they are bad sometimes lol

One of the things I think he really likes about her, is she seems to be a "guys dog" she is built thick so he can play around with her. He is too afraid to be a little rough with my toy poodle (I try to tell him poodles are tougher than they look). He says he doesn't want to break his bones or organs *rolls eyes*

Yes, they are vocal. No, they do not shed alot. Unless you know how to groom dogs, it will cost you like 30-40$ every 6 weeks (depending on what the groomer charges) They are great to get along with because they are very easy going little guys, but can sometimes be stubborn.

For you, I think that a housebroken adult is the best bet. 8 hours is a long time for a puppy to hold it. Mine is 5 3/4 months and I still wouldn't trust her to hold it that long even though we've had no accidents in a long time.

Actually, I think that you will find once you get one you will get another in time for company for your other dog. (for yourself too because they are so great)

We will never regret buying her, especially since we saw how she was treated at the breeders they really cared, they didn't even want to hand her over I had to tell my friend "Um, give me my dog!" lol.

Here is my girls dogster page

http://www.dogster.com/?159197
There are a few of her on her page from when we brought her home

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pope1982/Our%20%20fur%20kids/Sadieface.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pope1982/Our%20%20fur%20kids/tinybegger.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pope1982/Our%20%20fur%20kids/instigating.jpg (when she was actually SMALLER than Owen....)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pope1982/Our%20%20fur%20kids/SadieandMoonshine.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/pope1982/Our%20%20fur%20kids/SadieJane.jpg

Ok, I'm done now lol

Sorry about the crappy couch in the photos, we did not buy it! It was given to us when we moved in and I'm not allowed to buy one yet cause Brad says "It's just one more thing for us to move" Bleh!

Good luck! You guys will have so much fun with a miniature schnauzer :)




Becky

***Edited By: Pope1982 on 9/23/2005 12:59:11 PM***
Reason: ..

We have a miniature schnauzer -- she is great -- my only regret is simply I did not get 2. (Still trying to convince husband) There is some maintance to them but if you know what to expect before you buy then it is only "part of it" anot an extra cost. Of course there are regular vet checks, shots grooming and then the decision of cropping their ears. The ears is personal chioce... no right or wrong..

Min. Schnauzers are very vocal. But it is only a great display of LOVE!!!

I have to agree 8 hours is along time to have to wait to potty -- but there are many other dogs waiting that long or longer. You might have a little more of a mess to clean up when you get home -- but it is all worth it. You may want to get a book from your local pet store and do some reading for your self ... Sounds like all you are gonna get here is the how great these dogs are...

Mine is 2 years old and I honestly have not found anything "BAd " yet!!!!

Good luck ---Keep us posted.

My family has 2 mini schnauzers and they are the best! They never snap or growl at us (unless it's playtime) and they were very easy to housetrain. They are sweethearts. They are vocal, they howl a lot and if they want your attention they won't let up until they have it! But they are wonderful and we love them so much. I would highly recommend the breed.

I've had a miniature schnauzer since May (she's 6 months old now!) and she's wonderful. I have allergies to certain types of dog, but my Bijou never bothers my allergies at all. Plus, she leaves no hair on the couch!

I feel that she's just the perfect size. I feel that this breed has the same "big personality" as a terrier without some of the negative qualities - better with children than many small dogs, has an easier time holding their bladder, and doesn't have that terrier tendency to take off like a shot at the first chance.

It is true that they can be vocal, but we've always let Bijou know that she can't just bark incessantly and she's actually a very quiet girl!

Of course, you've got to find a good breeder (i got my baby from huronbreeze, and she's a stellar example of what a breeder should be) and do what you can to socialize your dog.

Rebecca...again I thank you for your nice comments...It is true...I have 2 mini schnauzers and 3 german shepherd females. The schnauzers are characters of their own...Smart as a whip..and know instintavly how to manipulate even the coldest heart...My male is mine...Shamus...he is mello sweet and not real yappy...he will stop if you tell him to shut up too...then there is Minnie...the lil stinker...Hubbys dog...he spoiled her from day one...he would not correct her cuz she was too cute...he gave her her way and when she began to roo roo and talkback to us he just thought it was the cutest...well...you cant get the last word with that girl...although she is good...she is spoiled rotten and our whole house knows it...and although I have a house full of shepherd pups right now...I only have tolook back at Minnie and Shamus's baby pics or the plenty of pics we took of her litter and we are in love all over. I am so taken by the universal appeal of this dog..small enough for a lap dog..yet big enough for a good work out and walk...tough enough to rough house with kids yet calmly lay and get their eats scratched. I just love them...

Does Huronbreeze have picture we can see??Pls

My Bijou!

http://photobucket.com/albums/y197/rebecca1982/?action=view¤t=DSCI0006.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/y197/rebecca1982/Bijou/?action=view¤t=Bijoudressedup1.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/y197/rebecca1982/Bijou/?action=view¤t=puppybijou012.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/y197/rebecca1982/?action=view¤t=DSCI0012.jpg

I know you asked Huron, but I can't help bragging! lol

Thats ok, don't you have any new ones? I've seen those ones, that pup must be bigger now????

I had to comment on this one. I never thought I would like a min. schnauzer because they were so "yappy".

However, I was fortunate enough to get one about a year ago.

OMG. What a hoot, she is!

She is so funny! Everything in life is good with schnauzers. lol They have a smile on their face at all times. The growl (roo roo) that they do when they want something or when you are not honoring their request is so hillarious.

There is no way you can NOT fall in love with a min. schnauzer. The non-shedding is an extra plus.

The only thing negative is mine (Jazzy) likes to chew on things that I do NOT want her to chew on, but hopefully that is just the still the puppy in her.

Sue - yes, most of those are old but the one of Bijou with her daddy was just taken 2 weeks ago! She's about as big as she's going to get by now :)

I loved hearing about all of your Schnauzers!

My Mrs. MacKenzie was rescued out of a park, so I had no idea what type of dog she was. Since she is pure white, I thought she was some kind of Westie mix. Then I gave her a short "do" for summer and tried putting a Schnauzer head on her and lo and behold, I have a Miniature Schnauzer! But what about the hair color?

I looked on the internet and there are white Schnauzers everywhere. Apparently they can't be shown, but they are awfully cute.

The only thing I would add is that your dog would be happier with a companion. My Mickey loves my cats and my Standard Poodle. They are very smart little dogs and very social. I would not leave one alone for 8 to 10 hours without a playmate if I could possibly help it.

Good luck.

I agree. Do NOT leave a dog alone for that long without a playmate! My Min. Schnauzer has a part poodle/part schnauzer to keep each other company and it works out great. Both are very smart breeds with little shedding.

I think you will find that after they get out of the puppy stage you don't have any problems with them tearing up or chewing on anything. Mine never get into anything. They do scatter their babies every where. They have two toy boxes full and it looks like we have six kids sometimes but I can leave them and not worry about them ever getting into anything.

LoL! I always have toys scattered across my house.
As quick as I put them away in the toy box, that is how quick they get drug back out on me......

They are not happy until every toy can be seen.


Becky

Ditto everything everyone else said. They are pretty good hardy dogs, I can wrestle and tussel with Kiba and she just wants more.

And you've gotta love the "roo roo". Can almost get Kiba to do it on command but still working on it.

They are also very easy to groom yourself, the only problem I have when I cut Kiba is (well other than she looks like she got attacked by a lawnmower) her face and her legs. But I usually will just get the bulk off so she'd be cool this summer.

They come in black, salt n pepper, and black and silver (those are the registered colors), but they also come in white, liver, parti, and other fancy words for the snp (silver, silver platinum, platinum... all just salt n peppers).

My miniature schnauzer Katie was precious. She was loving, loyal, trusting and devoted to us her family. Yes she thought it was her job to let us know when someone was approaching and then she turned into the designated greeter. I learned quickly to thank her and pat her on the head ... she was a gentle protector and I appreciated her keen hearing that let me know that someone was in my driveway or that the mail had arrived. When you love your pet their care really is effortless and yes she needed her ears plucked and she needed regular appointments at the groomers so that
her hair wouldn't tangle and I did keep her on a special low protein diet advised by my vet to help prevent bladder stones. She also suffered from separation anxiety ... something we were totally unaware of until of course we left her to go on a five day trip. Solving that problem was "no problem" for us and she turned out to be an excellant travelling companion. She sat on the front car seat between my husband and I. She was a joy and worth every effort to keep her as happy as she kept us. The good things far outweighed any not so good things. Yes they don't shed and yes they are beautiful. There are many reasons why this breed is an excellant choice ... and so I also say be a kind, loving and respectful owner and in return you will not have any regrets adopting a Miniature Schnauzer. My Katie passed away recently and I look forward to sharing our home with one of her "cousins".