Dog Advice

Hey all,
My hubby and I are considering increasing our household by 4 feet. We're looking at a puppy. This particular puppy is a male schnauzer about 7 months old. He was not a puppy mill doggy, just surrendered when the family wouldn't/ couldn't care for him. He's housetrained (for the most part- the kennel people he's with now while his foster parents are on vacay said he had AN accident the first day but they think it was stress related more than anything). He's laid back, and doesn't bark, unless he's unhappy with being in the kennel (not a problem as our laundry room will be sufficent space for him while we are not home). We have the finanacial means to care for him, as well as the time and love to give him, so we're thinking we want to go ahead and move forward. This particular dog doesn't seem to have the "negative" characteristics associated with being a schnauzer (barking namely), nor with being male (peeing on things). Plus he's great with other dogs and kids so he should fit in well in our home and our neighborhood. The only reason we're apprehensive is because this is both of our first dog adoption as adults (our parents took care of this when we were young'n's) so we want to make sure we're making an informed decision

Anyone have any words of wisdom about adopting dogs?
Opinions about Schnauzers?
Opinions about Gender?
Do you think temperament can TRUMP breed/ gender characteristics?

Anything???

I should add that we won't be locking him in the laundry room, he'll have a gate to keep him from entering the larger part of the kitchen/ dining room. (as long as he isn't a jumper/ climber)

Advice from my Supreme Commandress: A schnauzer is a terrier, and as such has a mind of his own. They enjoy a prolonged adolescence, are pretty damn active, and often don't particularly care what YOU want them to do. Not that they're bad dogs, but they need to be able to run around and have toys to chew on (else they'll FIND something to chew).

I'll put it this way: If your favorite dogs are cocker spaniels and labs, then this might not be the dog for you. But if you're rather amused by a dog that's kindof a fuckhead, then go for it. My sister-in-law has had a schnauzer and a schnauzer mutt. Both were are good dogs, but require a little more attention than your average lab or collie.

We were looking Terrier from the get go, just more along the Yorkie/ Westie variety.

My parents have a mini schnauzer... if he knows you, he loves you. If he doesn't he bites. He barks a ton, and chews things constantly. It doesn't matter what it is... he loves to chew stuff up. Is he fixed? Sometimes that can calm them down, but not always.

have a friend who had a schnauzer for many years. They were very happy with it..I would have poisoned that SOB.

Funny... we had a schnauzer who was perfect! She was sweet, didn't bark much, was cat friendly, VERY kid friendly, wasn't a spaz at all and didn't have an aversion to strangers. I did daycare with her in the home, with absolutely no problems. The only times she had inside accidents was toward the end of her days... she had diabetes and kidney failure... and it was too hot to put her outside while we were away from the house for a few hours.

Good luck with your decision, dz.

Just because a certain breed has a reputation for certain behaviors does not mean all dogs of that breed act that way. Dogs have personalities that vary from animal to animal. Sounds like this animal has the traits that are important to you (plays well with kids and other dogs) and lacks the traits that you are apprehensive about.

At 7 months he is young enough to adapt to a new name quickly.

I'm thinking Luigi or Chico.

nobodysbusiness wrote:

My parents have a mini schnauzer... if he knows you, he loves you. If he doesn't he bites. He barks a ton, and chews things constantly. It doesn't matter what it is... he loves to chew stuff up. Is he fixed? Sometimes that can calm them down, but not always.

They LOVE bacon...

You sound wise in your evaluating if you can care for the dog . Evaluating the dog and his personitily. Is there any way you can take him home for 24 hours and see how it works for you and your family home. I found that if I absolutily fell in love with the dog and it fell in love with me or our family, it was a match, and worked out well.
I got a "PUPPY MILL DOG" and at first it was hell, I even tried to give him back, but now the dog,{ A shit-shu, Check spell can't help me here) Scotty}is a wonerful dog with me, but it's hard on him {and who ever he goes to} if I have to go with out him and leave him . He loves kids which is great because I have lots of grandkids and going to be getting for keeps my 15 month old grandson from Oklahoma here mid-July.
Good Luck with your decision. Let us know, And what you name him!

I do know that i would love to do somthing bad to all the people on nex tech classifieds who are getting rid of pets because they DONT HAVE TIME FOR THEM!!!!!!YOU SHOULDA THOUGHT ABOUT THAT JACKASS!Or because they have to move and can't take the dog....well unless you are stable and ain't movin from place to place DONT GET A DOG~OR PET!!!there are 359 pet ads,i know they're not all like that but geez folks get a grip.
thank you and have a nice day


*just rambling.....nothing to do with the schnauzer~lol

He's coming to the house tomorrow, and I think we're going to give him the weekend with us to see if we can all live happily together. I'll let you know if we get him. His name right now is Pepe, but its pronounced Peppy. I think we'll go with Pepper, but Luigi might be fun. We'll see...


Say lots of prayers that my reluctant hubbs falls madly in love with the little dude!

Oooh... good luck with that with Independence Day being on Sunday. Are fireworks allowed where you live?

My family when I was in High school got a Schnauzer puppy. Bear was the best dog I have ever seen. Because of Bear allot of my parents friends got them also. They are sweet even tempered but will bark to alert you to something. Loyal to a fault they will give there life to defend you and yours. Bear was a Mini Schnauzer and grew to be about 15 lbs. They can suffer from kidney issues inherit to the breed. This is what took Bear from us at 14 years of age.

dz724 wrote:

He's coming to the house tomorrow, and I think we're going to give him the weekend with us to see if we can all live happily together. I'll let you know if we get him. His name right now is Pepe, but its pronounced Peppy. I think we'll go with Pepper, but Luigi might be fun. We'll see...


Say lots of prayers that my reluctant hubbs falls madly in love with the little dude!

Yes susyr is right, becareful and keep you new dog away from the freaky {Dogs point of view} fire works.
Many people loose thier beloved pets on the 4 of July. I hope he works out for your family!!!

Well, he came for a visit... we have til sunday to decide, but My husband is ALWAYS the voice of reason and his head is beating out his heart in this situation.

Fireworks are not allowed where we live, but Hubby wasn't willing to give it a weekend (we have company and he's painting the house tomorrow among a million other projects this weekend). I think that's his issue with the timing. He's stressed. Hopefully he'll have a change of heart. He saw exactly why I'm in love with this doggie.

wilkykav2 wrote:

I do know that i would love to do somthing bad to all the people on nex tech classifieds who are getting rid of pets because they DONT HAVE TIME FOR THEM!!!!!!YOU SHOULDA THOUGHT ABOUT THAT JACKASS!Or because they have to move and can't take the dog....well unless you are stable and ain't movin from place to place DONT GET A DOG~OR PET!!!there are 359 pet ads,i know they're not all like that but geez folks get a grip.
thank you and have a nice day


*just rambling.....nothing to do with the schnauzer~lol

I've noticed that too Wilky! I was actually just on there because I was looking for some things for the little guy- right now there aren't a ton of the I don't have time for my doggie ads, but there were some.
Update: I think we're going to get him. Hubby and I talked last night and he came a long way towards yes, but wanted to sleep on it. Keep your fingers crossed!!!!!

Well.... He's all ours and he's working out perfectly! We're calling him Copper because he looks like to dog from the Coppertone ads. Thanks for the advice everyone!

I so hoped for Luigi.

If the 2 year old could speak more clearly it might have been... He was almost Indy as we got him on the 4th. However, it's pretty cute to here the kid say "'ere 'opper!"

On that note... Taking a dog and a 2 year old on a walk is a whole new workout!!

I have pretty much adopted a border collie mix. It's my roommate's dog but he doesn't take good care of him so I have taken over the responsibilities and now he is my best friend. His name is Baxter but I have also got him to answer to bastard on occasion.

dz, your AV reminded me of a conversation with a local advertising collector. Does anyone remember which Main St Hays store had that animated Coppertone girl sign?

Tell me its wasn't Ticklers!

LOL, no not there. It was a Main Street store. Late 60's or early 70's. I "think" it was on the west side of Main