Boys--The Lovebugs

Many ask us about the personality difference between the gender.  Although there are always those that don't subscribe to generalization, in my experience, I find the boys to be lovebugs.  With their owners they are usually very demonstrative with their affections.  Sometimes this gets them into trouble, when owners allow them to stand up into their laps for attention, this can slide over to the guarding instinct.  But, if you are the leader of your dog, and do not have issues with dominance or guarding, then a hug from the boys is one of life's pleasures.
This is Cutter, my old fellow, sweet as they come, even after many years as the reigning stud dog at Dinsdale he has never shown me any dominant behaviour, always up for play or a cuddle.  He has been intact and used at stud his entire life, never has he attempted to lift his leg in the house, never has he challenged me, wonderful, wonderful boy.
Male dogs, wonderful, give them clear and concise rules, they are boys after all, simple souls :-) especially for the first 2-3 years and you will end up with your own lovebug.

Canadian eh?

 

No doubt aboot it, we are Canadian

A wolf in sheeps clothing??

I find the chickens immensely relaxing and funny to watch.  I can sit for ages enjoying their antics, it's like my own Comedy Show.  While I find it relaxing, I think it has the opposite affect on the dogs.  Hope quivers with excitement, Fiddle works hard to ignore them, Cyrus loves to leap in front of the run fence to see if they will flutter off, Hexe is obsessed with going to see them, funny enough they seem to spook her a little, she quickly trots back looking over her shoulder to see if they are following her.  Mersey is still certain they are intruders that she must bristle her hackles at and give a low gruff woof if they show too much interest in her. 

I love to watch videos of farm dogs mingling with the livestock, seemingly at peace with them, obviously I have never seen such a farm video with a Standard Schnauzer playing this role.  Wait, Fiddle would be happy to 'play' the part, however I am no fool, I know the moment I am distracted there would be once less chicken in the coop. 

Add this to the list

The, 'Things my dogs have killed post' back in 2008 has a new addition, ruffed grouse.  Yep, Hope decided to do a little Fall hunting in the yard.

I think this kill was super exciting for Hope, she has been obsessed with the chickens since they resided as tiny chicks in the spare room this Spring.  The grouse is about 1/3 the size of my chickens, I have no doubt that size doesn't matter and Hope would be just as happy to do the same to my chickens if given the opportunity.  So much for the theory that Standard Schnauzers were originally bred as an all purpose farm dog.  Not sure how Hope's genetic line slipped through history as I don't know many farmers that would of kept a chicken killing dog on the farm.  Perhaps the schnauzer was locked in the barn with the large livestock to work on ridding it of mice and rats?? At least that is my theory.

The other oldster

 A couple days ago I posted a new photo of Cutter, this is his sister Hope.  She and Cutter are the 'mature' dogs here, both 11 years this Spring.  I find the breed generally ages amazingly well, you wouldn't know either of these dogs were eleven.  In my experience the cross over age from prime to geriatric is year twelve to thirteen.  This is when you will realize that they are aging, if you don't have any serious health issues at this time then they usually enjoy a good and spritly old age, if health issues start to flare up it may be a sign that they are going to have difficulty in their final years.  I have my fingers crossed for Hope and Cutter who right now are in excellent health.

Old Fashioned sort of guy

I love that Beamish harkens back to the 'old style' schnauzer.  Wiry and stark of all the pretty long furnishings that you see mostly in Minis (but rears it's head in Standards every few years).  With Beamish, what ya see is what ya got.

In the late 80's when we first became involved in the breed there were a couple of Standard Schnauzers in the show ring that swept around the rings with powdered legs and beards flowing.  Our boy Hugo had barely any hair on his legs, we would wash and condition those little scraggy bits in the hope of making them grow, makes me laugh now.  We were new to the breed and dog showing and would bemoan our boys sad state of short prickly hair.  The breeders of Hugo would try to explain to us about proper coat, but all we saw was the pretty boys getting the ribbons and points.  Ah to be young and naive :-)

With time, research, experience and maturity I realized that this hard coated & furnished style is what I love best.  I did venture to the dark side of luxuriant coats several years back, a pup sired by a top American dog, very stylish, presented in a manner that one associates with the Miniature in the show rings.  She was a lovely girl in many ways, but oh my gosh, that coat, it was horrendous to work, body hair was all but glued in, stripping her coat was painful for both her and I.  No sooner would I finish grooming her, she would get off the table, shake and she would have tangles in her hair.  I showed her quickly to her championship then clipped her down.

I ran into this same thing with the Black Standards when I imported a male from Europe, his coat was...OK, not great, sort of average.  We bred him a couple times to different females and in almost  every litter he would produce what I can only describe as fluff coats, hadn't ever seen that in my Pepper & Salts and was a bit taken back by them.  Below is a photo of a black pup with the fluff coat

Now, these coats are not a problem if you are having your dog clipped, but you could never keep a fluff coat in a traditional stripped out Schnauzer jacket.  And oh those legs, I would recommend shaving them down with a clipper or trimming with scissors as short as possible to avoid matting.  I have noticed that fluffs have all had the most amazingly sweet personalities, they revel in being held, while the wiry coated pups in the same litter would be a higher energy on the go sort of pups, it's weird.  I have bred one daughter sired by that black male and she too presented us with a couple of fluffs in her litter.  Gorgeous structured pups, with that same cuddly pick me up personality and sporting those glorious, wavy, snugly coats.

Are there drawbacks to the hard coat?  Yes, if you are wanting to show them, they take forever to mature as there are no furnishings to manipulate their outline, kind of like when your Schnauzer comes out of the water and his wet snout looks pointy and his legs a bit spindly.  It can be hard for your average judge to look across a line-up of schnauzers and see your rather naked looking dog and be brave enough to give him the ribbon.  I also find that in a really harsh coated dog the hair will fall off the moment it gets a bit long,  a good going over with a brush weekly will knock off that hair and keep them and your house neat. 

I call Beamish a wash and wear dog, actually, you rarely ever have to wash a dog like Beamish, another bonus, they don't hold dirt.  Their coat is almost water repellent, if for some reason you have to wash their body it is nearly impossible to get water and soap in there, they can come in the house from a downpour and with one shake are dry again.

As I 'mature' OK.....get older, I appreciate the hard coated dogs more and more.  Keeping them looking good is a breeze, 30 minutes on the grooming table (about every 6-8 weeks)  the first 15 minutes spent stripping off any long hairs, than, 15 minutes clipping his bottom, ears and throat and he comes out looking like the photo above, works for me!

Vermin Control

 While I was washing windows today Mersey was hunting vermin, rats with furry tails, the red devil squirrels.  Sadly she didn't catch any, but she shows fine 'pointing' skills.

Dog Lessons

Lesson one, it's all about possession, he who has the toy is seldom questioned.

Lesson two....patience is a virtue and all things come to those who wait.

Farm Dog

Different theories on the development of the Standard Schnauzer can be found, one that rings true to me is their role as an all purpose farm dog.

Origin and Purpose from the Canadian Breed Standard reads:

The standard schnauzer can be traced back to 14th Century Germany.  It is a compact working dog and should be so judged.  Its principal vocation was to guard tradesman's carts and be an all purpose farm dog.  


Cutter poses today while out 'helping' me in the field.

Good Dog!

Delicious

It's true I have a 'thing' for schnauzer noses, I confess, I go weak in the knees, turn to putty when I see a wonderful, rubbery, sublime schnauzer nose. Mersey possesses the most perfect schnauzer nose of all. It's true, I can't say enough, or, get enough of this wonderful black piece of perfection...enough said.

smiles for the weekend

Bwaaahahahaha......puppy might not be smiling but I sure am, I always get a satisfying giggle at their expense when it comes to ear taping. This little girl has a HUGE pair of ears, they sat fine...until yesterday, today we tape, and I do the evil laugh :-))

Toy size

Mersey LOVES balls, she always has, she can amuse herself for hours playing with them. She tosses them, pounces on them, stalks them, stares at them, bats them with her paws, chews them...well you get the picture. Today we were working outside cleaning up the yard and gardens after a very long snowy Winter. Mersey spent a couple hours out with us searching for chipmunks, this involved lots of digging. She managed to scare a couple out of a wood pile, unfortunately they were too quick for her. This is the only time I miss my old farm cat, he was great at killing chipmunks. Eventually she wandered to the edge of the property and found....GOLF BALLS!!!! Oh MY Dog! Mersey heaven. I let her play for a few minutes then retrieved the balls much to her disappointment. If you check out the little video below you can see why I don't let my dogs have golf balls, perfect size to fall to the back of their throat blocking their windpipe. Not a chance I am willing to take regardless of how much Mersey loves them.

Schnauzers: A hairy adventure

Photo of Cutter from a couple years ago in all his hairy splendour. Can you see his herding dog heritage? Part Schnauzer, maybe part Bouvier, part I need a date with the clippers :-)) Thank you to every one who expressed their likes and dislikes about schnauzer hair....clipped hair vs.NOT. I wasn't surprised being that most people that have a purebred dog are attracted to the breed visually, then (hopefully) they explore the breed traits and if they love 'em, or, can at least survive 'em they choose the breed for themselves. Occasionally over the years owners of our schnauzers have sent me similar photos to those I have shared of Hope, void of the long hair on the legs (we call those furnishings) beard and brows. The first few times an audible gasp involuntarily escaped from me. When I use to groom dogs for a living I refused to trim schnauzers in this manner, just could not bring myself to running the clippers over them to that extent. Gosh there was a time when I would never of thought to even clipper the coat of my retired dogs, I didn't clipper Hugo's jacket until he was past 12 years of age. How times change, I cannot wait to clip most of my dogs down if they do not have a show career, and immediately the clippers come out once they complete their show championship. If you have owned a Senior Schnauzer you will marvel at the 'grungy beard dreadlocks' their saliva can produce as they age, most senior schnauzers eventually sport a beard similar to what they had growing in at about 4 weeks of age, I think of it as 'beard growth reversal' as they move further into the double digit years of their lives. Many MANY of my views have turned around drastically the last several years. Perhaps it is related to years of experience with the breed, maybe it is my own age and realizing that life is indeed short and do I really want to spend a big block of that time grooming dogs?? I know as my breeding program matures I have less and less time for a poor coat, I want a harsh, wiry, fully rotating coat that takes only minutes not hours to keep in shape. For instance, I popped Fiddle on the grooming table Thursday, she was looking like some kind of schnoodle-doodle, in less then 45 minutes I had her coat raked of undercoat, long guard hairs stripped out and looking like a handsome schnauzer once more. Fiddle's coat has set the bar pretty high for me when it comes to a schnauzer coat. One more question for ya all. Would it be worth my while to put together a grooming video on the Standard Schnauzer that covers the technique of hand stripping as well as a 'proper' pet clip? Advice on how to quickly tidy up your Schnauzer in minutes to keep them looking good between trips to the grooming salon? For those that don't want to do the job themselves, maybe advice on what to ask your groomer for so that you end up with a decent trim for your dollars. God knows I have seen the horrible job that many professional groomers do to the breed. Anything else that you wish someone would show you how to do yourself? Let me know.

Return of the beard & brow

I am enjoying the growth of Hope's coat, from fully shaved ( click here for the video of her ) to the new formation of short beard and brows. I have to admit I have totally loved her shaved down look and have contemplated keeping her that way. What do you think, thumbs UP or DOWN on the smooth coated Schnauzer look?

Fighting wet beard

Anyone that owns a Schnauzer knows the trouble with that beard and the drinking bowl, yuk! Nature of the beast is that every drink of water means dunking that glorious beard into the water bowl. My current dogs are pretty good about not drenching the area the bowl is in. However, some dogs are just plain messy....cue Trinny. Oh my goodness that girl is a walking water bowl sponge. I noticed it last year when she was staying with us to raise her pups, well Trinny is back visiting us and it didn't take long for the bowl area to turn into a puddle. I dropped in at the local Farm Supply store today and while their I spotted this water dish on the shelf, we are giving it a try. This is the website link for Contech the company that distributes the water bowl The light coloured insert floats on the top of the water with a small recess to pool the water, as the dog drinks, water replenishes itself in the recess which is about 1/8"deep. The concept should work, however Olive may be the fly in the ointment of what is potentially a great idea. She is obsessed with the opening in the middle and has been drinking an unnatural amount of water while trying to figure the hole out. I wonder how long before she gets her paws in there to flip the insert out.

Death defying

I received so many comments when I posted photos of Cody and his buddy on my blog that I could not resist posting this video that I found this morning. A hamster and a Schnauzer seems rather risky, but a mouse and a Jack Russell, death defying!

My Big Black Dog

It is surprising how many folks cannot figure out the breed when it comes to the black Standards. OK when they are sort of shaggy like Hex is at the moment I get their guesses of Giant Schnauzer (yes Hexe is a big girl) or Bouvier (not that big) rarely do people ask if my blacks are Miniature schnauzers, something most folks question when they meet a Pepper & Salt, but the funny one that comes up over and over is...... ....Scottie?? OK same color and a wire coat, but Scotties have no visible legs. You would be amazed at the number of folks that ask if my pepper & salts are Scotties, some even argue with me when I say, no it's a Standard Schnauzer. Oh sorry what was I thinking, yes I own Scotties, silly me I always confuse the two :-)

A new mind

Fiddle's pups turn 4 weeks old on Sunday. I love them at this age, everything in their world is fresh and new. They have the basic instincts they are genetically born with, however, it is the next few weeks and months that will develop and turn them into wonderful family companions, or, with poor choices and exposure by the humans in their lives they can be spoiled and never reach their potential. I cannot emphasize enough, you get back what you put into these guys, are you prepared to do all it takes to raise your best dog ever, or, are you not ready yet to put in the time? More photos of the pups here.

East Coast Schnauzers

The Standard Schnauzer Club of Canada held a Booster at the Halifax show on the weekend. They had a very nice entry, larger then we have seen in Ontario at the Boosters recently. A couple folks even dropped by for a visit that were not entered, just to say hello. They had Schnauzers entered in the Rally and Obedience as well. And they all turned out to pose for some photos. I bet the Halifax club has never seen this many Standard Schnauzers at one time! This assorted crew of schnauzers and their owners are not only conformation title holders, but we have Obedience, Agility and Therapy dogs in the photo, a really versatile group on our Canadian East coast. Congratulations to everyone. To see a few of the Winners of the weekend, check out my brags on my Dinsdale website.

A little history

Recently I have received emails with links to historical books, photos and video. Above is a photo from a book on Dogs from 1912. It is interesting to see how some breeds remain very similar while others have drastically changed, for the better? I don't know have a look and you be the judge........Click here to view on-line book Another interesting site with photos, comments and some interesting articles scanned from an early publication, Click Here This is a website I found last year, some very interesting videos, just type in 'dogs' or 'dog shows' into the search archives tool, some interesting viewing. Click Here