Look who just joined our family!

by Sirona 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mystery

  He is so cute!

  I am working for a dog trainer/groomer presently and have learned a great deal. Blondie gave you some very good websites.

  Couple of things i have learned:

  Began training between 3 - 4 months.

  Began his grooming early and regularly (including his teeth). If he is taught at a young age not to be afraid of the sound clippers make he will be a lot easier to groom.

  I am learning how to groom at work. I had rather groom a Great Pyrenees than a Schnauzer that has not been introduced to grooming at an early age. We had 3 schnauzers in for grooming on Thursday; we had to muzzle two of them. One almost bit Kirsten on the face. Make sure the groomer does not use sedatives. Some groomers will use them and not inform the owner.

  If you don?t feel comfortable with the groomer/trainer don?t use them. Meet with them before you set up an appointment, talk with them for a few minutes. If you feel comfortable, set up an appointment. Don?t take up a lot of their time when you first meet with them, Kirsten does not mind at all talking with clients or potential clients, but typically she doesn?t have time to talk for 30 ? 40 minutes. So don?t be offended if they cannot talk with you for a long period of time. Meet with them to get a feel for the person and to see if your puppy even likes them.

  These are personal suggestions I have as far as training:

  Train with a group (6 ? 8 people) this teaches a dog social skills. Learning to obey/listen in a group setting teaches obedience regardless as to whether you are outdoors with him or at home.

  Find a trainer that does not reward with treats.

  Sit ? good dog ? treat. Down ? good dog ? treat. What happens when you run out of treats? Eventually the dog will learn to obey w/o the treat, but why teach him with treats and take them away? If you drink morning coffee ? would you like someone all the sudden taking it away from you?

  Praise , praise, praise is their reward. With great enthusiasm! Like the first time you said Merry Christmas and really meant it! The trainer should correct you more than Monty. Be consistent at home. If you make him ?wait? before he is allowed to walk in the door, do it each time you come in the door.

  My Rottweiler would jump to my seat in the car, as I was getting out, then jump between me and the car door beating me out of the car. She is now told to ?wait? and cannot move until I tell her ?OK?. I would make her ?wait? sometimes and sometimes I wouldn?t. It got to the point that even when I was telling her to ?wait? she wouldn?t because I had let her get away with it so many times. Now, even if I have to put her back into the car and make her ?sit?, we will do it over and over again until she ?waits?. It took about 2 days for her to know that I was serious (again), and she wasn?t going to get away with not obeying.

  If you need any suggestions on anything I would be glad to ask Kirsten.
• 

  Sirona

  Blondie, Thanks for the links - I will be reading all of that info!

  Mystery: thanks for the information! You are right about the grooming. We've been wondering what type of brush to use on him. He is 8 weeks, so he is pretty young....but the books say at 9 weeks he needs his first "stripping of the coat" whatever that means. Schnauzers apparently need fur pulling out with a metal brush.... do you have any info on that? I don't want to do it myself, but I don't want anyone else doing it and hurting him especially when he is too young.

  As for brushing teeth, we're seeing the vet today and I'm going to ask about it. Problems we're currently having with him are:

  * He is scratching, so we got some frontline flea spray from the vets. He can't have the vials he is too young. Then we made the mistake of not putting enough on him (or not all over...we're not sure which), but we were nervous because the bottle said only 8 squirts of the stuff and we didn't wanna OD him! Now he is still scratching. Gonna mention it at the vets later. I'm getting some house flea spray aswell and I've washed all his bedding....

  * He is biting ALL the time. He bites us, the couch, our legs, our clothes. The books say if he bites hands to say "ouch" loudly then turn away and ignore him for about 2 seconds. When he stops biting after a couple seconds say "good boy". The trouble with this method is that he doesn't stop biting LOL. We tried saying "no" but he continues and I'm starting to wonder if "no" is negative reinforcement. (e.g. when he is bored he misbehaves)

  * We can't take him outside yet so housetraining isn't happening really. He is only 8 weeks so I know he is very young for training but most books say start NOW. We are already noticing that if someone picks him up and cuddles him (a visitor) he then expects us to do the same whenever he demands it. We dont want him on the furniture etc.

  Well I'm going on too much, maybe I need to find a dog forum!

  Thanks for the tips,

  Sirona
• 

  blondie

  Schnauzers only need to be stripped if they are show dogs. Most groomers don't know how to do it anyway. Otherwise clippers and a comb will work fine. It is important for them to get used to being touched and the used to the sound of the clippers.

  You could do it yourself after watching a groomer do it:

  http://amsc.us/grooming.html

  I just preferred taking my dog to a groomer.

  A suggestion about the scratching, check his diet. Many dogs are allergic to things in ordinary commercial dog good. One formulated for dogs with allergies would be good, lamb and rice is good.

  Forum

  http://www.franksworld.com/wwwboard/forumtopics.asp?forumID=1

  http://forums.doghobbyist.com/forum.php?catid=122

  As to the biting, mouthing, I call it:

  Try googling "puppies, biting" and check with the vet. There are many schools of thought on this. Schnauzers are assertive dogs so be careful.

  Patricia McConnell is a well-respected expert and has a national radio show on NPR.

  Startle response and redirection

  Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., an animal behaviorist and adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin, suggests a method which startles the biting puppy. Just as the puppy bites down, make a sudden, abrupt, high-pitched and loud 'AWRP' sound. This would be the same sound that a littermate would make if bitten by the puppy. The sound should be so sudden and sharp that the puppy is immediately startled and stops the behavior. If done correctly, you will be surprised at how instantly the pup removes his mouth and looks bewildered. At that point, quickly substitute a toy, such as a ball, the puppy can chew on. This redirects the puppy's biting behavior to the ball. This way the puppy learns it is no fun at all biting you, but chewing on the toy is. You may need to do this multiple times if the puppy gets excited in play. If the 'AWRPs' make the puppy more excited, try another approach.

  Stop the action

  Dr. McConnell also suggests that, in some cases, just immediately (and dramatically) leave the room when the puppy bites. This is certainly a method children can use. After multiple times, the puppy will learn that every time she bites she loses her playmate, and that is no fun at all.

  Important prevention measures!

  No matter what method you use, do not entice the puppy to bite you. Games like tug-of-war and waving your hands in front of the puppy instead of using toys may encourage the puppy to bite.
• 

  Kaethra

  He's adorable! If I were to have a dog like that, I'd call him Doogie. Doogie Schnauzer. har!
• 

  Billygoat

  Sirona he is beautiful! Monty seems like a perfect name for a schnauzer. My doggy that passed last September was a schnauzer mix - the best little pet I could ever ask for. He was a wonderful boy!

  Congratulations on the new addition to your family.

  Andi

  PS: BTW - my schnauzer scratched a lot too until we got him on lamb and rice food. Schnauzers have a tendency to have skin allergies due to their food. Until you see fleas or flea "dirt" on your pup, I might be wary of spraying him with flea meds. That can aggravate puppy skin unnecessarily if he doesn't have fleas.
• 

  Mystery

  The tool you were talking about is called a "rake". It is a metal "brush" that pulls the old coat and allows the new coat to take over. It basically helps shedding. The old coat needs to come out or 1) a dog will continue to shed until it is all out or 2) it will mat and cause clumps, hot spots etc? on the skin. Do not scrape the skin with the rake, but make sure you get to the bottom coat when using it.

  Blondie is right about stripping his coat, there is no reason for it unless you plan on showing him.

  Frontline (in most cases) is the best flea deterrent to use. There are several others offered at cheaper prices, but with my personal experience (I have 3 ? 5 dogs at any given time) Frontline is the only one to use. It is also the only type we sell at the kennel.

  8 weeks isn?t young for training. IF the mother had of been ?housetrained?, (been allowed to go out and in doors with the puppies) Monty would have already been housetrained. If the ?mom? (the actual puppy?s mom) had of been able to go outside to ?do her business? while nursing the puppies, the puppies would have learned to go outside to do their business as well, Monty would have been ?housetrained? when you purchased him. But? since he isn?t; do you put him in a crate (no it isn?t inhumane). Most dogs, even puppies, won?t poop where they sleep. If you put him in a crate at bedtime and take him out as soon as you get up he should learn to ?hold it? until he is taken out or taken to the paper. But do this as soon as you get up, don?t go make coffee, or brush your teeth etc? as soon as he knows you are up.

  All I can suggest is to take him to training when he is around 4 months. Even with obedience training the trainer should be able to give you suggestions on housetraining and with demanding attention when he wants it. To bad we don?t live closer, Kirsten is an excellent trainer.

  Good luck. He is a cutie.
• 

  Sirona

  Mystery,

  We do have a crate for him but we're just trying to gradually get him used to having the door closed. Then there are "rules" about how long a young puppy can be crated. At this stage I think its 2 hours max, and to be honest I dont want to crate him for longer.

  We've got a trainer visiting the house today, she is british registered and sounds good. She holds a class that he can attend when he is ready (12 weeks). We thought she could give us preliminary training advice which we can use before attending the class.

  Thanks!

  Sirona