The Schnauzer Forum

hello

we got our puppy almost 2 months ago. She is now just short of 4 months, very well adjusted and wonderful. her name is sophie
She is quite a smart puppy , no problems at all, other than some biting and chasing of our cat (to be fair, the issue is mainly on the cat side, she's never lived with a dog only had bad experiences in neighbouring gardens).
She went for her first grooming last week and i finally took the time to take some nice pics so i thought this would be a good time to post them





and this is a pic from the first day that she arrived

Such a sweet puppy and lovely photos of Sophie too

I am sure she and the cat will reach an understanding eventually - even if it is just to keep out of each other’s way

yes, when the cat doesn't run, there is no issue, but when sophie asks her to play, the cat runs scared and sophie starts chasing her. eventually she will learn to trust her

Sophie looks adorable and such a cute face they grow so fast.

I'm getting my mini girl at the end of January and I have a cat, so interested on hearing how your cat copes as this is my main worry. Mine is quite timid, but I plan to devote upstairs as her domain, with her having the option to come downstairs if she is feeling brave enough.

we had a similar set up at the beginning. the cat had all downstairs and the upstairs bedroom area and balcony. Sophie had the upstairs living room. Unfortunately that meant they started meeting in the garden and that's when the running started. After a month or so, we made a second pen for sophie downstairs where we have an open plan kitchen/living room. it's not the right place though for them to meet, there is also a lot of chasing when they meet downstairs
However we found that if we let the cat in the upstairs living room where sophie feels very relaxed as it's the place she identifies as her own, sophie tends to play with her toys and doesn't bother the cat. The cat likes to be in that room too as there is a fish tank.
Today the cat came in the upstairs living room, went hiding under a table and sophie brought her one of her toys! so sweet of her. the cat sat still at a safe distance and didn't engage though

PS i forgot to say, if your cat eats dry food, you should start putting it on an elevated surface. Sophie started eating the cat food at some point.

Oh that is so cute offering her her toy!
The cat has her dry food upstairs, so that won't be a problem. It's just the litter tray that I'll have to move upstairs for the transition period.

Sounds like it's going to be a slow process, but at least you can see some small steps being taken.

Sophie is beautiful. Just a thought. The breeder we got our puppy from told us not to groom until 6 months because of the coat and ears. Not sure exactly why, but it’s interesting how ideas differ.

She's a cutie

She's a cutie

Bean wrote: ↑12 Dec 2021, 21:37 Sophie is beautiful. Just a thought. The breeder we got our puppy from told us not to groom until 6 months because of the coat and ears. Not sure exactly why, but it’s interesting how ideas differ.

we have a very good schnauzer groomer recommended by the breeder nearby . i initially called her up just to ask her if i could take sophie for a first visit to get her used to her. She ended up doing stripping and basically full grooming, except inside the ears. I trust her 100% as she is really one of the best schnauzer groomers in our region, grooming and handling best of breed minis.
Sophie was just as cheerful after the grooming as she was before, so i think i am happy she had that early experience and that she didn't find it disturbing.
However now i wish we had asked her to leave the coat on the outside of the ears longer, as maybe the weight would have kept the ears more in place during teething, yes
We don't intend to show her or anything so doesn't really matter though

PS the coat's color looks different from the 60 day pic mainly because i had a strong warm white light on when i took the more recent pics. i couldn't find a colder light source replacement at the time in the house: my bad