New to Schnauzer’s

[Gingajen]

Hi all,
We picked up our 13 week old miniature Schnauzer, Otto, on Sunday.
He’s the first Schnauzer we’ve ever had, having always had springer spaniels in the past, but we decided on a mini after researching which breed would suit us as a family the best.
It’s been a long time since we had a puppy in the house, 15 years in fact and with an almost one year old baby in the house too, this half term has been tiring! The first night, the baby and the puppy alternated waking an crying all night long!
I have a couple of questions that I hope someone could answer, to ensure we’re doing the best we can by Otto.
We’re crating him at the minute, he sleeps in there for nap times (today Otto and the baby napped at the same time, magical!) but he cries at night. I can ignore this to a point but he’s so loud I’m worried about the neighbours! Is it a case of just letting him cry and eventually he’ll get used to it? Or do some puppies never take to the crate? I’m not overly bothered about him always being crated, it’s really only until he’s house trained and at a point where I’m confident he’s not going to chew the kitchen to pieces while I’m out.
He’s a puppy, and chewing goes with the territory but how do we stop the nipping when he’s being groomed? We’re doing this regularly as he needs to get used to it, but he’s started to nip at the hair brush. How do we discourage this behaviour? He obviously thinks it’s a game when we move the brush away, so I don’t know how to solve this.
Also, Otto loves the baby and thinks he’s a puppy and wants to play, sometimes roughly, all the time. The baby isn’t always keen on this and I’m not happy to let Otto keep licking and tugging at the baby, especially when it’s clear the baby has had enough. What’s the best way of letting Otto know when he’s gone to far? We’ve tried yapping as his litter mates would have done. Do we continue to pick the baby up out of the way when this happens or does this make Otto thinks it’s a game?
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks

[Oscar 12345]

Welcome Jenny, goodness you have your hands full with a baby and a puppy.

I can offer some advice with the grooming and brush. My Otto used to bite the brush so I used one as a sacrifice for him to chew and kept alternating them. Kept him happy whilst I could get on with the grooming. Eventually you can remove the chewing brush. If you use some nice treats and make sure he can see the treats whilst you are grooming that also helps keep his focus from something he shouldn't be doing. A few mins every day and you will have a well trained pup who enjoys being groomed.

[zeta1454]

Having owned and raised miniature schnauzers for over twenty years, I am very concerned that you have taken on a puppy at a very bad time in your life. Do seriously consider returning Otto to his breeder - this is meant in good faith. You have two babies effectively of different species who both require consistent, knowledgeable and full time attention and care at this vulnerable time in their lives. Otto will not be mature until well over a year of age and until that time will need careful training, and undivided attention for much of the time. He certainly should not be playing with the baby - either one or the other could be hurt and neither have the judgement to know how to play safely.
If you are at home most of the time and are prepared to give plenty of undivided attention to Otto while your baby is not around, you may be able to work this out with advice but you not only have puppyhood to deal with but canine adolescence too. If you do decide to keep Otto do be prepared for an intense and demanding time ahead with two babies to care for.

[mikegoodson1]

Hi Jenny,

In terms of the crate training, I guess you need to ask yourself why are you putting Otto in a crate? Is it because you want him to be secure/safe and keep any soiling in the house to a smaller area? Is it because you will be travelling around a lot and will need him used to being in a crate? Is it because that is what you think you should do?

There are loads of other experts here but do what is best for you and Otto and think about the long term.

When we got Oscar as a puppy, although he had a crate, we never shut the door on it, instead we had a child gate across the kitchen and he stayed down there all night. For the first few nights he would cry but he soon got used to the fact that is where he slept but Schnauzers are sociable and want to be with us/you, so when you are not there, they are bound to cry. After a few months when Oscar was house-trained, we let him have the run of the house. In effect, this meant he came upstairs with us to bed, in our bedroom. Our attitude was it's his house too, he is part of our family and we didn't want to restrict where he could and could not go. However this may not work for you with a baby in the house.

It sounds like you have had dogs before so you already know how much work having a puppy is

I guess the problem you may have is dividing yourself in two, to ensure the baby and Otto get the attention they need - at such a young age, it's ideal if you can spend loads of time bonding with Otto, setting boundaries, having fun - it's a magical time when they are young and I firmly believe (only after having two mini's, so I'm not some lifelong expert) that the time you put in, in those early days, reaps rewards later.

I don't want to sound like some 'do-gooder' but Oscar never chewed furniture/covers/cushions etc but I put that down to the fact I played with him so much, he didn't have time for that 'bored' behaviour but I don't have kids, so it was easy to devote that time to him.

In terms of the puppy playing/licking the baby, it's your call whether you allow this but maybe a playpen for either the baby OR Otto would help? A time-out zone to keep them apart?

Good luck
Mike

[Schnauzer Sam]

Hi Jenny,

Welcome to the forum and the world of the beards. They are a great breed who will capture your heart in a very short time.

The idea of raising a pup and a baby at the same time sounds like hard work to me I think in an ideal world Otto would've been 18 months old before the baby was born or the children would be older before a pup was introduced into the family. Still, you have what you have and have reached out for help.

My biggest concern is for you as you would normally be able to charge your batteries when the baby slept and this is when you're going to have to put in the time with Otto to help him grow in a responsible way. At his age, Otto will probably play for an hour then nap for an hour.

I would ensure that your baby is really only a spectator to your play with Otto. When he's able to get out after his jabs you'll be able to go for a stroll with the baby in the buggy and walk Otto at the same time.

Mini schnauzers are notorious for using their teeth but the good news is that this will stop when they have all their adult teeth, usually around 6 to 7 months old. Just keep doing what you're doing and let him know that it's not acceptable.

Use reward based training to encourage behaviour you want and don't punish him. He'll soon learn that he'll get a treat when he does what you want. For both of my mini's ( 16 months and 5 months ) I used clicker training and got really good and fast results.

In the evening when your baby is put down for their night's sleep, this would be a good opportunity for you ( or your partner ) to engage with Otto for basic training - sit, stay, leave etc. Regular short bursts of training are much more productive than long spells once a week.

I agree with Mike, a playpen for Otto or your baby will be essential so you can keep them apart if Otto gets too lively.

Both my pups were crate trained but the crate was kept in our bedroom at night so that I would know if they wanted out as I didn't want them to mess in their crate. I thought that would slow down their house training. As they had company in our room, they didn't cry at night.

During the day they sleep in a soft dog bed, on the sofa or on a small blanket I leave on top of an area of the carpet. The blanket can be taken with me when I visit and the dogs have been taught to "settle" on it.

Good luck with everything.

Sam

[schnauzer]

Gosh you do have your hands full with a baby & a puppy. Welcome to the forum

We don't have children and didn't get our first Schnauzer puppy until one of us was retired, have to say she cried every night for at least a week or even two, hated the crate, we had to give up on it as she was going to her hurt herself. Hated being in the kitchen on her own eventually we gave in & she slept in her own bed in our bedroom that was the best thing we did & latterly she slept on our bed between us. They want to be near you all the time as they are companion dogs. Devastated when we lost her, I needed another mainly to ease the pain so we got another this time a boy, brought him home at 8 weeks, he's been in our bedroom since his first day home with us, we weren't making the mistake of leaving him on his own in the kitchen. He is crated & went all night without needing the toilet & never cried only gave two whimpers on his first night and slept all night. We could not believe it. The crate is only used at bedtime, we don't close it, he likes it covered with a blanket, never tries to escape as he is just happy to be with us at bedtime. It is good for us as it means that when we go away for holidays, or just a couple of overnights or visiting friends etc he is happy in his crate. Don't get me wrong I would love him to sleep in his own bed at the side of our bed but he is happier overnight in the crate. During the day he sleeps on his soft bed in our lounge or on his blanket (another) on our sofa. He was house trained within a couple of weeks as he was taken out regularly for the toilet at least every 2-4 hours especially when he woke up, after being fed etc. Making sure the had done the toilet before coming back into the house so lot of time is needed for the first few months and it does pay off as you get back what you put in. Maybe its also been so much easier this time round for us as we are well retired now & have more time so its a real joy now to have so much time with our boy.

Enjoy your puppy but they do grow so fast, our boy Gino is approaching 18 months next week & the months have just flown past we cant believe how quickly. We were very dubious about going back to having another puppy after nearly 13 years but its definitely not been as bad as we thought it would be, he has never chewed or damaged anything also I have to say I think it helped that the Breeder had put a lot of work into puppies he was one of 6, crate training, socialising with noises, and with her grandchildren as this wee boy has been a real joy. He is so affectionate & loves us to bits as we do him. They are super wee dogs