Intro and help

[Bean]

Hi all. We get our darling miniature schnauzer on Friday. This will be our 2nd mini. We lost our 1st last year and have been heartbroken. Cry still but now ready for a little one. Will send a photo soon (if I can work out how to do it! ). We are seasoned dog owners but always willing to learn and have found the forum topics very useful.

[Dawnspell]

Hi and Welcome
We still miss Barney and his name still comes up everyday. We got Jasper just over 3 months after losing Barney, he was supposed to be a second dog. He's certainly kept us on our toes Although both schnauzers its two completely different personalities to deal with

[Oscar 12345]

Sorry to hear you lost your little one. My 2nd schnauzer Otto is always being compared to Oscar and I love that, I do now think they would get on fine, so different in many ways but with the same schnauzer traits including not wanting to go out in the rain this morning. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

[Bean]

Thank you dawn spell and Oscar for replying to my first posting. Sorry I haven’t been in touch I’ve been so busy with Tilly our new puppy and she’s been poorly with ear mites and gastric infection. She was doing 20 poo’s a day like toothpaste and squirting it was awful. Shivering when asleep and lying on her tummy. We rushed her to the vets last Tuesday at 7pm. High temperature etc. She’s now on top form and just today had her second vaccination at 101/2 weeks. Now we’re battling with her biting and lunging at us!!! Omg she’s a demon dog. The vet has given us some advice about it so we’re hoping this will improve. We now have to delay her training class until she’s 12 weeks. I’m sure our Lhasa apsa was never this nasty! Tilly is lovely but we’re not loving our bleeding hands and the bruises on my arm !! I’ll keep you posted. Too tired to carry on the blog just now.

[Dawnspell]

Poor little thing. She still might be a bit sore in her tummy making her feel a bit demon like. Jasper was a biting Tasmanian devil, made worse by those needle teeth so I can sympathise

I wouldn't worry about the delay in starting class. She'll get more benefit in these early weeks being taken out and about for as many different experiences as possible. Puppy class too early can be overwhelming for some, especially if there are larger older pups.

Keep the photos coming

[Bean]

Thank you Dawnspell. Tilly woke us up this morning wretching. No sick though. It’s a nightmare to be honest but we’re determined to stick with it. Tilly has Frodo feet!!!! She’s so funny. Loves the garden. We take her out for carry walks to meet people in the village and get used to cars etc. She seems to enjoy that. Sorry it all seems about my dog, I do read lots of the blogs and love looking at the pictures.

[Schnauzer Sam]

Hi Joy,

Lovely to see Tilly.

Be assured that we've all suffered with mini schnauzer pups biting all round them. Just try and keep calm and consistent and offer alternatives for her to chew on. They do eventually stop and from my experience with minis, it's when their second teeth are all in.

My second one (now 2) still likes to have a little nibble on the back of my hand when I come home from work - I call it a love nuzzle - thankfully she doesn't clamp down

Regarding the morning retching, that can happen due to hunger but they will usually bring up a foam like substance.

My first mini was problematical with gastric problems necessitating endless running to the vet until I switched her onto Nutriment raw food and we haven't had an issue since.

[Bean]

Thank you schnauzer Sam. We are now weaning her back onto the breeders kibble from fish/chicken and mash that she was put on via vet during her illness. We’re doing it really slowly. I’m not a lover of kibble for dogs, same thing every day!! But we can mix vegetables in to make it more interesting eventually. I would try raw food but I worry about salmonella. Our first schnauzer had digestive problems after contracting hepatitis when she was young. She was then raised on home cooked food as she was diagnosed with ibd. I do hope Tilly isn’t going to suffer the same! We did do our homework when getting Tilly from a accredited breeder so hopefully she’ll be ok.

[zeta1454]

Hi Joy - glad to hear that Tilly’s health is improving

Just a few comments re your last post:
Did you get Tilly from a member of the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeder Scheme? I wasn’t sure what you meant by an ‘accredited’ breeder. If the breeder was a member of the ABS, you should have received a copy of the vet check that was done before you collected Tilly as this is an ABS requirement and I am surprised that she has been so poorly if she was in good health at 8 weeks old. Ear mites in particular are usually contracted from close contact with another infected dog and I would have thought the breeder would have noticed this in their other dogs too.

Regarding raw food and the risk of salmonella, dogs rarely suffer from salmonellosis but there is a risk to humans if good hygiene is not followed when handling raw meat although this is no different to preparing raw meat for human meals. Dry food has historically proved a greater risk of being contaminated with salmonella as many brands use very poor quality ingredients which would be unfit for consumption if not processed at very high temperatures, whereas many small scale raw food manufacturers providing prepared raw meat and meals for dogs have high standards of hygiene, comply with DEFRA standards (in the UK) for meat and use meat that is of human food grade quality.

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/dog-food ... index.html

There is an interesting article here discussing salmonella in dog food both raw and dry:

https://dogsfirst.ie/first-case-of-salm ... -dog-food/

We have raised numerous litters of puppies from weaning onto raw food and have fed raw for thirteen years now and all our dogs have thrived on this and have good digestive health. We currently have 12 dogs ranging in age from 16 weeks to 13 years and we even transferred three of our first miniature schnauzers to raw from kibble when they were at the time 7, 11 and 12 years of age with no issues at all.

Although I do understand your anxiety over Tilly having chronic digestive issues if your previous mini suffered this after contracting hepatitis, there shouldn’t necessarily be any reason why Tilly’s digestion should be poor if she is fed good quality food. If you prefer to home cook food rather than raw, it could be a better choice than highly processed kibble. Have a look at the All About Dog Food website which has a good analysis of many different brands and types of food for dogs and a glossary explaining the meaning of some of the ingredients added to commercial brands:

https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

[Bean]

Dear Zeta1454

Thank you for your help. Yes Tilly was from a kennel club accredited breeder. We got lots of information and the breeder told us to contact him anytime should we need help. All their dogs were friendly and well looked after.

Would I be able to home cook Tilly’s food during puppyhood? I’d be concerned about lack of vitamins and minerals for her growing bones. Most of our past dogs were rescued and fed in butchers tripe with no problems, but it seems I’ve gone mental after having a poorly schnauzer before! I don’t mind at all cooking home food for her when she’s grown but if I can do it now then I would. Vets do seem to frown on it though!! Aargh

I have looked at the allaboutdogfood website but Happy dog food is not mentioned on there! Also I worry about high protein kibble for schnauzers. I think I’m in a state over this. I’ll close now so not to be a bother.

[Oscar 12345]

Hi Joy, another raw feeder here and I can't recommend it enough... regarding puppy class, if you can get hold of sibling details and arrange puppy dates with them I think that it even better then a really early puppy class. It keeps the socialisation going and they learn a huge amount from free play. You can start lots of early training at home. Both my schnauzers were a bit of a nightmare at puppy class. Had to pull Otto out of 2 of them as he got hysterical and I just couldn't bare the embarrassment.

[Bean]

I can imagine Tilly being like Oscar! To cap it all we’ve just had her stool results! She’s had Giardia!! We’re all just about fed up with it all! Had to disinfect toys, bedding, food bowls etc. Her strange poo started second day we had her and if it takes 5 days to appear that means she had it when we got her. It’s all been a terrible start for us and without my daughter and son-in-law to help us I think we’d have given up. We know it’s not her fault but after our devastation over our lovely schnauzer last year it’s been too stressful! I just keep saying ‘end result’ when she’s grown up!!! If there had been a rescue schnauzer we would have given it a home but I suppose these things are sent to try us! Tilly is now in more medicine.

[Dawnspell]

Poor little thing. Hopefully you can now start to get some routines in place, that will make things easier.

Don't worry you're not the first and you won't be the last to find having a puppy stressful. Just keep posting any questions you have, one of us will have a little pearl of wisdom

[zeta1454]

Poor little Tilly and I am so sorry to hear about the stress all this has caused you. Have you spoken to Tilly’s breeder about her illnesses as it sounds, from the infectious nature of these illnesses, as though the other dogs at the premises could be infected.

If Tilly’s breeder is a member of the Assured Breeder Scheme, I would also let the Kennel Club know what has happened here. You will have received the purple ABS Puppy Wallet when you collected Tilly from the breeder with copies of the signed Contract of Sale; the certificate from the vet who checked Tilly before you collected her; the pedigree papers and microchip details, guide to puppy rearing etc. and also a short questionnaire to be returned to the Kennel Club about your experience with this breeder. If you have not already returned this then I would get it sent out with details of what has happened. If you have already sent it back, I would still inform them. Breeders on the ABS are committed to the highest welfare standards for their puppies and, if that is not the case as it would seem to be here, however pleasant the individual may be, the Kennel Club should be aware that puppies from their breeding establishment have left in a very poor state of health more typical of a backyard breeder or puppy farm.

Do also be aware, although I am sure the vet will have advised you regarding this, that if Tilly was in a poor state of health on receiving her vaccinations, they may not have immunised her. For the best response to a vaccine, the puppy must be in a good health, fit and well as stated on the vaccine data sheet:

“Only healthy dogs should be vaccinated”

You will have to keep Tilly protected until she is fully recovered and most likely wait for any further vaccination until she is no longer receiving other medication although you are no doubt keeping her away from other dogs etc. already. If the vaccine course was theoretically completed, then I would recommend having a titre test done once Tilly is well, at about 20 weeks of age to give reassurance that the vaccines have immunised her.

Take care and do bear in mind that rescue dogs can come with a range of issues both traumatic psychological issues and health concerns so getting a rescue dog is no guarantee of a trouble free life! Once Tilly has recovered her health and passed through the teething phase, I am sure you will have many happy years to come

[Bean]

Dear Zeta1454
Thank you for the informative reply. My husband is going to phone the breeder as we are concerned his dogs may be poorly too. Yes we did get a purple pack with lots of info. We haven’t filled in the questionnaire as we’ve been too busy and upset about all this. We have all been upset and angry and it has brought back the horrific time we had with our other schnauzer when she was so ill last year with aggressive cancer and a spinal stroke. Then to have all this with a puppy suffering and has been since we had her with a vile parasite has been too much for us all.

Tilly had her second vaccination on Tuesday as she had been well from the Saturday. She hasn’t been with other dogs or on the pavement outside our own premises. So hopefully all will be well now.

On another note, my daughter is a marvel with dogs and she has been training Tilly the last few days and Tilly loves it.

It’s wonderful to have found a forum where members are so kind and not judgmental and allow people to mouth off etc. I would like to tell the tale of our wonderful schnauzer we lost , someone might find it interesting and I love to talk about her.