Miniature Schnauzer Puppy Care

This section contains information about the special care that needs to be given to a Miniature Schnauzer puppy. In brief it contains information about:

Taking Your Puppy Home

Once your puppy is 8 weeks old and is fully weaned it is finally time to take him home. The most important thing to remember is that this is a big day for your Miniature Schnauzer too. He is leaving the home that he has know for the past 8 weeks, he's going to be frightened and very apprehensive about leaving. It is important to make him feel as safe and comfortable as you can.

Miniature Schnauzer LitterIf you are collecting the puppy by car the best way to do this is to take someone with you. Let the puppy sit on a blanket on the passenger's lap and make themselves comfortable for the journey home. If you are going to have a long journey home, puppy will travel better in a crate where he will be safe and not get to hot.

Althpugh your puppy should have had at least one trip in a car before (when he went to have his eyes tested with a KC/BVA eye specialist vet at 6-7 weeks) they might still get a little travel sick. Take a cloth with you to clean up any mess he might make. It is recommended that you ring the breeder an hour before you plan to pick the puppy up so he is not fed too soon before he has to travel.

As soon as you arrive home, the best thing is to take your puppy straight into the garden to have a pee and explore and then let him come into the house.

It's Your Puppy's Home Too

When you arrive home, you puppy might be a little shy and apprehensive first but soon he will be full of curiosity. It is important though, right from the moment he gets that you set the boundaries of where your puppy can and cannot go.

You should have already created a sleeping area for your puppy. This should be somewhere warm and draught-free and preferably somewhere nice and quiet. Some owners favour a hard, plastic basket with some veterinary bedding in the bottom for their puppies. Your dog wont be able to chew the basket to pieces and if he does have some accidents the bedding will absorb them.

However, a dog crate is a often a better place for your puppy to sleep (such as those from UK Dog Crate Company). It will keep him safe from chewing on things in the house when he is left on his own.

Inoculations and Worming

Your puppy's breeder will start worming your puppy from 2 weeks old. This is is something that will need to be repeated every 2 to 3 months.

Inoculations might be done by the breeder at 6-8 weeks. A second vaccination will also need to be given at 11 or 12 weeks (but this depends on the type of the first inoculation).

Some vets insist on starting a puppy's vaccinations again when you take your puppy in for a check up. For this reason you may find that your breeder won't vaccinate your puppy before he leaves home.

If anyone who comes to visit your puppy has been in contact with other dogs before the visit they should wash their hands thoroughly before handling your puppy.

Daily Routine

Getting your puppy into a daily routine is important right from the moment you bring him home. It will help him settle in to life with you more quickly. Your puppy's day should be split into a morning, afternoon and evening routine.

Morning

  • As soon as your puppy wakes up, take him outside to let him go to the toilet. Don't forget to praise him if he does it in the place you've designated as your puppy's toilet area.
  • Give your puppy his breakfast. This should be some cereal based puppy food mixed with either some warm puppy specific milk (Dogs cannot digest cows milk and should not be given it to drink, in some cases it can cause a bad stomach upsets).
  • Take your dog back outside to go to the toilet again. Remembering to praise him again if he goes in the right place.
  • Puppy's playtime. Let your puppy play and explore your house. Give him your attention and let him burn off some of his energy. Make sure that your puppy has fun but don't forget to reinforce the boundaries of where he can and can't go in your house.
  • It's toilet time again.
  • Morning nap. After your puppy has had some fun, it's important he gets his rest.

Afternoon

  • Again once your puppy wakes up, it's time to let him go to the toilet. Remembering to praise him if he does it in the right place.
  • Lunch time. This should consist of a small portion of puppy specific complete dog food that you should soak in water until it is soft. It's very important that you do this at least an hour before you feed it to your puppy or he could damage his delicate teeth.
  • Toilet time again.
  • Puppy's playtime followed by rest.
  • Toilet time.
  • Your puppy's evening meal should be fairly similar to that you gave him at lunch time.
  • Toilet time.

Evening

  • Before your pup goes to bed for the night
  • A small meal similar to that give at breakfast
  • Toilet time.
  • See that he settles down in his basket before.

Feeding

As you can see from the Daily Routine section above your puppy needs to fed on a very regular basis when he's still a puppy to help him grow (once he is an adult he will not need so much food). The food your puppy eats plays a massive part of his wellbeing. It is important that he receives a complete and balanced diet, full of all the vitamins and minerals, fats, carbohydrates and proteins that he needs to keep him fit and healthy.

Miniature Schnauzer Puppies FeedingBefore bringing your puppy home from the breeders it is important to find out what your puppy has been fed since it has been weaned. Changes in a puppy's diet can have an adverse effect on their young stomachs and they may get diarrhoea or be sick when you start feeding them. If you do, however, want to change your puppy's diet you should do so gradually over a period of 5 to 10 days to allow your puppy's digestive system to get use to the changes. If after 2 weeks your puppy has still not become used to the changes it is advisable to contact your vet.

Any larger super market should now sell puppy specific complete dog food. This contains everything that you dog needs in his daily diet but can be more expensive than other dog foods.

If you choose to buy tinned dog food make sure that it contains the same balance of ingredients as the puppy specific food as not all do. If the tinned food is missing something, you may need to buy a cereal based mixer as well.

Toilet Training

Toilet training your dog is a massive step towards having a fully house trained Miniature Schnauzer.

The first step in toilet training your puppy should have been completed by your breeder. Your puppy should be fully paper trained (that is, if they need to do a wee the know to do it on some newspaper by their basket) a few weeks before you pick him up. It is, however, still important to keep some newspaper by your puppy basket once you've bought him home as accidents can happen.

Identify a place in your back garden that you want your puppy to use as a toilet. Your puppy is likely to need the toilet as soon as they get home so it is best to have done this before you go to pick him up.

When you take your puppy out to the toilet make sure that you stay with him. If you leave him on his own, he is likely to feel isolated and alone is will probably not relieve himself. As soon as you let him back in your house though, he will.

Every time that you take your puppy out to the toilet, if he goes in the place that you have selected to use as a toilet make sure you give him lots of praise. This positive reinforcement will encourage him to continue using the selected spot.

If your puppy does have an accident only berate him if you catch him in the act. Say “No” in a stern voice so your puppy knows that he is not to do this. If you puppy does have an accident whilst you are not there, do not be tempted to punish him after the event, he will have no idea why he is being told off.

Exercise and Play

Exercise and play are a very important part of your puppy's development. Miniature Schnauzers are very intelligent dog, with lots of energy and curiosity. It is important that you focus that energy in a positive way through exercise and play or your puppy will find ways to keep himself entertained, mainly by eating various parts of your house!

When your puppy is only a few weeks old he will not need much exercise and until he is fully inoculated exploring your house and garden should be enough to tire him out.

As your puppy grows bigger and stronger take him out for short walks, no more than 5 or 10 minutes to get him used to wearing a collar and lead. You can then gradually build up your Miniature Schnauzer's stamina and he will be able to go on longer walks with you.

There are a variety of toys available for your dog too. It is advisable only to allow your puupy to play with toys specially designed for dogs as they may others choke or injure themselves. Even when playing with a dog specific toy you should always supervise your puppy during play time.