We first decided to get a schnauzer after my parents visit with their mini. She did not shed, she did not give me (or the kids) allergies, she was well behaved and my girls loved petting her and playing with her. After much research and family discussion we began looking for mini schnauzer puppies. After finding a few possible breeders ranging from "show dog" to "I think this is a schnauzer" breeders we settled on a litter. We found a family about an hour and a half away who owned a male and female schnauzer who had just had pups. The male was a touch large, dark gray/black and the mother was straight white.
Me and the 3 girls drove to the house to pick out our puppy. As a side note... never take children with you to pick out a puppy... ever. We had a full pick of the litter and it was a hard choice to make. I finally picked out a dark mini male who would have been the most perfect angel of a dog... but I was a softy and ended up taking the puppy the girls begged for. A light gray male with very soft fur.
He was a terror.
We read books.
We tried our best.
We failed.
We then decided to do the responsible thing and hire a 1 on 1 professional dog trainer. Her methods required a lot of work and discipline but it saved our puppies life! It changed his behavior from a terror to lovably stubborn.
The years passed and our middle child went to school and then our youngest. This left Obi very bored all day long. He would curl up in a ball after they left for school and stay there until the kids came home from school. We considered getting a second schnauzer as a friend for Obi, but decided to try to help dogs in need by fostering with AZ Schnauzer Rescue. Obi has made several good friends and he is always sad to see them leave (as are we), but there is always another dog who needs help.
Obi is purty!
ReplyDeleteThat was a wonderful idea to foster instead of getting a new dog--good for you!
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