Phone numbers that should be easily accessible in the event of an emergency. 

Ours, your Veterinarian, your local after hours emergency Veterinarian and poison control.

ASPCA poison control hot line is 888-426-4435.

 

Feeding Schedule 

     Your puppy will come home on Rachel Ray Nutrish Puppy Food. We and our Veterinarian agree we don't feed anything with "by product " of any kind in the ingredients. If you plan on changing your new puppy to a different brand PLEASE do it slowly as to not cause GI distress or dehydration. Start by using the current food and adding in approximately 10%  per day until totally on new food. So it should take at least 10 days to transition them over. Remember they will already have a slight tummy issue just with the change in water.

     You should feed your puppy approximately 1/4 cup of dry puppy food 3 times a day. It is ok to add a teaspoon of PLAIN Greek yogurt or a teaspoon of canned pumpkin. NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING. If you decide to use pumpkin please be sure it is 100 % pumpkin with no additives. 

Give the puppy 20 to 30 minutes to eat then pick up the dish. It is much harder to potty train a puppy that has 24/7 access to food. Please feed at the same time everyday as this will all help with potty training. At about 4 months of age transition to feeding twice a day. They should get 1/2 a cup twice a day from this point. At 12 months the amount is the same but switch to high quality adult food. We use Rachel Ray Nutrish limited ingredient Lamb and Rice. Frozen green beans are a great snack and training treat. Before feeding your new puppy ANY HUMAN FOOD, please verify that it is not poisonous to them. Google can be a very quick reference for safe and unsafe foods for dogs.

Miniature Schnauzers as a rule love food so please watch that you do NOT over feed or over treat. There are many health risks to dogs from obesity just like their human companions.

They should have access to CLEAN water from when they wake up until 1 hour prior to bedtime during potty training. If you are picking up full bowls of food and/or water often call or visit your Veterinarian IMMEDIATELY. 

Food and water bowls. IF YOU WON'T EAT OR DRINK OUT OF THOSE BOWLS NIETHER SHOULD YOU PETS! Please keep them clean. 

 

GROOMING 

     You new puppy will come with its 1st Miniature Schnauzer puppy cut. These dogs are known for their human like eye brows and beards. The have a wiry top coat and soft under coat. They are considered hypoallergenic by AKC standards. Professional grooming is recommended every 6 weeks. They can be kept short or long. Should you decide to keep long coats they will require daily brushing to prevent mats that will cause skin irritation and scratching. When interviewing a groomer you want to verify that they will do everything required for this breed. Besides shaving to your desired cut, be sure they will pull or trim the inner ear hair if needed, trim nails and express anal glands if needed. These are all things that can be self taught from YouTube should you wish to do your own grooming. Just be sure to have the correct tools for the job. The face is usually scissor cut. We groom our dogs part of the time and have a professional groomer that comes to our home. Just be sure if you choose a groomer that they fully understands the breed specifics. Whether you choose a groomer or do it yourself, as soon as your puppy comes home spend plenty of time handling the paws. Get a pair of nail trimmers and touch the paws with it regularly so the will not be frightened when its time to trim nails. We use regular human clippers while they still have sharp puppy nails that fit in nail clippers. If your puppy has white nails you will be able to see the quick and want to cut above that to prevent bleeding. With black nails only cut a tiny bit at a time since you can't see the quick. If they bleed (and yes we have all caused it doing nails) a dip in flour will stop the bleeding.