“Everything I know, I learned from dogs.”
-Nora Roberts
How we raise our puppies
The way we raise our Miniature Schnauzer puppies is just as important as the breeding process itself. Strategically choosing our breeding dogs is certainly the best way to produce great puppies, but it doesn’t stop there. When we breed our Miniature Schnauzers, we know that the end result doesn’t depend on genetics alone. Starting out with superior stock is extremely important, but it’s the practices in rearing that help to develop a great puppy into an outstanding companion.
Natural Rearing
Our breeding and rearing processes are as close to what nature intended as possible. We rely on a variety of practices to raise the best and healthiest puppies we can. Observing and respecting the instincts of the mother is an essential part of raising puppies responsibly. Our mothers instinctually know what their puppies need, and that includes when the appropriate time for weaning will be. This allows the puppies to receive important nutrients and antibodies from the mother’s milk, which in turn boosts the puppy’s immune system. This boost creates immunity to disease in a natural, healthy way instead of early vaccination. We have found that minimizing vaccinations and focusing rather on nutrition, natural weaning and creating an all around stronger immune system naturally will create a hardier, healthier dog. Many breeders rely solely on vaccines as a quick way to create immunity, but over-vaccinating (especially in young puppies) can create other health issues.
Good diet and allowing the mother to parent her puppies naturally, gives the pups the best start in life. We also wean our puppies on pawTree dog food. This is a corn, wheat and soy free food that is low in fat and protein. We have found pawTree dog food to be a key factor in maintaining great health for our Miniature Schnauzers.
All of these efforts may take more work on our part, but our puppies are worth it.
For more information about vaccine safety:
Unsure About The Vaccinations Safety?: Peter Dobias
Holistic Approach to Vaccination of Adult Dogs and Puppies: Peter Dobias
For more information about pawTree dog food:
https://shop.pawtree.com/beardedladyschnauzers
Early Neurological Stimulation
Once puppies are born, they grow incredibly quickly. Not only are their bodies growing at a rapid rate, their brains are developing expeditiously as well. During these first weeks it is critical to make sure that correct stimulation is occurring to give them the best start in life. Simple, daily exercises are performed once a day to give our puppies’ brains a good jump start. These stimuli include exercises such as tactical stimulation, thermal stimulation, and different spinal positions that do not naturally occur during the early stages of life.
Research shows that in doing these exercises, as well as handling our puppies daily, helps in a few different areas including:
Improved heart rate
Stronger heart beats
Stronger adrenal glands
Higher tolerance of stress
Greater resistance to disease
These methods were developed by the U.S military and used in what was originally called the “Bio Sensor” program. It is more recently referred to as the “Super Dog” program. They found that during specific time of early development, using these particular neurological stimulation exercises create the best results. Early neurological stimulation has helped to produce healthier, happier and better performing dogs, which is our ultimate goal at Bearded Lady Schnauzers.
A word of caution: While using these exercises have been proven to enhance the health and performance of dogs, over-doing the exercises can have adverse effects. Staying within the recommended once a day, 3-5 second per exercise timeline is crucial to the success of the program. Puppies should start at day 3 and end on day 16 of life.