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Thanks for the responses. I think the stitches are pulling. The drug she is on is Caprive/Carpofen. She is jumpy but reluctant to move. Just one more day of medication so I will see how she is after that.

Hi All, I just had my femal Std Schnauzer desexed. Procedure went well and she is now on pain killers until tomorrow. Apart from the fact that she hates the cone, she is not herself. She seems very jumpy and hyper. From time to time she will just run and then sit down and not move for a long time. She is even hesitant to come when I am feeding her. Has anyone else had their dogs do this post surgery? I wonder if it's just the discomfort from the stitches or a reaction to the pain killer. Thanks

Hi. I take my dog to Brandon Park Vet in Glen Waverley and find the vets there really good to deal with. The nurses are really helpful as well.

Good suggestions here already. Just hang in there. I have just gone through the new puppy stage as well, so can empathize. They sure know how to push our buttons. The first time we left Pepper alone, we just had to block her crying out which was hard. But after a few days, she settled.

Thanks for this. That's how I am approaching it now. Will hold it off for as long as I can. The breeder said that they tend to get to their full height at around 8 months, so will wait till that age. If she happens to have her first season by then, we will just manage it as best as we can. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences/thoughts.

Thanks for all the input on this. I have contacted the breeder and she says that they normally get their first season around 9 months, so I can wait a little. However, I do have a male dog (desexed). Will the male dog go after her in her first season even if he is desexed? He was desexed around 3 months old as I got him from a shelter and they desex very early. I think this will be the major point in deciding when to get it done.

I do trust the breeder. Just seeking other experiences as the subject was brought up to me again recently. I will be speaking to my vet again before deciding when to get it done. I do have another dog that is a desexed male, so no sure how that would complicate things.

She is a Standard Schnauzer. At what age do they normally get their first season?

Hi, Pepper just turned 5 months old and the breeder and vets advice is to desex at about 5 1/2 to 6 months old. But someone recently commented that we should wait till 12 months or at least till her first season. Then there are others who say do it before her first season. The main reason seems to be to let her hormones kick in for growth and development. I am just seeking your experiences of when you desex your dog and what your experience was in terms of pros and cons of doing it at a particular age. Also, any tips of things to keep an eye on when desexing. Thanks

'hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?... That's what I got from the Schanuzer Club website anyway. Will try and search more on the origins of the name when I have some time.

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

Thanks for the suggestions. I took the time to view the Reinforcement zone videos on the weekend and have started to train the heel position separately from loose lead walking. No walks yesterday and today due to the hot weather in Melbourne.

Thanks for the tips. Yesterday took her out for a walk and made it a point to mark and reward whenever she was at my side.I also stopped when she started pulling and told her to get back to heel. Made things lot better. I will keep working on that and see how she progresses. Thanks all.

Hi, So I have a 5 month old standard schnauzer. We have been to puppy pre school and are just waiting to get started on proper obedience training when the next course starts. So far, she has been great to train. Very keen to work. She sits/drops well and waits for her food until she is given the release command. The area I am struggling with is getting her to walk well on the lead. I have done some walking on in the lead in my backyard as a start and she seems to do ok there. But once we go out, she gets distracted, starts pulling away or sometimes just sits in one place and not move if there is something that gets her attention. It's worse when she is out with my older dog. She just tries to run alongside him and play. I have stopped taking both dogs out at the same time. Some of the things I have tried are stopping when there is tension on the lead and going in a different direction when she pulls in one direction. Not sure if I have made it worse. It is the one thing I have not been able to work on with my other dog. And with him being a large breed, I had to resort to using a head collar which has helped. I really want to be able to get walking on a loose lead right with my new pup. Any tips and suggestions? Am I doing something wrong now? Thanks

I think the key it to find the right puppy school. I took Pepper to one that was run by the vet. It was great. They gave lots of tips, we had a chance to ask a lot of questions and were given excercises to do with the dogs. Helped lay the foundation for some basic training. There was never a free for all play. Only introductions in a controlled manner. On the other hand, I have observed one run by a pet store, and it was such a waste of time.