Badbee

We saw Steve about 10 days ago and he gave us some insight into her problems that we hadn't thought of. He also suggested some easy to do training and advice. First we bought a Crate for her to have inside to help her to self settle. That has worked really well. He also suggested we give her Petark Calm each day and that together with the collar has certainly made a difference, he gave me some training exercises to get her to focus on me when we are out and we are practising that. As for the kangaroo mince it was a human grade mince had no preservatives and I bought it in Coles Steve suggested it was too high in protein for Abby, and suggested beef. Chicken or lamb so we have stopped the kangaroo and gone to the other meats. I said to my husband today that on a scale of 1 to 10 she would have been a 3 /10 six weeks ago she is now a 7/10, so we have come a long way and we are still working on improvement. I am grateful for everyone's suggestions and so pleased we went to see Steve. A final comment about the kangaroo. Mince - my son has two golden retrievers very active dogs who eat anything funnily they refuse to set kangaroo.

Reading these posts makes me want to share how much I would love a miniature schnauzer puppy to add to our family and have as a buddy for Abby. But it probably won't happen because my OH thinks it will be too expensive, not just to buy a puppy but to take care of it. We have spent quite a bit on Abby over the 6/7 months we have had her but I would hope they by getting a puppy we wouldn't have the issues we have had with Abby. I look at the puppies for sale often on this website and dream. Kelpie cuddles good luck with your dream.

Well we saw Steve on Thursday and what a great experience. My OH and I walked out of Steves feeling so much better. We have been doing the tight thing and the suggestions Steve made were manageable and easy to follow. To start with we have bought her a soft sided crate for her to go into during the day to give her some independence and a place we she can settle herself. She is asleep in there at the moment. We also started her on Petark Calm and have taken her off kangaroo mince as according to Steve it is a high protein food and she would be better off on chicken, beef etc. We have also begun to train her to sit on a small mat where we treat her when she sits a relaxes. We will take that with us when we go out to cafés etc and hope that by continuing to treat her when she is on it she looks to us and ignores the distractions around her. So all in all there is not too much and this is a very simplified version of what we are doing. She already seems more settled but that might also be because I feel more confident I am doing the right thing by her. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUGGESTED STEVE HE IS SUCH A WISE MAN. :) :laugh:

I am taking my dog to see Steve Courtney today, I have also sent you a private message. Birgit

Pet insurance is something I have been thinking about. We have one dog. Is it worth getting!? What sort of rebate do insurance companies give? Which company is worth considering . Birgit

We do Sheena but only in the morning when we wake up and only if we call her up. The place we stayed at in Bright last week didn't have any rules about the furniture or the bed for dogs. I suppose it depends on the owners and to a certain extent the dog owner too, Abby is small, clean and has no fleas etc. so I don't see her as a problem. I would hate to stay in fig friendky accommodation that is dirty or flea ridden and I have read some posts where that was the case.

Hi everyone, I thought I would share the small Inroads we have made with Abby since my earlier posts. We are still seeing Steve C in about 10 days and looking forward to whatever insights and suggestions he may have for us. On the plus side the Adaptil collar has calmed her considerably, she no linger barks or growls when our family visits and she goes up to the family for a pat. she still tries to go towards other dogs when we are on walks but we refuse to stop and we keep walking and she gets over it. We just came back from holidays to a Bright and we had to sit outside cafés with her (unfortunately Australia is not as easy going as Europe for dog owners) where she would growl at people who walked passed, not everyone only some people. By the end of the holiday if someone was walking by I would say her name make her look at me and give her a treat until the person walked passed. She knows this now and is somewhat better. She is still a Velcro dog but. From what I read that is in keeping with her breed. So thanks to all of you for your support when she was in her extreme state. We are all looking forward to our meeting with Steve because I sam sure we still have heaps to learn.

Thanks for that. She seems a bit sleepier than normal, not as active or attentive. I will keep an eye on her, we live close to a vet I won't hesitate to take her if she stays like this. I know mini schnauzers are predisposed to pancreatic conditions that's why I was asking.

Hi I am probably just concerned about nothing but this morning my miniature schnauzer 12 months old drank so much water I have never seen her drink as much. She mostly just goes to the water bowl and drinks a small small amount throughout the day. I noticed the colour of her urine was also quite dark almost orange. What colour should it be?

Has anyone ever bought nothing on anything from vetpethealth.com.au they are advertising a pack of 3 small Adaptil collars for $118 which seems very cheap. A single collar cost me $79.95 at the vet. Just being careful. The reviews I have read on their page are all very positive, but would like to make sure they are legitimate before I spend the money.

Hi just a quick update on Abby. The Adaptil collar seems to have toned down her reactions and behaviour. Today when we went for a walk there were more dogs than normal and while she reacted her reaction wasn't as strong as previously. Bec from pro9 also suggested I try training the behaviour interrupter and I have started that which she loves and responds to really well. Small steps until we see Steve in June.

I gave been trying do eggs by to do this but I just can't seem to get it, any suggestions?

Thanks for the feedback, I have been trying to do sone calming exercises I saw by kokopup on YouTube and have been a little more successful with that this afternoon. Will continue trying what I can.

Good to hear that someone else saw a difference so quickly. What type of training do you mean?

We are going to do that until we see Steve, interestingly our son who is a big man and grandson came to visit this morning and she didn't growl at him, she let him touch her and sat next to our grandson on the lounge, she never did that, so perhaps the Adaptil collar is slowly working, is that too soon? I wonder.

An update on Abby. We have an appointment to see Steve Courtney in about 6 weeks. Unfortunately, Abby's growling and reactivity has increased over the last few weeks and this afternoon we took her to the vet to see if there was anything he could suggest. He commented that she did appear to be more anxious and fearful than the last time he saw her. While we were sitting in the waiting room, a woman came in and Abby's immediate reaction was to growl and bark madly at her. The vet has suggested an Adaptil collar to begin with, he suggested it may help her with her anxiety. It's worth a try because at this stage we don't have any other alternatives. It is so sad seeing her like this, she as an anxious little thing when we got her and that anxiety has increased during the 4/5 months she has been with us.

Hi everyone, we use Frontline Plus for Abby our mini schnauzer but it is so expensive does anyone have any experience buying this online? Is there a more reasonable price somewhere online. We have to use Frontline because we also have a cat.

My son and daughter in law have two miniature schnauzers, sisters they are about 7 months old. One of the dogs has just come back from the vet who has suggested the dogs has Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease. Has anyone had any experience with this? Would love to get some feedback.

Awesome advice I emailed the Delta trainer I have for her obedience class over the weekend and she responded immediately with lots of similar advice to what was given here by some People. She has seen Abby first hand and is aware of her anxiety. She suggested among others thing rescue remedy. As it happens I had some in the house so this morning so before taking Abby to her grooming session I gave her some. Taking her there has always been stressful for her , today was her third time. The groomer Susi said she seemed more settled today, the last time she was so distressed she peed while bring held by the groomer who is a lovely young woman. So that is something I am going to keep on hand. At the moment she is sitting beside me on the lounge listening to music and relaxing. My trainer also suggested desensitising her by giving her treats when strangers come to the house and getting my sins to feed her treats when they come too., another thing I will try. Our grandsons 2 boisterous 8 and 9 year olds came over today for a few hours and I got them to sit on the floor and give her treats for sitting and staying. They enjoyed it and she dud too. Small steps. Once again thank you, you have also had your journey, I agree going through this process makes you see life differently.

Thanks Hank I really appreciate your comments, I have been reading a lot of what you have contributed and find that I feel similarly. I am a softie and my heart goes out to her when she gets like she did yesterday. In the moment when it is happening I wonder if we are the right humans for her but when we get home and she us relaxed and a "normal," dog that all disappears, we both care for her so much. She has bought a new dimension into our lives. She is so willing to be trained, she sits beautifully, drops, stays, shakes and we are doing some new things now, but she really only does these in the safety of our home. :) Thank you for your support.

Thank you all for your quick reply. I was so concerned yesterday and felt quite helpless by the time we got home. I have sent an email to Steve Courtney requesting the first available appointment. I will keep you all informed as to how we go. Thank goodness for this forum it has been such a help over the last 4 months. Many of you have far more experience than I do, which isn't hard because I have none. We do want yo do the best for Abby and your response have always been so helpful. :)

We are seeing a Delta trainer but after today's incident I intend making an appointment with Steve from Kurrajong, I just wanted some advice to in the mean time as we will probably need to wait 4 weeks to see Steve.

Yes they are Delta trainers and I have spoken to the trainer about Abby and we have taken her advice regarding Abby being dog reactive on a lead. When we walk Abby now and a dog comes towards us we just keep walking in the same way, we don't stop, we just ignore the dog coming towards us. It is working very slowly.

I would like to present what happened today and a few days ago. We have been trying to socialise Abby, we take her most places with us, she has always been a little fearful of men. When our sons visit us at home she growls at them as they come in, they ignore her, they sit down after a while Abby will go to them very hesitantly but then walk away. If they stand up to go somewhere else in the house she will growl or bark at them. She doesn't do it with our grandchildren who are younger or females who come to visit. Last week my husband and I we went to a different cafe to our usual and sat outside, every time someone walked passed she growled and barked. At no time did she relax. When we got into the car to drive home she slept from I think just mental exhaustion. Today we went on a family picnic, there were not a huge number of people around us, she sat at our feet and growled continuously but most particularly when someone got up and moved around. She did not growl at the females or my granddaughters but growled constantly at my son, and brothers. I prodded her when she was growling to distract her and said a firm no, that worked for about 30 seconds. She eventually stopped when my husband picked her up and let her sit on his lap, this was in the last 30 minutes of our picnic. She sat beside my mother in the car and didn't make a sound, it seems to be men that cause her the most fear. I dont know much about her history other than she was bought up in the country and her previous owner said she used to growl at her partner when he came home. We got her when she was 8 months old and have only had her 4 months. We are going to obedience classes and at the first class she displayed similar behaviour, growling and barking at the other dogs, the trainer placed a barrier around her so she couldn't see the other dogs and she was much better. Last week at our second session she was much better behaved, she still growled occasionally but seemed more comfortable. She is very attached to my OH and myself, and I would like to help her overcome her fear. Should we take her to the vets first, I don't think there is anything physically wrong with her but she took a vet long time to settle in with us after we got her, which isn't surprising as she was attached to her previous owner, a breeder who decided she wasn't going to breed with her. Any suggestions?

Thanks everyone, it's really interesting to read all the replies here. Abby is happy to have a smell and play with other dogs but we haven't really come across any other miniature schnauzers in Wollongong as yet. Will keep looking.