SCHATTENTIER STANDARD SCHNAUZERS
Beth & Ron Lawrence
25072 Park Rd.
Sutton, Ont. L0E 1R0
Canada
905-722-8961
E-mail schnauzr@hotmail.com

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TEMPERAMENT AND ABILITIES:

left to right Maggie, Maxx, Abby, and Dixie.

Standard Schnauzers were originally bred to be a guard dog, general farm dog and companion for farmers and trades people. The breed is quite territorial and will protect his own. Schnauzers have a good voice and will sound the alarm when a stranger comes near. They are not yappy dogs but their bark is strong and commanding. Puppies should be taught early when not to bark, as most schnauzers will let you know when the mailman, paperboy, or the neighbour is on the way up the walk. If that is what you want that's great if not they certainly can be trained to be more discriminate or at least to stop on command. In our house Maggie was always the "Top Dog" and she usually would bark when someone comes in the yard. The others would join her in giving the 'alarm' if one of us does not come to investigate. They all will bark with great joy at every cat or rabbit that passes.

Milo Devine earned Agility titles even into his senior years. Schnauzers are very trainable. They are known for their intelligence and are curious to the point of nosiness. Schnauzers are also stubborn, at least the ones we know. They love to please and are willing to try just about anything from Agility to Lure Coursing, Obedience Work to Tracking. There are Standard Schnauzers who do Rescue Work or make Hospital Visitations on a regular basis. We always take our dogs for all the Obedience sessions held by our local club. Our dogs seem to know when it is "school night" and are always very excited. They love to work and really enjoy the outing. Schnauzers do tend to get bored if the same old lesson is taught over and over, so we watch and as soon as they seem to be loosing interest we try something new or at least try it a different way. We show our dogs in conformation (championship) shows and always handle them ourselves, so our young dogs are taken to handling classes so they will be properly trained and ready for the show ring. All of the adult dogs we own are Canadian Champions and several have also earned their CDs and their CGC (Canine Good Citizen). Several are also USA Champions.

Grandson Drew and Izzy waiting to go in the show ring.

Years ago, Schnauzers were known to be fairly aggressive, thankfully through selectively breeding of dogs with a more even temperament this aggressive tendency is now the exception rather than the norm for the breed. They tend to assess the situation before reacting so some dogs appear to be a little stand-offish. Most Standards are very people oriented and love to be right in the middle of things. Our dogs and many of the Schnauzers we know of do spend part or all of the day in their own dog crate. We find this makes for a much better home situation than a dog that is allowed the run of the house all day while the owner is at work. Our dogs are quite content to go to their crate and spend part of the day or even a few hours. They do get lots of attention through play time, grooming and just companionship when we are home. We try to let each of our dogs have a special time and all seem content with this situation.

At around 5 weeks of age pups can some time each day out doors<p>A well-socialized puppy should be pleasure to own and that socialization 
starts with the breeder. Our grandchildren come here to visit quite often 
so pups are quite used to children and their ways. Visitors are welcome 
once the pups are four weeks old so they also get used to strangers. We like to 
spend an hour or so each day in some type of play with the pups. </p>
<p>Aside from
mono or criptorchidism, our breed standard has only two disqualification's;
Height (either over or under the required) and temperament (either overly
aggressive or nervous or shy), so good temperament is very important. We
would like to point out that a dog of wonderful temperament can be turned 
into a spoiled temperamental animal because of over indulgence and lack of
discipline on the new owners part. So too, a happy and outgoing dog can be
turned into a very fear-aggressive dog because of mistreatment by his
owners. This of course is not temperament that was bred into the dog but
acquired through bad management. The Standard Schnauzer is a very
people oriented breed thus, this is not a breed for people who want a dog to just
lay by the fire and sleep its life away. He also would not be content to
spend his whole life in a dog run or tied to a post in the back yard. We
would not sell one of our dogs to anyone with the idea that a Schnauzer
should be left tied out. We intend for our dogs to be members of the family.</p><br clear=
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