We are old fashioned and that is reflected strongly in our breeding program. We have an old line of superior miniature schnauzers and are distinguished in our compliance to strict touchstone and practices. We are rigidly old-school and the benefits are evident in our dogs.
Many puppy customers are discriminating people and rightfully so. Typically they will read and go online before visiting the breeder in an attempt to educate themselves on breeding screening. Most breeders are familiar with the questions clients are going to ask, “How many dogs do you breed, how often …etc.,” and the breeder gives the appropriate answers. Little tangible evidence is produced. The single most critical criterion you can utilize is insisting on shopping exclusively with championship breeders. Dog experts agree championship dogs are overwhelmingly healthier than non-championship dogs. And many times comparable in price! It’s a simple proposition. You can go to a non-championship breeder and rely on dialogue which may or may not be true concerning their dog quality, or you can go to a championship breeder and view decades of documented selectivity in the dog’s history of breeding. Championship breeders risk their reputation, career and financial livelihood should they breed genetically weak dogs, and believe me, that would be readily discovered and published – the non-championship dog breeders’ offspring go off into privately owned customer obscurity. Word simply does not get around as it would among professional breeders. Additionally, talking to former customers (particularly with older dogs to check long-term health) as well as querying the breeder’s vet to ask if he/she would personally recommend buying one of these dogs is very revealing. Even though you do not want to show or breed – go to a championship breeder for the health, disposition and beauty. It is money well spent.
I would be remiss if I did not, as a championship breeder, offer a caveat concerning recent trends. Sadly, poor breeding practices of miniature schnauzers, i.e., indiscriminate selection without regard to solid genetics, is commonplace today. Some who breed schnauzers are producing designer pups disregarding standards altogether. Standards that have been in place since 1926. Toy! Teacup! Parti-colored Pups! White pups! ‘Rare Chocolate’! Widely regarded as novelties and gimmicks. “Many reputable breeders consider such breeding as a reckless and unethical practice that produces pups far removed from solid, traditional standards – generating inferior dogs with dubious health and genetics.” Substantial numbers of decades-long show breeders see these unusual breedings and sale of the resultant mutative pups as nothing short of unscrupulous exploitation of naïve customers for financial gain. And, yes, many of these dogs can be AKC registered, however most cannot be shown because of violations of standards. Another reason to go to championship breeders. Let me present it in this analogy. Say you are looking for an outstanding, well-bred German Shepherd and came across a website that boasts unique shepherds that are solid yellow in color with a black stripe down the middle of their backs! At maturity, the dog should top out at 13 lbs! I think you see my point. Why should smaller breeds be less relevant when it comes to strict, time-honored standards? Should we think of them as little stuffed toys that we can paint up any color? Or, create pups without the slightest degree of genetic credentials? That’s the entire purpose of standards. Yes, this is America and we can do as we please – but ask yourself if you really want to gamble on one of these aberrational variations from the norm – AND pay a premium for it! ‘Toy’ and ‘teacup’ Miniature Schnauzers make an excellent case for breeding standards. Put it this way – there is a north and then there is a true north. Breeding toys and teacups is heading straight south! Nature perpetuates the healthier specimens – for strength and survival of the pack. To breed toys and teacups is to selectively reproduce the weakest and poorest specimens of the group. Health issues proliferate in this practice. You may have known someone with a toy who lived long with relatively good health – but that is the exception and not the rule. We have raised and trained dogs, horses and goats and can definitely say if breeding of the weaker off-spring dominated we would see whole classes of animals become extinct. Ask any miniature horse breeder and they will tell you, the smaller they breed the animal, the more health issues – although that is expressly their objective. All for the cuteness – just like teacups and toys. I believe the practice is a misguided deviation akin to animal abuse. To rescue and nurture a weak or sub-standard dog is commendable – to intentionally breed to produce one is a different matter altogether. Salt & pepper, black & silver and black schnauzers have been the standard for nearly 100 years. Insist on that.
Again, the significance is this – typically, dogs that have been shown or titled are far more carefully bred. That means healthier dogs with better dispositions. Remember, they can all look cute and feisty at 8 weeks, but don’t be impulsive. The difference can be years of joyful companionship versus nursing an ill dog or a dog with behavioral issues. You simply have to discriminate because there are less than ethical breeders today who feign quality with trendy ‘unique’ pups. Insist on standards that have been reliable for nearly a century. Salt & pepper, black & silver and black pups with show pedigrees to back it up.
We selected, as our foundation brood, some of the best dogs in the country –including 5 of the nation’s most accomplished and respected kennels:
- Julia’s
- Britmor
- Hickory Hills
- Liebestraum
- Dry dock
Our initial dogs were excellent, however, we further refined our pups by breeding only the combinations with superior health, aptitude, demeanor and confirmation. Ask anyone who knows our dogs – or come visit for yourself. All our dogs are beautifully square and 14-15 lbs. Their pups will consistently be the same. Not long in the body or leggy. Visitors are equally impressed with our dogs’ uncharacteristic loving and calm dispositions – not to mention training routines we display during your visit.
Our pups are the result of 5 generations and 20 years of meticulous breeding for selective genetic traits – foremostly health, disposition, beauty and a natural predisposition toward good obedience and high trainability. Customers comment how surprised they were – that— right from 8 weeks of age their pup was calm, intelligent, loyal and compliant. All the preparations they had made for the typical rigors of pup-rearing were unnecessary.
