Living for the Present...after all who doesn't love a gift!

HappyNow

Hello DFW

I've been meaning to read your diary for a while now, then I heard a rumour there was a puppy pic on so I jumped straight across! He is beautiful. A friend of mine had a min schnauzer (Bonzo) and he was a lovely dog - great with kids, easy to train etc. Yours has a very mischevious face and I think he will keep you on your toes for a while! x

debtfreewannabe321

hi Happynow :wave: he is gorgeous and i can't wait for him to come here on Sunday! we have his bed in a corner and his food bowls down lol....just need the puppy now

Well i caught my kids yet again climbing over the fence using their slide as a ladder :eek: so within 5 mins i had photographed said slide and put on facebook for sale poor kids won't have anything left :rotfl: i had it sold within 5 mins but they can't pick up till a week on monday! But £40 in the pot although i think that i may use that money to buy the kids a more age appropriate replacement. but at least it will be money neutral :money: i've seen an easel for £45 on amazon they would love and i have a £5 voucher too so once i get the money i will order it -the slide was 18 months plus so they had outgrown it so can't really blame them for using it for other things :rotfl:

Waiting for 2 buyers to turn up this afternoon and should have £7 from those two little sales. May use that for tomorrow for food money. We shall see!

:A

PollyOnAMission

Aww, miniature schnauzers are lovely! And generally easy dogs. My friend at work has one and she's an angel compared to my naughty whippets. The only thing is she's a bit nervous with people, so I would definitely recommend a thorough socialisation programme during his early critical period, followed by a good puppy class. Pretty much EVERY dog-savvy (and by this I mean with up-to-date, positive methods rather than the now outdated dominance theory stuff) person I know recommends this book, especially for first time puppy owners:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/060061722X/?!!!!!googhydr-21&hvadid=4945069595&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6184041471062087373&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_2hh2862ezh_b

Pet insurance is a bit of a minefield. You need to think about whether you want lifetime cover for conditions (although you get tied into that insurance company if you claim, as they don't insure pre-existing conditions) or per condition per year cover. Research any common health issues with your breed (for example, my friend's dog has bladder stone issues which are quite common in schnauzers) and factor this into the equation. Shop around and do the usual with cashback sites. I've found Argos to be very competitive on price and levels of cover. I've not claimed with them before (touch wood) but know of plenty of people who have and they said they are very good.

Buy your worming/flea/tick medications online from VetUK or similar rather than from your vet. Ring up a few local vets to find out prices for routine things such as vaccinations and neutering. They can vary a LOT, even in the local area. I took one of my dogs to be neutered at a vet a bit further away than my normal one. They had been recommended to me (this is important as you need a good vet) and their price was £100 cheaper than my normal vet. I use my normal vet for vaccinations because their prices are good.

With food, don't necessarily assume that the most expensive foods are the best. Some foods are absolute rubbish, and are equivalent to feeding kids smarties all day! Anything with artificial colours/preservatives etc should be avoided. Bakers Complete is renowned for being one such food and it can even cause behavioural/health issues e.g. hyperactivity and skin disorders. Very expensive foods such as Hills Science Plan and others they sell at vets tend to be overpriced and over engineered. Bear in mind your vet may well receive commission if they sell these foods so they do tend to push them.

Cheap foods are often a false economy because they contain a lot of fillers (often grains) that are of no nutritional value for the dog. Because of this you need to feed more than a higher quality food, so they end up not being so cheap after all. I found the cheapest good quality complete foods to be Wainwrights wet trays from Pets at Home (bought in boxes so cheaper) and Harringtons biscuits. There are lots of other good foods too (Arden Grange, Fish4Dogs, Nature Diet etc)...basically anything with a high meat content and nothing artificial. I actually feed my dogs on a raw diet now which works out even cheaper (buy raw minced meat/bone/offal in bulk online, chicken carcasses, chicken wings etc). I can give you more info on this if you think you might be interested as it does require a bit of research, however can work out super cheap and good for the dogs once you know what you're doing

Other ways I save money with my dogs:

Use a cheap single duvet each for their beds, buy covers from charity shops that can be easily washed.

Make my own training treats (baking tiny pieces of liver/heart in the oven until they are dry) rather than paying a fortune for treats in a shop.

Make my own tug toys by plaiting together strips of fleece fabric (IKEA sell really cheap fleece blankets which are ideal for this).

Learn to do things like cutting your dog's nails yourself. I guess you will need to get your schnauzer's coat regularly clipped; maybe think about investing in some clippers and learning yourself? My friend has just done this and it saves her a fortune!

Try to avoid expensive puppy pads etc when toilet training. Pads are actually not a great way to toilet train because it encourages the dog to go inside. Instead, praise and reward the dog for going outside and prepare for the odd accident in the house. Never tell the dog off for going in the house, even if you catch him in the act, because this can make him scared to go in front of you (and might make him hide behind the sofa to do it, or be too scared to do it out on walks with you).

The best thing for cleaning up toilet accidents is biological washing powder. The enzymes break down the urine etc to remove the odour, therefore making the dog less likely to toilet there again. Expensive pet odour eliminator sprays aren't worth the money, and don't always remove the full smell to the dog. Biological washing powder mixed with water is cheap, effective and smells nice

If you want to buy squeaky/soft toys etc try looking in TK Maxx/Home Sense. Charity shops are also good, but make sure soft toys don't have hard eyes etc.

I'm sure I'll think of some more things but that's all for now! I'm so excited for you

Edit: This is a great website for comparing different foods
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/

debtfreewannabe321

Oh wow! Polly thanks for all that! I've already bought him 2beds and toilet training pads! But were cheap from home bargains (2 beds for a tenner) but won't bother buying anymore pads now after what you say (makes total sense!)

I've booked him in for jabs at pets at home, but i might call around on monday and see if i can get cheaper i honestly thought they would just all be same price :eek: !

we have bio wash powder on the go so that's great i was wondering about that! someone said to me to get a citrus spray of some sort to spray around areas that the pup might want to scratch? have you heard of this? I remember my cats scratching and ruining the carpet so would like to avoid this if possible! We bought it one soft toy (in sale) and have collected some old teddies from kids room for it to play with ...i will be making a note of all the bits you say about toilet training though!

DO you recommend always sending a pup to training class or can you do it yourself (anything to save money ) i will also look into that book later

xx

PollyOnAMission

You can get bitter apple spray which supposedly works as a chewing deterrent. One of mine loves the taste of it though, weirdo! I think it does work on most dogs. I'm not sure about avoiding scratching. I guess the key is to have lots of toys of varying textures for him to gnaw on, especially when teething. A basic Kong toy is a great investment. You can stuff it with tasty treats then freeze it; it keeps the dog occupied for ages while he licks the treats out from the middle I use natural yoghurt and/or blitzed up veg then frozen. Sometimes also a bit of peanut butter or cream cheese/cottage cheese. You can also use this as a way to give them their meals so they have to work a bit harder for it, i.e. stuff wet food into Kong rather than into a bowl. Definitely get a Kong! You can buy them online at a good price and they last forever pretty much.

Personally I would also take a pup to classes, at least one course. But it must be run by a good trainer (APDT registered) with up to date, positive methods. Of course you still train at home yourself (this is very important), but you will learn so much more from class. It's also very important for dog socialisation, to meet other dogs in a controlled environment. I actually think £60 or so spent for a course of puppy classes would be worth its weight in gold, and could save you money in the long run. You will learn a LOT, the dog will gain valuable experiences and it could prevent problems later down the line that could be very difficult/expensive to fix.

This link might help you find a class (I see you are in Essex):
http://www.apdt.co.uk/trainers_area.asp?area=Essex

A good class will let you go along to watch a session without your dog, so you can get a feel for it. Good signs to look out for are:
positive reinforcement, clicker training, lots of praise and treats, happy looking dogs not being forced to do things they don't want to. Bad things to look out for are: dogs being told off/shouted at (this does not help them learn), use of choke collars/force to control the dog. It should be all happy happy, owners being encouraged to sound like muppets as they encourage their dogs in high pitched, happy voices without being embarrassed, treats-a-plenty and praise praise praise. Any negative reinforcement (telling off, shouting, yanking lead, intimidating dog, pinning dog down) is a biiiig no no.

If you have any other questions just ask. Also, send me a PM if you'd like some links to some excellent dog forums that have loads more advice than I could every give!

debtfreewannabe321

oh wow loads more info, thanks Polly! I will def look into those puppy classes then...he's home now and slept on my bed last night. I was exhausted from doing a whole weekend of manual labour at my mum's house lol (she moved) so i was too tired to fight with a puppy over sleeping on the floor!

He did a few wee's here and there (scenting i think more than actually weeing) and i got up with him at 2am and he did a quick wee then ran straight in the house lol twas very cold though! He then got up at 6am bouncing around and i was still tired from my weekend, as were the kids apparantly who didn't get out of bed for another hour and half!

He seems very at home though and didn't mind being left whilst i did the school run & popped to library & shops def not a yappy dog which i'm glad about!

Anyway must run as got nursery run to do again (no rest for the wicked!)

Need to come back later as have tonnes of catching up to do! And i've overspent HUGELY this weekend!!! :eek: need to get right back on track :eek: ! will try and get another pic on too xx

brizzledfw

Ooh..very exciting new arrival...hope he settles in well DFW... I have chickens and a tiny garden do even a miniature dog would be wrong on at least 1 front!!

Brizzle

Piquant_2

Congratulations on the new furbaby, he is the cutest doglet ever!!!

Piq

happy_but_skint

I bet the kids are spoiling him! Your doing brilliant with the facebook sales our area dont seem that great with it, I have put loads on and got no-where I have only seen 1 thing sold the rest keep bumping the posts up.

abba1772

aww hope you're enjoying your new bundle of furriness xxxx