Hershey the Standard Schnauzer

Bonn1997 said:

She's gorgeous! Just wondering: Is she at all affectionate and/or playful? I've heard mix things about standard and giant schnauzers regarding affection and playfulness.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Is she playful? OMGosh! All Hershey wants to DO is play..well that and eat..lol! She is the most playful, interactive, ENTERTAINING dog I have ever owned! She can be incorrigible! They say that the Standard Schnauzer is "the dog with the human brain". I thought, great! She'll be smart...she is TOO smart! She has problem solving capabilites and definatley has a mind of her own.
This is an excerpt from a book I have that is called "The World of Schnauzers" it includes all three sizes. This is from the chapter called The Nature of the Schnauzer: the main characteristics of the schnauzer are happiness, determination and loyalty. He is a happy dog, because he enjoys all that he does, because he only does what he enjoys. He is a determined dog; once he puts his mind to something he will persevere to the point of stubborness. he is a loyal dog, not to be confounded with slavish submissiveness, which he definatley is not; in the schnauzer's case, loyalty must be understood in the noble sense of the word.
I have found this to be entirely accurate!
One must have a fabulous sense of humor to own one of these dogs, and if you do, you will find yourself laughing many times a day!
She is very affectionte, too, btw. She will lay on my feet when I'm watching TV and she'll lay on my lap for 30 minutes at a time if I let her! She weighs 35 or 37 lbs so she gets a little heavy after a while. She follows me from room to room and is my constant companion. She will do anything for food and knows several tricks. She can jump through a Hula hoop, she can wave hello, she shakes paws, speaks on command (in different volumes), she bows and now I'm working on sit up/beg. Along with all the basic obedience commands. I should do agility with her, because I think she is part gazelle or mountain goat, but I'm too busy to commit to agility classes right now.

Oh and she is a fabulous watch dog, which was one of this breeds original purposes.

This is her playing with a toy that is attached to a bungee cord, she pulls and pulls on this thing for a while and then it makes a big "SNAP" as it rebounds and ricochettes off the wall! She loves it!

Re: More Pics of Hershey

OK here are some closer pictures of Hershey! Thanks for looking!



I know I hear something in the grass right here!


Come on...pick it up! You know you want to!!


Notice the ex-pens in the back ground? I have to keep her out of that area because I have frogs that live around those wine-barrel fountains and Hershey was trying to hunt them! She also finds toads and harrasses them sometimes, too, but luckily they taste bad and I manage to save them from my black beast!

bfoster said:

She is beautiful!!! how old is she?
Love the black--most standards that you see are s/p
More pictures!!!!!

Click to expand...

More Pics? lol...ok, here are a couple more!

This is one of my friends and her daughter with their Jack Russel named Scooter. One of Hershey's favorite past times is pestering Scooter until he plays possum in order for her to leave him alone! He is a very good natured little guy..

Inga said:

Hershey is adorable! I love Schnauzers. I have often thought about getting a Giant Schnauzer myself. Mine would be black too. They are so lovely. How hard is the coat to take care of? Your boy has a twinkle in his eye... I am thinking he likes to live on the wild side. lol

Click to expand...

Thank you! She does live on the edge! I love Rotties, too..we met one on our walk yesterday. A 5 month old male...SWEET as pie and gorgeous..I was drooling.

The coat of the Giant Schnauzer will be harder to maintain than my Standard S. Most giants have what is considered an "american" type coat, very thick, medium soft and thus needs consistant brushing and combing. Along with quarterly clippering, unless you want to handstrip, which would be time consuming on such a large dog. The look of the head with the smooth cheeks, throat and ears will quickly become unruly without a skilled groomer to keep it in check. You can let the body go longer, but the head must me maintained to retain that proper beard and eyebrows look!

Most Standards have a European type coat, harsher, stringier less apt to matting and therefore easier to maintain. It doesn't look as beautiful as the coat of a Giant or a Mini, but it's more purposeful. Hershey gets weeds and burrs and all kinds of debri stuck in her furnishings on our walks, but I just pull them out or easily brush them out when we get home. She never matts.

I tend to like her bushy and let her go 3 months without a clip, but the recent pics are right after her haircut. I tried handstripping, but I need to let her grow out for 6 months if I am going to try it again! It takes that long for the coat to come in and be ready to pluck again. I'm not patient enough for that, even though I know I should do it for the sake of her coat.

HersheyBear said:

Love the name!

Click to expand...

Ditto!!!!!

How's this for a closeup!! LOL