Hi thedancingsun! Kimmy sure looks cute in the photos! She seems a little big-boned for a 9-week-old pup...

Eric, you so geng la! Although I share my food with Scottie also, but I don't do it like that... I would pick out pieces from my food for Scottie... Maybe coz it's all the science training ingrained in me or something...haha! I do let Scottie kiss me and sometimes sleep with me too, but he can only kiss me on the cheeks, and not the mouth.

Updated you to the list We're supposed to be doing like a gathering every month ma, right? heh! Re: the picnic, Eric mentioned that the park would be filled with a lot of people on Sunday evening, so there might not be space for us to sit also. Since it's our first time there, maybe we just bring some small things for our doggies to share first lo (and at the same time see if it's feasible to do a picnic there next time). If Sunday evening cannot do picnic, maybe can do Sunday morning or Saturday evening?



MINIATURE SCHNAUZER 5TH GATHERING

Date: 31 May 2009
Time: 4 pm
Venue: Desacity Park


Interested List:
Audrey (Rayne)
Kerrie
Yen Lu (iluv2zzz)
Keith (aragonlee)
Winnie_sia87
Eric (ericyong)
Candy&Vincent
psyko881208

This post has been edited by Rayne: Apr 28 2009, 01:57 PM

Yeah, this time around we just bring for our furkids only lo...next time, we do one for the humans as well

LOLLLL! Depends lo...see how creative we all can be I was thinking of making some pupcakes too...haha! But, have to see how many pups are there first and see if I can make those in time anot...

I did a meat cake for Scottie's birthday... I put it at my blog with the recipe and all if you're interested

You can get quite a few ideas from the Internet by Googling. Type in keywords like dog-friendly cakes or dog birthday cakes, and some sites have recipes for you to try out I did that for Scottie's birthday before I tried out the meat cake thing! Hope that helps!

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Added on April 28, 2009, 2:37 pmHehe..the pupcakes I meant was a small variation of the meat cake that I made. Instead of making one big cake, we put it into small cups to bake and use mashed potato for the pupcake frosting That was the idea essentially...

This post has been edited by Rayne: Apr 28 2009, 02:37 PM

Hahahaha...but I have to admit,we had quite a bit of fun and laughs too getting rid of the 'pest', didn't we Kerrie?

I found this recipe for a birthday cake. This was the one that I intended to make before I found the meat cake recipe. Maybe you can have a look and see:

DOG CHICKEN BACON LAYER BIRTHDAY CAKE

• 3 cups flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 2 jars strained chicken baby food
• 2 cups finely shredded carrots
• plain or vanilla yogurt
• 2 or 3 strips of bacon, fried crisp, then crumbled, or use bacon-flavored jerky strips, cut into bits.


Generously grease and flour two 8" round cake pans; set aside. Combine flour and baking powder; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat softened margarine until smooth. Add eggs and corn oil; mix well. Add strained chicken, and shredded carrots and mix until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into the 2 prepared 8" cake pans. Bake at 325° for 60 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
Place one layer on a serving plate and spread yogurt over top. Place second layer on top, then spread yogurt on top and sides of entire cake. Sprinkle crumbled bacon or bits of jerky strips over top. Use "Pupperoni" sticks for candles.


Instead of using corn oil, I think any oil also can use for the cake...and instead of the chicken baby food (which I think is quite yucky ), I was thinking of replacing with boiled and shredded chicken meat. A bit more economical I wanted Scottie's cake to resemble (somewhat) his raw diet, which was meat, so I went with the meat cake idea. Let me know how it goes if you use this recipe!


P/S: Regarding the pupcakes, yeah you can google for pupcakes recipes too! They don't use sugar at all in the cakes. All they put in for flavour is a little bit of honey.

This post has been edited by Rayne: Apr 28 2009, 02:54 PM

Well yeah...can. They can take oil and butter and margarine, but not too much also lo. Since it's a once a year thing, we just give one time la. But I think this cake recipe would be quite big, coz it's 3 cups of flour. If you're thinking of making a small one, you can half the amounts listed there to make a smaller cake. Don't feed the whole cake to the dogs la if you feel the cake is too much...you can feed them like one slice for that day, and the rest keep for the next day lo. If still cannot finish, share with the neighbor's doggies... That's what I did for Scottie's cake...haha!

This post has been edited by Rayne: Apr 28 2009, 05:50 PM

Haha...yeah, the fella is really siao wan.

Added you to the list already! Ermm...actually I also dunno how to go wan. We could probably get directions from Eric, since he goes there often.
MINIATURE SCHNAUZER 5TH GATHERING

Date: 31 May 2009
Time: 4 pm
Venue: Desacity Park


Interested List:
Audrey (Rayne)
Kerrie
Yen Lu (iluv2zzz)
Keith (aragonlee)
Winnie_sia87
Eric (ericyong)
Candy&Vincent
psyko881208
Asa

This post has been edited by Rayne: Apr 29 2009, 12:05 AM

Probably Standard Schnauzers, but I have yet to see them where I'm at...it's so weird that some breeders don't know how to tell the difference between a Standard and Min. Schnauzer lo...they actually have more differences than size alone.

Happy Belated Birthday to Rusty!! The birthday cake looked AWESOME!

Umm...a little suggestion, since you're showering your pup in the bathroom (I'm assuming that coz you said you had to balance the shower head thingy ), you could close the door while bathing her. So, even if she runs away, she can't run anywhere else except the bathroom...unless your bathroom is the size of a master bedroom I don't think she can run far If she still can evade your hands, maybe you can put her on top of the toilet bowl seat. Close down the toilet bowl seat and stand her there. Since she is quite small, it'll be quite easy for her to stand comfortably, and the toilet bowl is relatively tall so she won't be jumping off so much. Hope that helps! That's what I did with Scottie (closing the bathroom door) and Kenji (stand on the toilet bowl)

LOLLL! Same with Scottie leh!! Last time when I call him over, he would just blindly come and then I would carry him to the bathroom where he would hate the process (especially when I clean his beard...wash multiple times with shampoo and brushing... ) Now, if he sees me outside the bathroom and I call him, he gives me like a 'WTH...no way I'm going there!' look and runs away.

If I try to be sneaky, I get him to come to me downstairs (my bathroom is upstairs) and lead him to the bathroom. When he gets near the bathroom, he sort of knows already and turn the other way to run!

LOLL! Too smart ady sometimes... Cannot help but laugh at their antics, but at the same time that's what makes them adorable!

Hi Eng Tat,

If you're looking for a 'small' Min. Schnauzer, I can safely say there isn't such a thing. The average height for a Min. Schnauzer is 12 - 16". If you're looking for a real small dog, probably a Chihuahua or Yorkshire Terrier would be your thing

As for expenses, I spend on an average RM100 - RM200 a month on Scottie...these include food and grooming expenses only. For a pup, you would be looking at vaccination costs (about RM40 - RM50 per jab), deworming (RM5 - RM10 per pill), food (possibly about RM50++ per month?), vet costs (depends on which vet you go to though...some consultation fees [only] can go up to RM30). Accessories would depend on what kind you are getting...a lot of price ranges there. If you want to get a gist of how much you would spend, maybe you could make a list of things that your pup would need when it's at your home, go to the pet store, and start checking on the prices there....you should get a general idea on how much to spend.

If you're not planning to breed your dog, spaying is always good Go and find a reputable vet to do the surgery though, coz I hear a lot of horror stories about surgeries gone wrong

I guess I am very lucky that Scottie never took to eating his own poop... Can you imagine the pup eating the poop, and then proceed to give you kisses?

Hi Robby, raw food has more moisture in it compared to kibbles, which is why your pup might have more urine. Is he still active as usual? Not so yellowish urine is good actually...too much yellow in the urine might indicate not enough water. If he is active as usual, I wouldn't worry too much...monitor him and continue to toilet train him. Since he urinates more frequently, it's a good chance to reinforce good behaviour If he is not active as usual, then it might warrant a visit to the vet. Hope that helps!

Vicious? I say that's rubbish I've been feeding Scottie for almost a year now, and he's still as docile as he was when he was on kibble. I can't say the same for other people who disturb him when he's eating though, but I can just take the food away from his mouth and he doesn't make a peep at me. My take on it is probably training...I've been 'disturbing' Scottie when he's eating since the first day I got him, so I guess he is used to it already. And he knows that although I take his food away, it is only for a while and the food will go back to his bowl again.

Most pet shops and vets do not support raw feeding coz 1)they don't really know much about it, and 2)they are selling kibbles! If they advocate raw feeding, who's going to buy the kibbles in their shop? Just my two cents' worth.

You asked about the downsides of raw feeding....my only thing with it is that new raw feeders do not do enough research and reading on the subject before embarking on it. Some just think that feeding raw means just chucking some chicken and that's it. It's a little bit more than that...do some reading, ask other raw feeders, join a group for which you can get answers re: raw feeding, and it shouldn't be much of a problem.

This post has been edited by Rayne: May 4 2009, 07:49 PM

I agree. It's quite hard to tell the the average weight for a pup, coz all pups are different in terms of their growth and size. As long as the pup is active, feeding normal and does not show any symptoms of fatigue or anything out of the ordinary, they should be fine

Another good way to check your pup if he/she is too thin is by running your hands over the sides of the pup. The ideal situation would be if you apply a little bit of pressure before feeling the ribs. If you can feel the ribs already by just touching the sides lightly, then the pup might be too thin. If you cannot feel the ribs at all even though you apply a little pressure, the pup might be overweight.

If your pup IS underweight though, just up the amount of food, but don't overdo it either. Min. Schnauzers have a tendency to get obese really fast, so if you intend to up the amount of food, do it gradually and slowly. Monitor your pup constantly to get him/her to the ideal weight and maintain it there.

Well, if she is still active and shows no sign of illnesses, I don't see anything to be worried about... Some pups have a high metabolism, and grow up really fast I used to have a pup that eats A LOT...sometimes more than Scottie, but still looking thin. Thing is, he runs around a lot, and is very active, so I just leave him at it and monitor him only The pup has found a new owner since then, and from what I hear, he's still as active as ever.

This post has been edited by Rayne: May 5 2009, 11:08 AM