How do you judge who are the best 5 Miniature Schnauzer breeders in Australia? There are so many to choose from.
What makes the best Miniature Schnauzer breeders?
Assuming you are seeking a puppy as a pet, let’s first set some criteria by which to judge who are the best Mini Schnauzer breeders to deal with. The goal for most people is to get a puppy that has the best chance of living a long and healthy life, and has behavior that will make it fun to own. Both of those things are within the influence of the breeder and together constitute the companionship value of the dog.
Best Miniature Schnauzer Breeders Criteria:
So here’s what you should be looking for if you want a happy, healthy puppy from your Miniature schnauzer breeder:
Breeder Optimizes for Health
The best Miniature Schnauzer breeders adhere to the following practices. As a result they are able to offer stronger than average Genetic Health Guarantees. The length of their Guarantee is a great measure of their confidence in the health you can expect from your Mini Schnauzer puppy.
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Breeder screens out testable genetic illnesses.
Lots of – but not all! – diseases of genetic origin can be tested for. These include:
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- Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) – This is an eye disease that slowly makes a dog’s vision worse over time. At first, the dog might have trouble seeing in the dark, and later, it can go completely blind. It doesn’t hurt, but it can make life harder for the dog as it loses its sight.
- Demyelinating Polyneuropathy – This is a nerve problem that makes it hard for a dog to walk properly. The nerves don’t send messages to the muscles like they should, so the dog might wobble, walk funny, or even fall down. It can get worse over time, making it difficult for the dog to move around.
- Myotonia Congenita – This is a muscle condition where the dog’s muscles stay stiff instead of relaxing. If a dog with this jumps or runs, it might look stiff and have trouble moving right afterward. Sometimes, their tongues can even stay stuck out for a little while after they yawn!
- Persistent Müllerian Duct Syndrome (PMDS) – This is a condition that happens when a male dog has some female parts inside its body that shouldn’t be there. It doesn’t always cause problems, but sometimes it can lead to health issues like infections or difficulty going to the bathroom. A vet can help if needed.
Provided one parent does not carry any of these diseases, any puppies it produces will not suffer from the disease.
For example, here are the genetic test results for our stud dog Humphrey.
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Breeder does not mate related dogs together
We can’t test for EVERY genetic disease, so the other precaution your Mini Schnauzer breeder should take is not to mate closely related dogs together. This is especially true for the Miniature Schnauzer breed as it has exceptionally low genetic diversity to begin with. Breeding closely related dogs – which is called inbreeding – increases the risk of genetic diseases because both parents may carry the same harmful genes. When these genes are passed to their puppies, the chances of developing health problems rise. By choosing unrelated parents, breeders create a healthier mix of genes, reducing the likelihood of inherited diseases.
Here is an example of an actual pedigree of a puppy bred by an Australian Miniature Schnauzer breeder. [I have blanked out the names of the parent dogs to protect the identity of the breeder.] The pedigree shows that half-siblings – two dogs with the same father but different mothers – were mated together. To compound things, the grandmothers themselves are also half-siblings! Unfortunately this is not against the official Kennel Association rules, and is a relatively common practice, especially when the ancestors common to both Sire and Dam sides of the pedigree are champions. While these breeding practices do help create more champion dogs, genetic diseases lurking in the genome are likely to be expressed in many of the puppies – most of which end up as some unfortunate person’s pet. Inbreeding to this extent also has been shown to increase the risk of a shortened lifespan to non-genetic diseases.
Breeder Optimizes for Behavior
Breeder rearing practices have a strong influence on the behavior you can expect from your Miniature Schnauzer for its lifetime. Here are the most important criteria affecting this.
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Breeder home-rears their puppies.
The period the breeder typically has a puppy coincides with its most critical period of socialization. This is when it learns who is family and who is not. Puppies raised in kennels with limited exposure to humans and living in a home may struggle to connect to humans as part of their pack, and find it stressful to live in a typical noisy household. Home reared puppies live with people, getting lots of love and learning how to fit in well to be good family dogs. They also learn to become comfortable with the sights, sounds and smells of a family so they are properly prepared to live with yours.
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Breeder starts potty training helps puppies learn where to go, making house training easier for their new families.
It is natural instinct for puppies to toilet away from where they eat, sleep and drink. Breeders who raise their puppies in a way that encourages this natural behavior produce puppies that already understand proper potty behavior. This makes it a lot easier for new owners to complete puppy toilet training in their own home environment.
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Breeder keeps puppies until at least 8 weeks and 4 days
This gives puppies time to learn important social skills from their mum and littermates, including how to socialize with other dogs, and bite inhibition. Playing with other puppies teaches them to soften their bite when playing. This reduces the risk they will ever inflict a serious bite on anyone. And the extra days with the breeder has been proven to help prevent behavior issues like fear or separation anxiety developing later on in life. 
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Breeder personality tests and matches pups to their most compatible families.
This ensures each puppy goes to the best home for their temperament, making them happier and easier to train. Like human families, there is often considerable variation within a litter of Miniature Schnauzer puppies in the individual confidence, energy levels, and dominance/submission. To prevent adopting a puppy that is a poor fit for your level of experience, energy and training ability, you should favor Miniature Schnauzer breeders who take the trouble to formally personality test and match their puppies.
Here is how puppy temperament matching works in practice.
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Breeder ensures puppy meets at least 25 different people
In its early life before a puppy leaves the breeder it should have had positive interactions with at least 25 different people [Dr Ian Dunbar says 100 is even better].
Breeders can achieve this and still keep young puppies safe from infection by holding a Puppy Open Day for each litter. At these gatherings not only the owners of the puppies are invited but also their whole families, plus the folks on the current waiting list of the breeder, plus anyone else who just wants to meet the breeder and ask questions before committing.
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Breeder Provides Early Grooming Experience
The best Miniature Schnauzer breeders will expose their puppies to the full range of experiences associated with grooming. This helps to socialize them to be calm for grooming throughout their lives. Early grooming experiences provided by the breeder should include toenail clipping, bathing, and hair clipping. [Puppies destined for the show ring are never clipped.]
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Breeder Gives Early Manners Training
Raising puppies as part of the family allows lots of positive interaction with the breeder. This provides an excellent opportunity for the best Miniature Schnauzer breeders to give early manners training to puppies. Such training typically includes correcting biting behavior, and teaching simple commands such as come and sit for rewards.
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Proactive Advice to New Owners
The best Miniature Schnauzer breeders will do all these things to turn out the best canine companions money can buy. However, it is entirely possible that due to ignorance or inexperience, new owners can mess up the great start their puppy has had. So it is imperative that your breeder provides proactive advice to new owners to help them understand how to continue successful rearing of their puppy. Most important advice for Miniature Schnauzer owners is how to continue socialization. This is because the available window to complete this work closes when the puppy is between 14 and 16 weeks of age. And also because the breed was developed to be a watch dog, and so is likely to be reactive in the presence of anything they did not learn to accept as “normal” while a puppy. The advice should not only be in written form, but also provided verbally, so any questions can be addressed.
Australia’s 3 Best Miniature Schnauzer Breeders
Here are the 3 best Miniature Schnauzer breeders in Australia that meet the above criteria. This means if you source your puppy from one of them you have the best possible chance of it enjoying a long and healthy life, and being fun to own 🙂
#1 Miniature Schnauzer breeder in WA – Miniature Schnauzer Australia
Ravensquill Miniature Schnauzers is the breeder behind Miniature Schnauzer Australia. Ravensquill not only conforms to all the guidelines of best practice above, but also provides a lifetime money-back Genetic Health Guarantee on all their puppies. Ravensquill has been a registered breeder of Miniature Schnauzers since 1992, is operated by veterinarian Dr Meg Howe, and has the best reputation in the business.
#1 Miniature Schnauzer breeder in Victoria – Alpine Puppies
Alpine Puppies are responsible, conscientious breeders of elite Schnauzer and Schnoodle puppies in the Alpine region of Victoria. We are dedicated to producing healthy, loyal, loving companion pets that are friends for life. Jess and Randy the breeders behind Alpine puppies, provide excellent socialization and health screening on all their puppies.
#1 Miniature Schnauzer breeder in Queensland – Merindah Farm
Kerrie is the ethical Miniature Schnauzer breeder behind Merindah Farm Miniature Schnauzers. Their breeding dogs are healthy, loved and respected. Their dogs are also DNA tested and puppies never inbred. Kerrie is also an accomplished dog trainer who can train your puppy if required.