I'm gonna post this with pics, and more so for new Schnauzer owners. Many questions about when to start grooming, what they look like, etc. Since they're only this age for a short period, this is more so for Google algorithm searchers, so to speak, for new owners..... I am by no means a professional, hell, youngest dog before him I've ever had was a year old, and I either owned short haired dogs or used clippers. So this is newb to newb stuff here, it's easier than you think.
For the record, Schluter is a Standard, and 11 weeks old now. Only thing I have been doing is stripping him with a stone. I've never stripped a dog, but it seems to be bringing out his colors and keeping his hair wire like and short to the body. Been stripping legs, too, why? Cause I'm that guy, lol. I started I stripping 2 weeks ago, when he was 9 weeks old. I didn't start off dedicating much time, still don't. Maybe 20 minutes weekly, trying that rolling coat deal, we'll see as time passes, lol. His face hadn't changed much up to this morning, just nose looked more like a big pipe cleaner, lol, just longer than this pic. Here he is at 8 weeks old.
So, every Friday night I crack a beer, take ol' Schluter and attempt what I think is stripping, lol, rake him first, and then strip and clean/check ears, etc. I use a stone because I have construction hands, fits me well and I'm learning, too, so it wont cut hair if I mess up. Anyhow, I had to work late Friday, so it was Saturday morning groom time. Him and I get up at 5am (more like he does....) everyday and sneak in small training sessions (he knows sit and stay already, working on down, now), breakfast and a brushing of mustache with greyhound comb (after eating) and a body brushing with pin brush. But this morning, while the family slept I groomed him.
Since we missed Friday Night Groom Night, we got crazy this morning. I clipped his nails, shaved between his toes, scissor'ed his feet (already miss the fuzzy star fish feet), clipper'ed his ears, and his face, scissor'ed in front of his eyes, etc.
This pic is what I did, red is clippers, blue is scissor. It was VERY light work, not straight down to the metal on the clippers. I actually used his paw trimmer clippers, because they're more quiet, have a larger one, but too much noise for him. I also cleaned up around his ears and stuff. If it was "sprouty" looking, I trimmed it. Oh, it isn't in the pic, but I shaved top of his ears as well, just got rid of those long fine black hairs. If you zoom in, you'll still see some of those fine hairs, but for his first groom, not too bad. It kind of took a while, and he was squiggly. We'll get them, next Friday Groom Night, lol, slowly but surely to get him used to it.
Here are some pics now.... he can see!!! And is actually starting to look like a Schnauzer, lol. I live on an island called Coquina Key, for a while his nickname species was a "Coquina Bear".
So, while I'm no professional, and he isn't a show dog... the point of this post is more so for people to Google and run across to see what they look like as puppies, and you do not have to rely on clippers for the body. As a puppy, using the scissors freaked me out, he's a squiggly puppy, but I was careful and gave him a raw hide to chew on, it helped alot. Just go slow with the scissors and put that ear/paw BEHIND your fingers, use your fingers as the 'guard'. Clippering between his toes was easy, you hold them and put their legs behind them, imagine them jumping head first, legs toward back, pads up to the sky, like that, but you're holding them up, same when scissor'ing around them, slow and easy does it. I focused on shape more than how tight to the toes I scissor'ed.
The biggest thing, is play with them, molest their paws when they're chilling with you (spread them toes any chance you get, lol), tug on their hair (lightly, they get used to it and stripping, stone stripping is relaxing for him) and start "stripping" them at 8-9 weeks, even if it's not doing anything, it let's them know it's normal and they get used to the tugging. He's actually pretty used to it by now, and the hardest part is just puppy stuff, like wanting to run around vs staying in one place, etc. As he gets older, I imagine itll get easier.
I'm glad I started touching him everywhere early, my old dog, wouldnt let me near his paws, much less cut his nails, and hated clippers. Even if he had a sand spur, he would tug away his paw. It's also good bonding, they want to be touched, whether is spreading of paws or hair tugging or playing, they just want any attention, so useful attention is better than "fun" attention, they don't care.
Hopefully this thread helps someone out, and helps someone not clipper their dog. I've seen his lighter colors come out, slowly but surely, beautiful, and every week is an excitement to the new colors.
