Lyzahro Schnauzers

09/05/2024

Gatland
💜Lyzahro White Here White Now 💜

07/05/2024

Happy 3rd birthday to the Hitchhiker's Litter.

You continue to grow, delight and amaze your families and us 🩷🩵 we are so proud of you all.

Thank you to their amazing families for giving them the best possible lives.
🩵️Maybe🩵Trevor️🩵Loki️🩵
🩷Nia🩷Beryl🩷Mollie🩷Rosie🩷Ari🩷

01/04/2024

Now, before he turns 12 in 14 days, let me talk to you about the Old Man.

Huzzah is the one member of our team that we didn't have from a puppy. He arrived with us at 14 months old, and (long story very very short), it took us another two months to get him into the ring due to various issues.
He has never been thrilled about children, not even our nephews. He doesn't like them because, as far as we could tell, he wasn't exposed to them at a young age.

Then there was Caitlyn.

He loves her. She gives him a full body hug, the way that only an over enthusiastic toddler can. He let's her brush him, put the shower over him, look at his teeth, everything you could think of. I always thought I would bring Hope out of retirement to go in the ring with Caitlyn for the first time, but actually, watching my Old Man going round with her, taking care of her, and checking in with me to make sure he was doing it right? It was everything.

She is a special little soul, but Huzzah? He's the best boy that ever lived.

31/03/2024

Yesterday we took the team up to the Schnauzer Club of Great Britain Championship Show, under a breed specialist judge.

As some of you know, I didn't actually enter the Show world until I was 10 years old, and when I did, it was on the end of the lead to a beautiful Veteran cavalier who went on to teach me how to handle.

Caitlyn has been in the ring with Huzzah and Gatland before, but she has never been in sole charge of the lead. Yesterday she was determined to show her ZahZah all by herself. Our fantastic judge, who has known Caitlyn since she was 8 weeks old, gave her all the time and space in the world to take Zah round, giving her lots of encouragement, and turning it into the most fantastic experience, for both me and Caitlyn. She won Veteran Dog, and Zah went on to win Best Veteran in Breed as well.

The pure unadulterated joy on Caitlyn's face throughout tells its own story. The support, cheers and applause she received from everyone ringside made it even more special.

She's a natural with these dogs, and I just love watching her with them.

16/03/2024

16/03/2024

Gatland is representing the Kennel at SWKA Dog Of The Year 2023

💜Lyzahro White Here White Now💜

12/03/2024

Great shots of three of the gang from Crufts 2024

💜Gatland💜 Lyzahro White Here White Now
❤️Huzzah❤️ Beanara Njals Saga at Lyzahro VW
🩷Nia🩷 Lyzahro Mostly Harmless

09/03/2024

Some of our favourite candids from Day 1 ❤️

09/03/2024

Super day out at Crufts 2024.

Under judge Steve Hall

🌟Madog🌟 Saraswati Bonno Blue With Lyzahro Imp MKD
🌟Gatland 🌟 Lyzahro White Here White Now
🌟Nia🌟 Lyzahro Mostly Harmless
Unplaced in Veteran, Limit and Post Graduate respectively.

The team superstar nailed it again
🌟Huzzah🌟 Beanara Njals Saga at Lyzahro VW VHC Veteran Dog

27/02/2024

The oldest and youngest members of our team 💙🩵

Huzzah 11 years
Alex 7 weeks.

17/02/2024

Let's talk Foster Dogs.

As our longstanding followers know, we are a foster home for Mini SAS, a rescue and rehome service. While we strive to breed the best temperaments that we can in our own dogs, the reality of fostering is that we have no idea what will be walking through our door each time.

We take in everything from puppies to veterans, any Schnauzer that is in need of a change of circumstances. Our job is to evaluate their temperament, social skills, and behaviour, to help determine the best next step, and provide a halfway house for as long as needed. Before we had children, this was a breeze. Once we added Caitlyn to the mix we had to alter our approach.

Yes, having Caitlyn made things more difficult in the sense of the unpredictability of children and rescue dogs, but it also allowed us to assess our foster's ability manage with children, and expose them to a positive interaction.

We have taught Caitlyn not to approach strange dogs in our house without one of us with her. She is not to cross the babygate until they have met several times, with only positive reactions. Eventually she is allowed to meet them, and if (and only if) they are happy, she is allowed to reach out.

She has been taught to reach under their chin, rather than over their heads, as this is far less threatening for them.

Our last set of fosters were Isca and Emrys, twelve months ago. Caitlyn fell in love with Emrys almost immediately, and couldn't wait to make friends. A very slow and steady introduction meant that he had lots of time to acclimatise to her presence, and to see him learn to trust her was incredible. Watching Caitlyn learn to be around and interact with dogs who have not had the advantages, breeding and upbringing that hers have, and to see her helping them to feel safe and loved for the first time was so amazing.

As these photos show, Emrys soon had full trust in his little friend, and she was so patient and gentle with him.

13/02/2024

Lovely photos from my latest judging appointment, the Giant Schnauzer Club Open Show.

Best of Breed Descare's Dorado Tyras Akvamarinas at Amorevita

Reserve Best of Breed Longdin's Wellingley Won Step Ahead

Best Puppy in Breed Copper's Violis Poetic Haiku

Best Baby Puppy Davidson's Wellingley Wot A Tease

📸 Lesley Parker.

13/02/2024

Let's talk babies.

So, our last post focused on how good Gatties is with Caitlyn, and the need for him (and the others) to deal with high energy and exuberance. This time, let's talk about Baby Alex.

Alex is now 8 weeks old, and growing fast. He's been accepted lock, stock and barrel by the whole clan, especially MotherBear (which suprises nobody!). He's a pretty chill baby, except when he has colic. The dogs are used to him making all sorts of strange noises!

As you can see here, I use the dog beds as somewhere comfy for Alex to chill out while I'm doing things (in this case, putting the washing on the airer). This end of the dining room is the dog end, next to their sideboard, and where all the dog beds end up being dragged by Gats. It is undeniably their space. Alex uses it when they are elsewhere, but generally as soon as I pop him down, they appear.

Their body language here is relaxed and happy. Gatland has no issues lying next to Alex while he wiggles and chats away. Huzzah is watching, the girls are more interested in the biscuits Hope stole from the table. We have built up to this level of trust over the last 8 weeks, and with Caitlyn before him. The dogs have been in close contact while in the shared spaces of the house, and if they had shown any sort of discomfort or stress, Alex would not be in their space right now. If any of them so much as twitch an ear to show they are not happy, Alex is out of there. Constant, positive exposure, with plenty of downtime to decompress is how we make this happen.

Temperament is key. Breeding for good, solid temperament, and then appropriate ongoing socialisation is crucial. This is why it is so important to discuss the temperament of the parents and grandparents with your breeder if you want to bring a puppy into a home or family with Small children. And the training, desensitisation and socialisation never stops. If you don't put the work in, and keep going over it with them, you simply cannot foster the right level of trust in your dogs.

(Obviously Alex is never left alone at floor level with the dogs. As much as I love them, there is no level of trust where that would ever be appropriate)

10/02/2024

Huzzah (Beanara Njals Saga at Lyzahro VW) made history again in his first show of 2024!

Best Veteran in Breed, Best Veteran in Show 4 at Utility Breeds Association of Wales Open Show

Madog took Best of Breed, Nia won her class, and Gatland had a second.

08/02/2024

Let's talk temperament and toddlers.

As you all well know, Caitlyn and Gatland have been the best of friends since she was old enough to interact with him. We have always closely monitored their interactions and she is growing up with respect for her canine companions. Toddlers however will play with anyone and anything that sits still long enough. Her favourite game is Caitlyn Vet. Gatland is her willing victim...I mean participant. He let's her do anything to him, from checking him with the stethoscope, to giving him pretend injections.

Gatland is from our first homebred litter, out of Zeeva. He was born just before lockdown in 2020, and was four months old when Wales went into a significantly tight lock down for an extended period. That meant he missed a lot of socialisation during a crucial period of his development. This had the potential for Gatland to come out into society at the end of the pandemic as a nervy, anxious mess, like many of the lockdown puppies did. As you can see, Gats is a well adjusted, if long suffering, young male.

We breed with temperament high on our priority list. Not every dog we breed will end up in the show ring, but every dog will be a family pet. That's why a solid, happy, bombproof temperament is vital to us. That is one of the reasons we chose Zantanas kennel in Sweden for our foundation b*tch. Mona and Lasse breed some of the most even tempered dogs I've ever known. Zeeva has been sunshine on legs from the moment she arrived in our lives. A trip from Sweden to Wales, via Belgium didn't cause her to bat an eyelid at 16 weeks old. Zee has passed that rock solid temperament down to each of her puppies. We have worked hard to build on that solid genetic foundation to give our dogs and our families the best possible start. We use all available children in the village and our social group to desensitise the puppies and expose them to children of all ages. Going forward, this is something we want to work with even more, and will be adding temperament testing to our litter raising, to ensure we're giving our families the best possible puppy.

31/12/2023

2023 has been a bit of a ride, hasn't it?
Another successful year in the ring for the Lyzahro team, with Gatland fulfilling another long held dream, by gaining his stud book number. The first homebred Lyzahro to achieve one, and also an invitation to compete at SWKA Dog of The Year 2023. He is the first white to be invited, which makes me so proud. It means I have had the first whites ever to be invites to compete at Welsh Junior of the Year (Zeeva), Dog Of The Year (Gatland) and Welsh Veteran of the Year (Huzzah). Gats achieving his SBN has also meant that I now have three SBNs in the Kennel, which helps to clear the path for my judging career.

Nia gave us Tatoes 3.0 this summer, and we had the delight of sharing Caitlyn's first puppy experience with you all. The Ice Cream Litter are out in the world doing us proud, just like the previous litters.

Madog continues to be the best Dog ever for Mum, and we love him dearly. Hope and Zee are enjoying their well earned retirement, like the Queens that they are.

The pack have been spending the last two weeks acclimatising to the presence of Baby Alex in our midst, and have been amazing at absorbing and rolling with the changes. We will continue to post about our journey with a baby, a toddler and their interactions with the dogs as they grow.

Family, friends, thank you for your support over the last 12 months. It has been amazing to feel the love from you all. May 2024 be fantastic, and if you need us, reach out. We are always here.

20/12/2023

2023 is coming to a close, and what a year we have had!
The dogs have gone from strength to strength in the ring, and Gatland has closed out the year with an invitation to South Wales Kennel Association Dog Of The Year 2023. We are so incredibly proud of what he has achieved as our first home bred dog.

Huzzah continues to rule the household and continues to pretend he has a picture in the attic 🤣

Hope and Zeeva are happily retired on the sofa, and enjoying every second of their very well earned retirement.

Nia and Madog are going from strength to strength with Mum and Dad, and are so well loved.
We welcomed three new families into our ever expanding Lyzahro family, and the Ice Cream Litter are growing up beautifully. The Famous Five and Exciting Eight are keeping everyone on their toes, and are providing hilariousness at every turn.

Caitlyn showed Huzzah and Gatland for the first time in Clap Doggies, and had so much fun, and we welcomed Baby Alex into the family last week, which is going to make next year's show season so much fun!

To all our friends, family and supporters, thank you for being with us again this year, we really appreciate all your love and support ❤️

Here's to 2024, we can't wait to see what it brings.

Lydia, Austin, Caitlyn, Alex, Huzzah, Hope, Zeeva, Gatland.

16/12/2023

A quick update on Huzzah. He was poorly this morning, throwing up, lethargic and definitely not himself. A quick trip to the local vets showed that he is actually OK, but it's a physical manifestation of the stress he has been feeling lately.

Huzzah is a very sensitive soul, and highly in tune with me. He has struggled quite badly with me being so unwell in the last month, and spending so much time in and out of hospital, and on bed rest. He will need some TLC and one on one time to recover, but he should be absolutely fine once things settle into a routine.

16/12/2023

Gatland. The youngest member of our pack, and Caitlyn's best friend. He has been desperate to get into the living room and see what was going on. He has sat behind the babygate and sung the song of his people for most of the day.

As soon as he was allowed through, he has had to work on his impulse control. He is very quick, very headstrong and extremely curious. His instinct is to get up as close as possible to what he is investigating, and go all out. Obviously that's not *quite* what we want with a two day old baby, so the safest way to approach his introduction was to put Alex in the moses basket to allow additional protection against over exuberant paws.

Austin was firmly in control of his physical proximity to Alex, while still allowing him close enough to satisfy his boundless curiosity. He was also given longer in the living room, so he could learn to manage that desire to get into the basket and get right up close and personal. His temperament is rock solid but he gets over excited easily when he thinks there is something new, exciting or something he can play with.

16/12/2023

Zeeva is up next.

As you all know, Zeeva is our resident MotherBear. She's had 13 puppies of her own, and helped raise her three grandchildren from Nia. She is an extremely maternal b*tch, and took a significant interest in Caitlyn, responding to all her cries and movements.

Zee had a *little* more freedom than Hope, because her temperament is so incredibly maternal. She was still heavily monitored, but she was able to get right up close to Alex and give him a good once over. She sniffed, licked his head, and sniffed the moses basket and checked out the way I was holding him.

We joke that Zee judges my parenting skills, but she really does take a serious interest in everything I do!

She had about 5 minutes with Alex, and then again was sent back to the dining room to process. Even though we know she is generally good with children and babies, it's important to give her the space and time to think about the changes that are happening in the house again.

16/12/2023

Newborn introductions are well underway here.

Alex is home, and it's time to introduce the pack to him. We usually do any introductions in a set order, Huzzah first, as head of the pack, then Hope, our matriarch, Zeeva, our resident MotherBear, and finally Gatland. As Huzzah is currently poorly and en route to the vets, we've changed it up and have started with Hope.

Hope is our least social dog, she has a general dislike of peasants, and to her, everyone is a peasant. She is not aggressive or nervy, she just wants nothing to do with people 🙄

To introduce Hope (and any of our dogs), we always have two people. One to hold the baby, one to have hands on the dog. We allow her to get up as close as she wants, and to sniff. She is not held in position near the baby, she is free to move as she wants. She is not pressured or encouraged to have any physical contact, as she generally doesn't want it unless on her terms.

She spent a few minutes with Alex, sitting and considering, before we sent her back to the dining room to process. She'll come back later with Zeeva.

15/12/2023

We would like to welcome the newest member of the Lyzahro team to the world -
Alexander Dafydd Mellor 🩵

Born 14th December at 12.24, weighing 7lb 3oz.

Lydia and Alex are doing fab, and we can't wait to introduce him to the pack just as soon as they are discharged from hospital.

09/12/2023

Caitlyn and Gatland had another fun photoshoot last month, and we are LOVING these photos!

03/12/2023

It's all been a bit quiet here recently, and I know there are messages waiting from prospective owners - apologies!

I've been in hospital since around the 23rd November, firstly with sepsis, and then after a brief 24 hour discharge, back in until the 1st with unexplained fevers. While I'm home now, I'm still not 100%, and am on strict instructions to rest, which at the moment means sleep as much as possible. With Baby M #2 due to arrive on the 14th, obviously we're on a tight timescale for things to improve, so we're doing all we can.

I will be back in touch with people as soon as I feel able, but I really appreciate your patience.

Huzzah is taking the best care of me possible ❤️

18/11/2023

A very proud moment for us today, Esme (known by her house name of Boudicca), came back for a visit, and while she was pleased to see me, she absolutely threw herself at Caitlyn for cuddles and kisses.

It was really clear that she had good memories of Caitlyn, and that she associated her with all the love from her first 8 weeks. The two of them had such fun this afternoon, Caitlyn didn't stop laughing, and Esme's tail didn't stop wagging. I am so proud of them both, because it shows me that everything we did over the 8 weeks the pups were here was the right thing. The bond they have is clearly very strong, and its beautiful to see how much they still love eachother.

Esme came through the door happily, like she'd never been away, and I managed to get a half cuddle before she clocked Caitlyn and it was as if I just didn't exist! She just wanted to get to Caitlyn and show her how much she'd missed her. It was absolutely beautiful to see.

🩷🩷 Lyzahro Just One Cornetto 🩷🩷

08/11/2023

Let's talk about newborns and dogs ❤️

In 5 weeks we will be introducing our second baby into the pack. Last time we did this, we had 5 dogs to acclimatise and get used to a whole new living situation. This time, a newborn baby won't come as so much of a shock to their systems. They're old hands at this baby lark now.

That doesn't mean we'll be taking any less of a strict approach to the integration however. This time round, we won't have the stable and calming influence of Kaegen, but I am sure Zeeva will continue to judge my parenting skills in her stead.

We have started to get the baby equipment back down from the attic, to give the dogs time to understand that there's about to be another shift in their world. They'll be given the opportunity to revisit the nursery now Caitlyn has moved out and it's been revamped ready for Baby 2.

By giving them time and space to see and understand the changes that are going on in the house, we can make the transition a lot easier for them (and also for us) when we finally bring home the baby.

01/11/2023

Today we remember our precious Indoor Pony Kae, who left us for the Bridge twelve months ago.

She was special in so many ways that we can't even put into words. We have adapted to living without her, but she is never, ever forgotten. Her stories entertain us now, more than ever before.

She was a huge part of our kennel, helping to raise all our litters, settling disputes between the girls, and teaching Gatland manners when he needed them most. She was a safe space for worried and scared foster dogs, a comforting presence as they explored their new worlds, and the best guide they could have asked for.

Darling girl, thank you for being such an important part of our story ❤️