Schnauzers Oscar and Charlie Smith

by Jill Smith
(Knoxville, TN)

My husband and I adopted Oscar one month after we got married. He is a black mini schnauzer born on September 4, 1999 and quickly became the love of our lives. I took him to work with me everyday for 5 years so my mother could babysit him during the day and I would pick him up after work. He is truly a part of our family and I have loved and raised him like he is our child.

He was the "only child" for 5 years until we had our daughter Grayson. He was not thrilled about our new addition to the family, but after a short 6 years (Ha Ha!) he has grown to love her.

As with many schnauzers, he is high maintenance at times, but absolutely worth the effort and the expense. He has "schnauzer bumps", has had bladder stones removed, and I am extremely heartbroken that tonight he is in the hospital for the second night with a tough case of pancreatitis. The vet is hopeful that he will recover, but its tough seeing him so sick. He is absolutely, without a doubt the perfect companion and has been for the past 11 years.

I am also including a picture of our new Mini Schnauzer that joined our family this Christmas. Charlie is a male, liver and tan parti schnauzer who is now about 11 weeks old. He has a wonderful temperament and has made an extremely smooth transition into our family.