Commissioned drawing of four successive generations of Ykelenstam's girls: Remi, Phoenix, Zuleika, and Kizmet by artist Anna Khairiova, Russia. COPYRIGHT Ykelenstam's Miniature Schnauzers.

Picture of Xaria

"Xaria"





We are now retired from breeding as of 2017.





Mini Schnauzers are highly social and they should never ever be raised/housed in a kennel environment, most especially puppies! Their future ability to be a well adjusted adult is dependent upon this critical time of their life being spent being loved, socialized and even *educated* in a normal home environment. A Mini Schnauzer puppy is like a sponge, and their behaviour reflects how they are raised and trained. They soak up whatever is presented, be it good OR bad, so it is necessary to find a breeder that makes sure that what the puppies are doing and learning every day is to be a happy healthy well adjusted pup, which the new owner must continue the minute they get their puppy home. With the high level of intelligence and one of a kind personality that this breed possesses, it is imperative that pups be raised in the proper manner from day one! It is a full time job, and no breeder can do it properly if they are not commited to raising their litters in a well planned manner. This absolutely CANNOT be done properly by so called breeders that have full time jobs that keep them many hours away from home. Raising puppies properly is a serious endeavour that requires time and commitment.

All of our minis that we are owned and loved by, live every day life in the house, our home = their home. We have a fenced in grassy (or snowy, lol) back yard with large shade trees, oodles of various safe and fun toys, always a fresh supply of cool water, and plenty of room for all to run and play in a safe supervised environment! When they are tired of so much fun, we can all be found lounging happily and lazily in the shady part of our yard. Our minis are also walked regularly in the surrounding neighbourhood and nearby fields, as well as along local shores when possible.

2007 was and always will be a very special year for us, as that was the year that we decided we would no longer dock any puppies' tails, unless there was a genuine medical need. We have never cropped ears, and now we happily added tails to our list of puppy body parts that we chose to keep intact as nature intended. We had been working towards this goal for several years, and even when we started, more than half our owners were freely choosing to keep their puppies' tails natural as they were meant to be. That made us so proud, to see that people actually took the time to weigh the considerations, and for the most part the pup's health and welfare won out over the *norm* of what, up to then, was expected for the breed in this country. In the years leading up to 2007, we had many complete litters in which all tails were kept natural, and the more that people saw and realized what we were doing and why, the more people we found that simply refused to have their puppies' tails docked. That is what had prompted us to decide to remove any choice about it, regarding our future puppies welfare. We no longer dock puppies' beautiful healthy tails for others' cosmetic reasons. We as consciencious caring breeders prefer to do the only possible right thing by this wondrous breed, so we breed by and live by what is right in our heart and right for any living creature, and that is to keep their ears and tails as are when they enter the world at birth, as nature intended. That is our vow for this breed we love, the Miniature Schnauzer.

This is a tremendous accomplishment for us, and we are proud to be able to say that we are truly responsible and ethical breeders, true leaders in promoting what is best for this breed... for both ears and tails to remain intact as nature intended! We can proudly boast that we were (as far as we know) the first breeder of purebred Mini Schnauzers in Canada, perhaps even in all of North America, that refused to crop ears or dock tails on any puppies (unless there is a genuine medical need to dock a tail which we have as yet never had). We have done this by choice starting many years ago, not by force via the new bylaws or veterinarians' code of ethics that are finally being passed in many provinces. These new bylaws or code of ethics that were or are being enacted actually bans vets from being able to do so if they wish to keep their license! We are very proud that one of our dogs, Ykelenstam's Kinetic Kaper, was chosen to represent the breed on the national anti docking - anti cropping poster released across Canada by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association in early 2010. This poster was several years in the making and has very important information on it, and we are so proud to have been a part of it right from the beginning stages. The poster can be seen on our Breed Info page. :)

We currently have 6 miniature schnauzers in our special extended family that we are "owned" and loved by. We have Kamara just over 15 years, Phoenix almost 15 years, Xaria 10 years, and our sweet white Czech import Neiva who is 4 years, our gorgeous black and silver parti color import named Gossip Girl going on 4 years, and a precious wee little chocolate girl named Mocha who is 1.5 years! And for a bit of a different flavour, we are VERY much owned and loved by our VERY chunky and VERY spunky little Frenchie miss, Visa who turned 5 years old on Valentine's Day 2017! To see some schnauzer pictures or read some very valuable information about the breed, socialization, training etc., click on the buttons below. On the linked pages you will find tremendously valuable info about every aspect of life with this amazing breed, the Miniature Schnauzer. Hover over the links below to show subtopics included on each link.

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Last Modified by Diane and Barry July 9, 2017


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