| The Miniature Schnauzer is an intelligent dog that is easily trained and likes to please, although it does not enjoy repetitive training for its own sake. The breed is contented and not destructive when left alone. The earliest records surrounding development of the Miniature Schnauzer in Germany come from the late 1800s. They were originally bred to be farm dogs in Germany, to keep the rats and other vermin out of the barn. In the breed's earliest stages, several small breeds were employed in crosses to bring down the size of the well-established Standard Schnauzer, with the goal of creating a duplicate in miniature.Crossing to other breeds, such as the Affenpinscher and Miniature Pinscher, had the side effect of introducing colours that were not considered acceptable to the ultimate goal — and as breeders worked towards the stabilization of the gene pool, mismarked particolors and white puppies were removed from breeding programs. The head should be strong, being flat between the ears. They should have a powerful blunt muzzle and a strong jaw with a perfect scissor bite. The eyes should be of medium size, dark and oval, with arched bushy eyebrows. The ears should be V shaped and high set. The neck should be strong and slightly arched. The chest should be deep and broad, and the topline strong and straight, slightly higher at the shoulder than the back end. A short-coupled breed, the body length should be the same as the height at the withers. The front legs should appear straight when viewed from all angles, the back legs should be well muscled. The feet should be compact, round and cat like. The tail is customarily docked to 3 joints, high set and carried high. The coat should be harsh and wiry with a dense undercoat however for the show ring this is stripped out to give a shorter and cleaner outline. The preferred colours for the show ring are salt & pepper, black with silver markings or solid black. |
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