Miniature schnauzer

History of origin

The homeland of the Zwergschnauzer breed is Germany, or rather Bavaria – the southern region of the country. Here, hardworking farmers enjoyed keeping fast, fearless dogs with coarse hair and a bearded rectangular muzzle, which were later called schnauzers (from the German word schnauze – muzzle or schnauzbart – mustache). It is believed that the schnauzer descended from the pinscher, which gave birth not only to smooth-haired puppies, but also to babies with coarse hair.

Farmers used these coarse-haired dogs on the farm as universal helpers – they guarded the house and territory, helped drive cattle, and successfully exterminated rats in outbuildings. At the same time, the dogs were distinguished not only by excellent working qualities, intelligence, but also by a cheerful, docile disposition, which did not prevent them from standing up for family members and the owner’s good at the first sign of a threat.

Until the middle of the XNUMXth century, bearded four-legged helpers were considered farm dogs, so no one was particularly interested in their classification, and even more so in breed standards – both large and smaller dogs of a similar species were valued for their useful qualities in the household. Gradually, schnauzers became popular throughout Germany and local dog breeders decided to improve the breed, bring its representatives to a certain standard look. From a medium-sized schnauzer, two varieties were eaten out, differing in size – large and miniature. The smallest dogs are called miniature schnauzer – zwerg in German means “dwarf”. To bring out a more miniature breed, the blood of German Spitz, poodles, and Affenpinschers was added to schnauzers. Such selection has fixed not only the size, but also certain coat colors – black, salt-pepper, black with silver and white. Cute bearded gnomes, despite their miniature size, retained their strong-willed character, fearlessness and excellent protective qualities of their larger ancestors.

For the first time, the miniature schnauzer was registered as a representative of a new breed in 1888, and after eleven years they participated in exhibitions along with other dogs. Bold kids with a cheerful disposition and a clear life position fell in love with dog breeders around the world. From a working dog, they gradually turned into a human companion, an ideal companion dog, but representatives of the miniature schnauzer breed still demonstrate high security standards, as well as excellent intelligence in customs and border services. Today miniature schnauzers are among the ten most popular dog breeds in the world.

Breed description

The miniature schnauzer is a small, strong, stocky, square in format (height at the withers is approximately equal to the length of the body) dog with a coarse coat. The skull is elongated and strong. The occipital protuberance is not strongly developed. The bridge of the nose is parallel to the flat forehead. The length of the head from the tip of the nose to the occiput is half the length from the withers to the base of the tail. The shape of the muzzle of the miniature schnauzer resembles a blunt wedge. The nose is always black and well developed. Lips black, dry and well fitting. Jaws powerful, scissor bite, full set of teeth. The eyes are oval, medium in size, dark in color, the eyelids fit well. The V-shaped ears are set high, hanging, the ends are adjacent to the cheeks, the break line should not be higher than the forehead line. The neck is muscular with a convex scruff harmoniously passes into the withers. The skin on the throat without folds fits snugly.

The upper line of the body falls slightly from the withers. The back is short, strong and elastic. The loin is short, strong and deep. Chest oval, moderately broad. The abdomen forms a curved line with the lower chest. The tail is in the form of a saber or sickle. The forelimbs are strong, not narrowly set, straight. The shoulder blades are strongly muscled, close fitting to the chest, and have an angle of approximately 50 °. The shoulders are strong and muscular, fitting well to the body, with an angle of articulation of approximately 95 – 105 ° with the shoulder blade. Forearms muscular, well developed, straight. Paws are short, rounded with closed arched fingers, pads are strong, claws are dark in color.

The hind limbs are set not narrowly, when viewed from the side – set obliquely, when viewed from behind – parallel. The thigh is muscular, wide, moderately long. The lower legs are muscular, strong, long, passing into a strong hock with well-defined angulations. Hind feet with short, arched and tightly closed toes, dark nails. The skin fits snugly all over the body. The coat is harsh, dense, wiry and neither short nor bristly nor wavy. On the head, the hair forms a characteristic beard and thick long eyebrows. The hair on the legs is less harsh than on the body. In miniature schnauzers, four types of color are standard: black with black undercoat, black with silver, pepper and salt, and white. With any color on the muzzle of the miniature schnauzer there is a dark mask.

Photos

Character

“The miniature schnauzer is an amazing dog: he understands everything, except that he can’t talk,” says Natalya Sorokina, RKF expert, veterinarian, owner of the miniature schnauzer kennel “Yves Nadiz”. – This is an ideal companion: a miniature schnauzer can be a student’s dog, a pensioner’s dog, a dog of a large family, a child’s dog – they perfectly know how to adapt to any owner, remember his habits, adapt to any lifestyle. I had many dogs of different breeds, but in terms of intelligence, in my opinion, the miniature schnauzer surpasses all other breeds. And with such a mind, he has a very kind, balanced, cheerful disposition. Dogs of this breed will be happy to become participants in children’s games and any sports activities, while guard and guard instincts are well developed in miniature schnauzers, they are always on the alert and vigilantly monitor the well-being and safety of their owners. The miniature schnauzer will never provoke a dangerous situation for the owner – if it seems to him that a threat may arise for the owner, he will first make a security movement and watch how a stranger or animal behaves.

They are incredibly sensitive dogs! Miniature schnauzers are not aggressive, on the contrary, they are very friendly – they will be friends with both a mouse and a cat, which will brighten up their loneliness, which they can hardly endure. Dogs of this breed feel great in city apartments, and if they settled outside the city, where they have their own territory, there will be no limit to happiness. I am sure that any person who decides to get a miniature schnauzer will not regret it for a minute, besides, there are not many miniature schnauzers – as soon as you become the owner of one dog, you want to have as many of them as possible.

Care and maintenance

Zwegschnauzers are not the kind of dogs with which you need to run to the point of complete exhaustion, so that the animal splashes out all the energy on the street and does not cause a rout in the house. It is enough for dogs of this breed to walk for an hour twice a day every day, ideally if these are suburban spaces where they can frolic without a leash, but even in urban conditions, walking at a fast pace on a leash, the miniature schnauzer feels comfortable.

– Not every owner can walk the dog for a long time in the morning before work, so the following regimen is also suitable for a miniature schnauzer: in the morning – 15 – 20 minutes of a hygienic walk, and in the evening a full walk – 1 – 2 hours with a game and jogging, – says Natalya Sorokina. – And, if there are schoolchildren or pensioners in the family, then the miniature schnauzer will be happy to take a walk even during the day, even if not for very long.

After walking, it is advisable to wipe the paws, belly and beard of the dog with a damp cloth or rinse with water. The hard coat of miniature schnauzers has the ability to self-clean – the dirt dries and crumbles from their hair-wires, so dogs of this breed do not require frequent washing.

– You can bathe miniature schnauzers once every three months, you don’t need to bathe more often – their skin is prone to overdrying. When washing, you need to use a special zooshampoo for dogs with coarse hair, explains veterinarian Natalia Sorokina. – And wash the hair growing on the paws and the beard of miniature schnauzers with conditioner, as it is much softer than the wool on the body.

Miniature schnauzers need to be combed at least once a week with a comb with teeth to remove excess undercoat, prevent hair from straying into tangles and massage the pet’s body.

– Once every 4 – 5 months, a miniature schnauzer needs a full-fledged trimming and grooming, – says Natalya Sorokina. – In dogs of this breed, dead hairs of wool do not fall out, they must be plucked out so that the dog’s coat is regularly updated. And it is also necessary to cut the thick and long eyebrows of miniature schnauzers, their beard, hair on the ears, neck and next to the tail. You can choose another mode: once a month, slightly pluck the hair, and once every two months, cut the hair on the ears, beard, eyebrows and tail. Going for a haircut and plucking to a professional is not such a complicated procedure, and these services are not expensive. But in the house where the miniature schnauzer lives, there is no wool and even people with allergies can get dogs of this breed. During trimming, you need to look into the ears of the miniature schnauzer, especially if they are not docked, if necessary, remove the dust accumulated in them with a napkin dipped in a zoogel. As a rule, there are no problems with cropped ears, they are well ventilated.

Of course, the owner chooses the nutrition system for his pets – it can be feeding with natural products or industrial feed. The main thing is that the miniature schnauzer receives a balanced diet rich in vitamins and nutrients. The miniature schnauzer menu should not be dominated by cereals, pasta and other flour products.

“In my opinion, rare owners are able to maintain a properly balanced diet of a dog every day when fed with natural products,” says veterinarian Natalya Sorokina. – It is necessary not only to calculate the proportions of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, but also to monitor the quality of meat and offal, additionally introduce vitamins and mineral supplements into the diet. In industrial super-premium or holistic foods, the daily diet is already calculated in terms of the amount and balance of nutrients, so I raise my dogs on ready-made food. True, up to six months I soak dry food for babies so that it is better settled by the body of puppies, while I always give treats to gnaw so that the teeth are cleaned of tartar. I advise the owners not to indulge their pets with various goodies – miniature schnauzers perfectly tolerate monotonous food.

Education and training

“The miniature schnauzer does not require special training,” says Natalya Sorokina. – This is not a machine for following commands, this is a very smart dog with high intelligence and ability to understand, they very quickly grasp everything that is asked of them and easily learn the rules of behavior. It is enough to talk with the puppy, explain to him in an accessible way what is possible and what is not, and the dog will very quickly learn everything that the owner wants from her. Many owners now go with miniature schnauzers to special classes, to dog training grounds, teaching their dogs certain training courses. There is nothing wrong with this, but, in my opinion, the owners of the miniature schnauzer can teach their dog everything on their own, he is so smart and understanding. This is not a decorative dog, but not a service dog either, since it is very small, but understanding the level of tasks, it would easily master and perfectly pass both the OKD – the general training course, and even the ZKS – the course of protective guard service.

The main thing is not to punish the puppies, but to encourage them for a job well done with something tasty and praise, be patient and persistent, give training in the form of a game, do not insist on the long and monotonous execution of the same command, and your miniature schnauzer will grow into a well-mannered dog , understanding the owner perfectly. They are also happy to participate in dog sports, for example, dog agility or dancing with dogs, and if you look at the statistics of victories, miniature schnauzers are on the podium more often than other breeds.

Health and disease

– Miniature Schnauzers have excellent health – this is a strong breed with good immunity, throughout their long, by dog ​​standards, life, they retain good physical shape, energy, interest in what is happening, – says Natalya Sorokina, expert of the RKF. – Miniature schnauzers do not have a tendency to food allergies, even white dogs, they don’t even have eyes that flow, which is usually characteristic of white pets.

But there are diseases that miniature schnauzers are prone to.

“Firstly, it is a kidney disease. To prevent it, dogs need to drink well, so fresh filtered or bottled water should always be in their bowl. The diet should not contain smoked meats, sweets and other food that is not intended for dogs, explains Natalya Sorokina. – Ophthalmic diseases can also occur in miniature schnauzers.

Very rarely – early hereditary retinal atrophy, more often – cataracts. Owners of dogs of this breed need to remember this and do not forget to check the pet’s eyes every year in a veterinary clinic. And also observe the regimen of antiviral vaccinations, carry out anthelmintic therapy, during the tick season, do not take your pet outside without a protective coat treatment. And then the miniature schnauzer will not cause any trouble, but only joy and delight.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about keeping miniature schnauzers with zoo engineer, veterinarian Anastasia Kalinina.