Dog Breeds Of The World

Dog Breeds Of The World

Standard Schnauzer Dog Breed Height, Weight, Color, History and Description
By Scott Allan Lipe

Description: The Standard Schnauzer is of medium build and square in appearance. Here we see a smaller version of the Giant Schnauzer. The skull is modestly broad. The Standard Schnauzer head is long and rectangular in shape. Lips, and the large nose, are black in colour. With the teeth meeting in a scissor bite. Eyes are oval and dark brown, these are medium in size. The ears sit high on the head and can be cropped in countries that permit cropping. If cropped the ears are erect and have a pointed tip. When left natural, they are V shaped and sit close to the head. The front legs are straight, with small feet that are compact.

The Standard Schnauzer back is straight but has a slight slope downward from the withers to the rump. The tail is docked, in countries that permit docking, and this is to 1-2 inches. In the dog, we see a height of 18-20 inches and in the bitch, we see 17-19 inches. The weight for the dog is 30-45 pounds and in the bitches, we see weight at 30-40 pounds. The dogs' height should be the same as the length. This is a double coated breed with the undercoat being soft and the outer coat being hard and wiry. The Standard Schnauzer coat stands slightly off the back, and we see longer bushy eyebrows, beard and whiskers. The colouring comes in only two shades, black and salt and pepper. Life expectancy is 15 plus years.

History: Coming from Germany the Standard Schnauzer is the oldest of the three schnauzer breeds. They were working dogs and did ratting and herding for the farmers, in Germany, from the Middle Ages. These were the dog of the poor farmers and have been painted by artist like Reynolds and Rembrandt. This led to the German dog fanciers showing an interest in this breed and a standard was set. The name, we know them as today was given by a breeder whose dog was called Schnauzer and won best of show in the 1879 Hanover Show. This breed was the first and the Giant and the Miniature came from this. Coming to the USA in the 1900's from Germany. In World War I the Standard Schnauzer was used to guard for the Red Cross. They have been, and still, are used by police as working dogs and in the USA for drug and bomb detection. This dog is more popular in Europe than the USA and over the last 20 years only 540 puppies have been registered with the AKC.

Dog Breeds Of The World