The Historical Schnauzer

The Schnauzer is a German breed of great antiquity, which in the 15th and 16th centuries must have been in high favor as a household companion, for his portrait appears in many paintings of the period. Albrecht Durer is known to have owned one for at least 12 years. Rembrandt painted several Schnauzers, and in the 18 century one appears in a canvas of the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. At Mechlinburg Germany, in the market place there is a statue of a hunter dating from the 14th century, with a Schnauzer crouching at his feet.


The general impression of the Schnauzer is that of a compact, sinewy, square-built dog, sturdy and alert, with stiff wiry coat and bristling eyebrows and whiskers. His nature combines high-spirited temperament with unusual intelligence and reliability. He occupies the midway position between large breeds and the Toys.

As far as can be determined, the Schnauzer originated in the crossing of black German Poodle and gray wolf spitz upon wirehaired pinscher stock. From the Pinscher element derives the tendency to fawn-colored undercoat, and from the wolf spitz is inherited the typical papper and salt coat color and its harsh wiry character. Solid black specimens of the breed, while fairly commin in Germany, are still rather unusual in this country.


The breed in America was originally classed as a terrier, whereas German breeders have always regarded the Schnauzer prinicipally as a working dog. His principal vocation was that of rat catcher, yard dog, and guard. Before World War I in Germany, fully 90% of the dogs used to guard the carts of farm produce in the market places while the farmers rested themselves and their teams at the inns, were of strong Schnauzer blood. Breeders in the land of their origin hold the Schnauzer second to none for sagacity and fearlessness. Owing to these characteristics, the "dogs with the human brain" (as their owners proudly call them) were much used by the army during the war as dispatch carriers and Red Cross aides; they were also employed in Germany in police work.


In this country and in England, they are used mainly as personal guards and companions, for which purpose their devotion and bravery, coupled with an uncanny perception of approaching danger, renders them most suitable. They are good water dogs and are easily taught to retrieve; and, on at leas one western sheep ranch, Schnauzers have proved themselves the most efficient of various breeds tried as protection for the flocks against marauding coyotes.