Schnauzer Ebook

The Dog with the Human Brain

The Standard Schnauzer goes back to the fifteenth century, he is the oldest member of the schnauzer family, the Standard Schnauzer is the medium-sized member from which the other two breeds, the giant and the miniature, were developed. Originating in Germany, there are several theories as to which breeds form the schnauzer's ancestry. Some dog historians claim that the breed represents a cross between a rough-coated ratting dog and the now-extinct Middle Ages Beaver Dog, others that it descends from shepherd dogs only. Still others claim its ancestors were the German Black Poodle and the Gray Wolf Spitz, or crosses of the extinct Schafer Pudel and the Wirehaired German Pinscher. Whichever, there is no doubt that the breed has been known for several centuries and was renowned as a herder and outstanding ratter. He did not have the stylish life of silken pillows, but the plebian life of the trusted guard and family dog of the working class. Schnauzer-like dogs appear in several art works of this early period. In Mecklenborg, Germany, there is a statue dating from the fourteenth century of a hunter with a Schnauzer crouching at his feet and Albrecht Durer who owned a schnauzer, included his dog in several of his paintings dated circa 1492. The Schnauzer again appears in statuary in The Night Watchman, dated 1620 in Stuttgart, Germany.