Source: Panogos Miniature Pinscher
Please do not copy without permission to panogos
But it was not always so. The breed has gone through many changes since its primitive days, between extremes.
At times in the 18th century, the highest ideal German breeders sought was "smallness, for which they sacrificed everything else."1 The breed was tiny, frail, and was judged sitting on pillows or in cages, as little more than a lapdog without strength. The original breed standard of 1880 said very little about body structure, and focused mostly on head and color.
 |
|
1891 German Min Pin
|
Things began to change after the breed got its official start in 1895, at the founding of the Pinscher-Schnauzer Klub of Germany (PSK). One founder of the PSK, Joseph Berta, had the most influence on the development of the early Miniature Pinscher. Mr. Berta, also a judge, guided the breed away from the tiny, unsound dogs favored by the public, and brought them toward their stronger ideal. At shows, Mr. Berta required that the breed be exhibited walking. He rewarded the dogs most solidly developed, and these stronger dogs were selected for breeding. His demand for quality met resistance, but Mr. Berta held firm. He stated that the breed should be "healthy, well-balanced, tightly-knit specimens with good gait, uniformity in neck and head, correct color markings, and, least of all, diminutiveness." Diminutiveness--meaning, exceptionally small size--was the least important trait of all. Berta believed breeders should seek overall soundness in type. Said Berta:
I consider as ideal the Miniature Pinscher head which fits with the four-square body, with the strong, upright forequarters, with the sinewy back, with the neck which flows alert and sinewy out of the shoulder and which carries the lines of breeding art; which, as a whole, fits in harmoniously and presents a fitting and aesthetic effect . . . I want a whole head and not merely a skull with a pair of ugly eyes; I want a head with a well-developed muzzle which works itself strongly out of beautiful lines, then a uniform and harmonious unity is formed, a perfect picture of breeding created.2
To fit that ideal, the standard was updated to emphasize the "compact and muscular" body, with a straight topline and deep chest. Thin bones became a fault, along with apple-shaped heads. The idea of the breed as a small Pinscher became elevated over the tiny lapdog. That mental picture led the FCI to require that "the Miniature Pinscher is a reduced image of the German Pinscher, without the drawbacks of a dwarfed appearance." This remains today as the ideal in continental Europe and Scandinavia. In the U.S., where the German standard was shared for a few years, the "pinscherness" never really caught on. Although there are tales of oversized American Miniature Pinschers with hunting skills, these had no place under the standard, and were sought in South America to hunt rabbits. Early confusion over where to place the American Miniature Pinscher is evident in the shuffling around the breed underwent in its early days. As the breed was introduced to the AKC in the 1920s, the problem arose of which group to place him in. The AKC did not have a Pinscher-Schnauzer group. The AKC decided to place him in the Terrier Group in 1925, under the name "Pinscher (Toy)." This reflected two things: the breed was too pinscher-like to belong in the Toy Group, yet held enough Toy characteristics to be called a Toy pinscher. But he was still out of place. Five years later, the AKC moved him to the Toy Group and changed the name to "Pinscher (Miniature)." Perhaps the name change was a compromise, to retain something above the Toy idea, and to discourage the diminutive breeding shunned by Mr. Berta. |
