Dog Breed Guide

Standard Schnauzer

Profile

Size

Medium

Country of origin

Germany

Origin

Around the 15th century

Bred for

Ratting, Watchdog, Farm dog

Height

45 - 50cm (18 - 20in)

Weight

14 - 20kg (31 - 44lb)

Life span

13 - 15 years

A square, sturdy medium-sized dog with an impressive mustache and beard and bushy eyebrows. The harsh, wiry coat comes in two colors: pepper and salt (a gray mix of black and white) and black.

It is the oldest of the three Schnauzers (Miniature, Standard and Giant) and the breed from which the other two were developed. It is smart, brave, and very loving and loyal to its family. It also has a stubborn, independent side and is wary of strangers.

Energetic and playful, it needs daily exercise and games that make it think. It sheds little, but to keep the coat in good condition it needs plucking, pulling out the dead hair by hand, or trimming.

Good to know

The name Schnauzer is thought to come from a German word for "snout" or "mustache." In other words, it is simply "the whiskered dog."

In medieval Germany it followed the wagons of farmers and merchants and was a reliable worker that kept rats out of stables and storehouses. A rough-coated medium-sized dog resembling it appears in works by the 15th-century German artist Albrecht Dürer, showing that it has been close to people for a long time.

At 19th-century dog shows it was exhibited as the Wire-haired Pinscher. In World War I it also served the German army as a guard dog. Later, the smaller Miniature and the larger Giant were developed from it.