The German Pinscher or is a German

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

in the

Pinscher Pinscher is a type of dog developed originally as ratters on farms and for fighting or guarding, although today they are most often kept as pets. Origins It is considered that the German Pinscher is a prototypical Pinscher and one of the oldest ...

and

Schnauzer A Schnauzer (), plural ''Schnauzer'', lit. translation "snouter") is a dog breed type that originated in Germany from the 14th to 16th centuries. The term comes from the German word for "snout" and means colloquially "moustache",endangered breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status ...

, and is listed in category III of the

Rote Liste The , full name , is a red list of threatened breeds of domestic animal published annually by the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangere ...

of the

Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen The or GEH is a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds. History The GEH was founded on 5 December 1981 in the Rottal, in Lower Bavaria in southern Germany. It has about 2100 memb ...

. It is a distinct and separate breed from the

Affenpinscher The Affenpinscher, also known as the Monkey Terrier, is a terrier-like toy Pinscher breed of dog. History The breed is German in origin and dates back to the seventeenth century. The name "affenpinscher" is derived from the German ''Affe'' (a ...

, the

Austrian Pinscher The Austrian Pinscher (Österreichischer Pinscher) is a medium-sized breed of pinscher- type dog from Austria, where dogs of the type were originally farm dogs, keeping barns free of rats and acting as home guards, livestock guardians, and dro ...

and the

Miniature Pinscher The Miniature Pinscher, also known as the Zwergpinscher and Mini Pin, is a small breed of dog of the pinscher type originating in Germany. The breed's earliest ancestors may have included the German Pinscher mixed with Italian greyhounds and dachs ...

or Zwergpinscher.

History

Jean Bungartz Deutscher Pinscher and Zwergpinscher, Kynos, 1884

Benny von den Spessartwaechtern (cropped)

The origins of the German Pinscher are unknown. Dogs of this type, both rough-haired and smooth-haired, were traditionally kept as

carriage dog A carriage dog or coach dog refers to a type of dog rather than a specific breed. Dogs of this type were usually bred and trained to trot alongside carriages to protect the occupants from banditry or other interference. They were usually owned and ...

s or as stable dogs, and so were sometimes known as ; they were capable

ratter A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent d ...

s. Both types were known as Deutscher Pinscher, and came from the same lineage; rough-haired and smooth-haired puppies could occur in the same litter. The rough-haired Pinscher, which would later become the

Standard Schnauzer The Schnauzer or Mittelschnauzer is a German breed of dog in the Pinscher and Schnauzer group. It is characterised by an abundant bristly beard and moustache, usually lighter than the coat. It is one of three Schnauzer breeds, the others being t ...

, was also known as the . The "smooth Pinscher" is mentioned by

Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for sci ...

in 1836. In 1880 the Pinscher was recorded in the ''Deutschen Hundestammbuch'' of the Verein zur Veredelung der Hunderassen. In 1895 described five varieties of Pinscher – the rough- and smooth-haired Pinscher, the rough- and smooth-haired Miniature Pinscher, and the Affenpinscher; of the smooth-haired Pinscher he says that it is becoming less common, and is not often seen at dog shows. In 1895 a

breed society Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members o ...

, the Pinscher-Schnauzer-Klub, was established for both types, both rough- and smooth-haired. The Pinscher almost disappeared in the years after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was reconstructed by Werner Jung from a single standard-sized animal and four unusually large Miniature Pinschers. After eight years in which no births were recorded, a litter was whelped in 1958. The Pinscher was definitively accepted by the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium. History The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...

in 1955. The Deutscher Pinscher is an

endangered breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status ...

. In 2003 it was, with the Großspitz and the Mittelspitz, the 'endangered breed of the year' of the

; there were at that time 40 breeding bitches. In 2022 it was listed in category III, ('endangered'), of the

of that organisation. In each of the ten years from 2008 to 2017 the number of puppies whelped was between 350 and 450; in 2016 and 2017 there were just over 50 litters per year.

Characteristics

The German Pinscher is of medium size, with weights for both dogs and bitches in the range and a height at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

between 45 and The coat is dense, short and smooth; it may be either black-and-tan or self-coloured red, this varying from a light stag-red to a dark reddish brown.

References

{{Authority control Animal breeds on the GEH Red List Dog breeds originating in Germany FCI breeds