Standard schnauzer - 4leggers.com

History

The Standard Schnauzer (SS) is the oldest (and original prototype) of the three Schnauzer breeds. Since the Middle Ages, dogs very like today’s Standard Schnauzer performed household and farm duties in Germany: guarding the family and livestock, ridding the farmyard of vermin, and protecting their owners as they travelled to market. These rough-haired, medium-sized dogs were descended from early European herding and guardian breeds and were not related to the superficially similar terriers of Britain. In the mid-19th century, German dog fanciers began to take an interest in this useful native breed.

Crosses were made with gray Wolfspitz and black German Poodle to produce the distinctive salt and pepper and black colors. At this time, the medium-sized dogs were also being crossed with other breeds to develop the Miniature and, later, the Giant Schnauzer. Wire-haired Pinschers, as the breed was originally known, were first exhibited in Germany in the 1870s. The official German breed standard of that era describes a dog remarkably similar to the Standard Schnauzer of today

By the turn of the century, the breed was becoming universally known as the Schnauzer, a reference to the breed’s hallmark—a muzzle (German: schnauze) sporting a bristly beard and moustache, as well as to an early show winner of that name.

A list of all the dog breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club: