Miniature Pinscher

Description:

Miniature Pinschers are intelligent, curious, and energetic. They are known for their hunting ability, which may cause them to bark. Miniature Pinschers may also be stubborn, but this can be dealt with by using motivational tools such as treats and favorite toys in reward-based training, with treats broken into small pieces to prevent weight gain. Their small size makes the Miniature Pinscher attractive to children; however, as with all dogs, extremely close supervision is needed to prevent accidental injury to the dog and its subsequently developing fear-based defensive aggression. The Miniature Pinscher is known as a watchdog due to its tendency to bark to defend itself, but socialization can minimize the development of fear-based defensive aggression. The Miniature Pinscher's small size may also lead it to be easily intimidated by other dogs, causing more defensive barking to make itself look fearless even when it is afraid. This barking could cause confrontations with other dogs leading to injury.

History:

The Miniature Pinscher was developed and refined in Germany to hunt rats in stables. Despite popular misconception that the breed is a miniature version of the Doberman Pinscher, in fact the Miniature Pinscher is much older than the Doberman Pinscher, though the two breeds do share some common ancestors. The fact that the two breeds share ancestors isn't a coincidence as the Doberman Pinscher was purposely bred to look like the Miniature Pinscher.

Miniature Pinschers were very popular in Germany and Scandinavia before their widespread introduction to other countries in the early 1900's. The Miniature Pinscher was imported to the United States in 1919 and was first registered with the American Kennel Club in 1925. The breed is affectionately referred to by its fans as the "Minpin".

OBSERVED WEIGHT:

4-12 lbs

IDENTIFYING FEATURES:

AVERAGE HEIGHT: 10-12 in