Miniature Pinscher

"A lot of dog in a little body" is perhaps the best description of the Miniature Pinscher or MinPin. Well this lively little dog displays very few characteristics of a toy dog. Many people think of the Miniature Pinscher as a scaled down version of the larger Doberman Pinscher. The Doberman and Miniature Pinscher are separate and very distinct breeds and were both developed in Germany in the late nineteenth century. Both are said to have a large part of English Black-and -Tan Terrier in their blood. The ancestry of the MinPin gives him traits of a much large dog...not toy. The main breeds in the Minpin's background are probably different terriers that give him his spunk and fearlessness. Many centuries ago, the ratters and short-haired shepherd dogs are how the present-day Miniature Pinscher came about. The MinPin also has some blood in him from the guard dogs that were used to protect the camps and army supplies in Germany, which helped to produce the Rottweiler. The MinPin has the insticts of a watch dog, despite his tiny stature. The MinPin also shows characteristics of a working dog because the can be trained more easily than the other * Toy* dogs. His agility and sleek appearance is contributed by the whippet he has in him, and his guarding instincts are just like the large Doberman. The Miniature Pinscher is olso smart and clean in outline, sturdy and compact in body. A feature of the breed is the hackney gait. Lively and high - spirited with very quick reactions, and a keen sense of hearing which make him a good little guard dog. He has a lustrous short coat, and is an ideal size for even a small home.

General Appearance** The Miniature Pinscher is structurally a well balanced, stauirdy, compact, short coupled, smoth coated dog. He naturally is well groomed, proud, vigorous and alert.

Characteristic** Precise hackney gait, fearless animation, complete self - possession and spirited presence.

Temperament** Fearless animation, Complete self possession, and spirited presence.So Fearless and alert.

Head and Skull** In correct proportion to the body. Tapering, narrow with well fitted but not too prominent foreface which balances with the skull. No indication of coarseness.

Eyes ** full, slightly oval, clear, bright and dark even to a true black, including eye rims, with the exception of chocolates, whose eye rims should be self colored.

Ears** Set high, standing erect from base to tip May be cropped or uncropped.

Mouth** Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Muzzle** strong rather than fine and delicate, and in proportion to the head as a whole. Head well balanced with only a slight drop to the muzzle, which is parallel to the top of the skull.

Nose** Black only, with the exception of chocolates which should have self a colored nose>

Lips and Cheeks** small, taut and closely adherent to each other.

Teeth** meet in a scissors bite.

Neck** Strong yet graceful, slightly arched. Well fitted into the shoulders.Free from throatiness. Proportioned to the head and body gracefully curved, blending into the shoulders, muscular and free from suggestion of dewlap or throatiness.

Topline** Back level or slightly sloping toward the rear both when standing and gaiting.

Body ** Compact, slightly ewdge shaped, muscular,

Forechest** well developed. Well sprungribs.Depth of brisket, the base line of which is level with points of the elbows. Belly moderately tucked up to denote grace of structural form. Short and strong in loin.

Croup** level with topline.

Tail** Set high, held erect, docked in proportion to size of dog.

Shoulders** Clean and sloping with moderate and angulation coordinated to permit the hackney like action. Elbows close to the body.

Legs** Strong bone development and small clean joints. As viewed from the front, straght and upstanding.

Pasterns** Strong, perpendicular

Dewclaws** should be removed. Feet small. catlike, toes strong, well arched and closely knit with deep pads, Nails thick, blunt.

Hindquarters** Well muscled quarters set wide enough apart to fit into a properly balanced body. AS viewed from the rear, the legs are straight and parallel. From the side, well angulated. Thight well muscled. Stifles well defined. Hocks short, set well apart. Feet small, catlike, toes strong, well arched and closely knit with deep pads.

Nails** thick, blunt.

Coat ** Smooth, hard and short, straight and lustrous, closely adhering to and uniformly covering the body.

Color** Solid clear red. Stag red ( red with intermingling of black hairs. Black with sharply defined rust red markings on cheeks, lips, lower jaw, throat, twin spots above eyes and chest, lower half of forelegs, inside of hind legs and vent regoin, lower portion of hocks and feet. Black pencil stripes on toes. Chocolate with rust and red markings the same as specified for blacks, except brown pencil stripes on toes. In the solid red and stag a rich vibrand medium to dark shade is preferred,

Disqualifications** Any colour other than listed. Thumb mark patch of black hair surrounded by rust on the front of the forelegs between the foot and the wrist, on chocolates, the patch is chocolate hair. White on any part of dog which exceeds one half inch in its longest dimension.

Gait** The forlegs and hind legs move parallel, with feet turning neither in nor out. Coordinated to permit a true Hackneyed action, is a highstepping, reaching, free and easy gait in which the front leg moves straight forward and in the front of the body and foot bends at the wrist. The dog drives smoothly and strongly from the rear. The head and tail are carried high.

Temperament** Fearless and very alert.

Feet** Cat - like, nails dark

size** Height from 25.5-30 cms (( 10-12 ins)) at withers.

Faults **Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note ** Male animals should have two aparently normal testicles fully decended into the scrotum.