-THE MINIATURE PINSCHER-

The Miniature Pinscher originated in Germany where terrier-like breeds known as "pinschers" have been used as ratters for at least 300 years.  It is thought that the Miniature Pinscher evolved from breeding small specimens of the German smoothed-haired pinscher possibly crossed to the Italian Greyhound and the smooth Dachshund.  It is not, as some believe, the miniature version of the Doberman Pinscher although its clean lines, colouring, and general activity are remarkably similar.  The Miniature Pinscher was a recognized breed in Germany many years before the Doberman Pinscher was developed.  In Germany the breed is often called the REH PINSCHER because of its resemblance to the Roe deer, a small deer that is said to abound in the forests of the Rhineland.

The breed standard was first recorded in the German Stud Book in 1880 and was officially recognized by the Pinscher-Schnauzer club of Germany in 1895.  Undoubtedly the little dog was very popular in its country of origin:  when it was first shown at the Stuttgart show in 1900, there were ninety-three Miniature Pinschers in competition.

The Miniature Pinscher was first brought to the United States in 1920, and that country in credited with much of the breed's development.  Since the organization of the Miniature Pinscher Club of American in 1929,  the breed has become extremely popular in this continent both in the United States and Canada.In Canada the first Miniature Pinschers were registered in The Canadian Kennel Club Stud Book for the years 1937 - 1938.

Its progress has been somewhat slower in the United Kingdom, probably due to the ban on ear cropping.  It has taken breeders some years to breed dogs whose ear size and placement were in pleasing balance with the rest of the head.  One of the Miniature Pinscher's most attractive characteristics is its high-stepping "hackney-like" gait, which would seem to verify the fact that somewhere in its ancestry the Italian Greyhound can be found.