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History of the Schipperke by Anita Fredricks Copyright 2003. Anita & Grant Fredricks, Blumoon Schipperkes. This article may not be reproduced without written permission of the authors. All rights reserved. I am
Belgian, small, faithful, intelligent, courageous and black A
wonderful slogan and a complete description of the Schipperke. The
Official Book of the Schipperke states that: “Mr.
Victor Fally, one of the founders of the Schipperke Club (Belgium), wrote a
story of a dog without a tail appeared in the chronicles of the monk, Wenceslas,
written in the 15th century, thereby establishing that the tradesmen
guilds of Brussels possessed a house dog without a tail which could have been no
other than our Schipperke. This is
claimed to be the earliest written mention of the breed. Then, there is the story handed down about William of
Orange (William the Silent: 1533-1584), national hero of Holland and Belgium,
whose life was saved at one time from a would-be assassin by two jet black dogs
without tails. They are also
believed to have been Schipperkes. Legend says that one day two shoemakers quarreled
because of the unwanted visits form the dog of one to the house of the other and
one of them avenged himself by cutting off entirely the tail of his neighbor’s
dog. Fanciers observed that the
little animals were better looking without their caudal appendage and so
established the custom of the tailless Schipperke. The known history of the breed begins about the year
1690s when the shoemakers in the St. Gery quarter organized a competitive
exhibition of Schipperkes on designated Sundays on the Grand Place in Brussels.
At this time, workmen often exercised their ingenuity by making collars
of hammered or carved brass for their Schipperkes.
Always kept gleaming, these collars were worn only on Sundays and were
fastened in a manner designed to pull out as few hairs as possible from the
ruff. During the decade of
1830-1840s, the Schipperke was very fashionable in Brussels and, curiously
enough, was protected in particular by the disciples of Saint Crisping.
Even in this later period, it was still the custom to adorn Schipperkes
with an enormous collar of worked brass which often was a real work of art.
On Sundays one could see a shoemaker going out with or without his wife
or children but never without his Schipperke.
He could readily forget to shine his boots but he would never forget to
polish his dog’s collar. In the early nineteenth century, the Schipperke was
widely distributed throughout the towns of central Belgium and was practically
the only house dog known there until around 1880. In
1880, a group of hunting dog fanciers led by Belgium fanciers declared that the
Schipperke is their “national” dog and in fact the first club for the
Belgian breeds was the Schipperke Club. Every
year they proudly wear "number one" and they still celebrate their centennial
since March 1888. The
Schipperke originated from the heart of Belgium and has as its capital, the city
of Brussels. The “Leauvennaar”,
a mid sized dog that was tailless, followed the wagons between Brussels and
Lauvain. He weighed between 22 and
26 pounds and was considered the missing link between the Schipperke and his
cousin, the larger Belgian Sheepdog we know today, or the Groenendael.
In Belgium, the Schipperke still is in the Herding Group with the
other Belgium Sheepdogs. The Leauvennaar seems to be extinct. Brabancon
mini-Shepherd, some say is their true origin.
Spitz is a common name in Europe for all small dogs with pointed
ears and noses. During the three
years we were in Germany, they called my Schips a “Spitz” every time.
Expressing my frustration to a German friend, she finally told me all
small pointed ear and pointed nose dogs were called that as anyone would generalize
“horse” for all breeds of horses. The
Schips certainly do not look like the Spitz breed, and the word “Spitz” was
around long before the breed was. The
origin of the name has been described as “Schaap” = sheep; “Schaper” =
shepherd; “Scheper” = same, dialect form; “Scheperke” - same, diminutive
form; “Schieperke or Schipperke” = same, variations …therefore, Little
Shepherd dog. Yet most romantically
associated the breed with barges or boats “Schip” and boatman =
“Schipers” unfortunately. Mr.
Reusens was a Schipperke breeder who ran a freight boat line between Brussels
and Antwerp. He is sometimes called
the “father of the Schipperke” because of his promotion and enthusiasm of
the breed. His Schips are about the
only traceable history of the Schipperke being barge dogs since most of the
Belgians could not afford the prices the dogs fetched at that time. Mr.
Reusens also owned a dog called Franz who was the model pretty much for the
Belgian standard. In 1880, they
formed a group to list characteristics they felt should represent our breed. The
Official Book of the Schipperke goes on to explain: “These fanciers discovered that they had a group of
dogs not all uniform in type. These
differences are described in an article by E. R., Spalding printed in the American
Book of the Dog (G. O. Shields, editor) published in 1891.
Herein, Mr. Spalding quoted a letter written by John Lysen of Antwerp (a
recognized authority on English Setter and other English bird dogs) in which he
described three different types of Schipperkes existing in Belgium at that time.
Apparently, the breed varied according to the locality. The three varieties described are the Antwerp,
Louvain and the Brussels types. The
Louvain type had a smooth, shiny coat with little ruff and a longer head with
tall narrow ears, sometimes described as terrier-like in appearance. The Brussels type had a much shorter head with large
eyes, broad forehead and unusually large ears set far apart and low on the head.
With this type there usually went a fair, hard haired ruff and good coat;
but unfortunately, also, all the dogs of this group were much out at the elbows
which, added to their square short head, seemed to indicate some kind of a Pug
or Bulldog cross. The Antwerp type was between the other two and was
the most attractive and most popular. This
was a thickset dog having a distinct ruff and culottes or long hairs with
shorter hairs on the sides of the body and on the legs.
These dogs were also characterized by a long mane (jabot) extending down
between the forelegs back to about half the body.
The standard clearly described the Antwerp type as it was the one
developed by the Schipperke Club. Schipperkes came into the United States in different
ways, but Miss Isabel Ormiston did the most to promote our breed.
In the early 1920’s, she became interested in the breed through Belgium
friends and in 1924 she visited Belgium, studied the breed and selected her
first breeding stock. Nearly all Schipperkes today trace their ancestry to her
stock. Miss Ormiston also founded the Schipperke Club of
America and AKC adopted the Belgian standard.
It is hard to understand why we are not in the Herding Group as the
Schips is in Belgium, perhaps because the Non-Sporting Group was being formed by
AKC about that same time. The Belgians have always insisted the Schipperke is a diminutive shepherd and that he was derived from the small, native black Belgium sheepdog. Belgium canine authorities have consistently repeated this origin down through the years. Again, as noted in The Official Book of the
Schipperke, a Belgium judge of some years ago: Charles
Huge and Mr. Victor Fally have written that those Schipperkes left with a tail
carry it like a Groenendael Sheepdog or shepherd.
For proof, in an earlier French dog book by M. Megnin, there is a
photograph of a Schipperke with a tail which is carried straight like that of a
sporting dog. Mr. Fally and other
have said that an undocked Schipperke with its tail curled over the back like a
Pug or Spitz if evidence that there has been crossbreeding in its ancestry
regardless of the names appearing in the pedigree.
Some English authorities state that the undocked tails of the Schipperke
are carried in one or two ways, some will be carried straight like a shepherd
and others will be carried curved over the back. The elder Mr. Louis Vander Snickt, one of the founders of the Schipperkes Club and a noted discoverer of Belgian breeds, wrote in 1886 that “the Schipperke is, perhaps, the only indisputable Belgian dog that we possess.” We of today add the hope that the Schipperke may always thrive there, his native home. In Belgium, Schipperkes are invited to their herding
trials. It isn’t unusual to see
the Schipperke show his abilities for herding, hunting pheasants, rabbits, moles
or mice. They are good watch dogs,
extremely quick and can be good in obedience, agility, and earth dog trials.
Schipperkes also have courage, longevity and love to travel. They should be a loyal companion and love the people they take care of. They should be a natural, hardy, sturdy, all around busy
little dog. Temperament is
considered important in judging a Schipperke.
He must have “pep”. For other historical perspectives, please see: Georges Arin - The Color of the Schipperke
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