The Schipperke - A Complete Anthology of the Dog

By Read Books Ltd.

The Schipperke - A Complete Anthology of the Dog gathers together all the best early writing on the breed from our library of scarce, out-of-print antiquarian books and documents and reprints it in a quality, modern edition. This anthology includes chapters taken from a comprehensive range of books, many of them now rare and much sought-after works, all of them written by renowned breed experts of their day. These books are treasure troves of information about the breed - The physical points, temperaments, and special abilities are given; celebrated dogs are discussed and pictured; and the history of the breed and pedigrees of famous champions are also provided. The contents were well illustrated with numerous photographs of leading and famous dogs of that era and these are all reproduced to the highest quality. Books used include: My Dog And I by H. W. Huntington (1897), The Dog Book by James Watson (1906), Hutchinson's Dog Encyclopaedia by Walter Hutchinson (1935) and many others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Jan 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447482796

Book preview

1935

W. J. Comstock’s, Providence, R. I.

THE SCHIPPERKE.

ORIGIN.—Wholly Dutch, but how far back it dates is unknown.

USES.—The canal-boatmen in Holland use this "little beggar as a guard against intruders, as well as to advise the captain of approaching boat. It will kill rats, swims like a duck, and a companion is not surpassed.

* SCALE OF POINTS, ETC.

GENERAL APPEARANCE.—A small, cobby dog, with sharp expression, lively, always on the alert.

HEAD.—Foxy in type; skull broad, not round; little stop. Muzzle fine, not weak, well filled out below eyes. Nose black and small. Eyes small, dark brown, not full, more round than oval, bright, and full of expression. Ears moderate length, tapering, carried stiffly erect and at right angles with skull. Teeth strong and level.

NECK.—Short, strong, full, and stiffly arched.

SHOULDERS AND CHEST.—Shoulders muscular, sloping; chest deep and broad.

BACK.—Short, straight, strong; loins powerful and well drawn up.

LEGS AND FEET.—Fore legs perfectly straight, well under body, good bone. Hind legs strong; hocks well let down. Feet small, cat-like; nails black.

HIND QUARTERS.—Fine compared to fore parts, muscular, well developed; rump well rounded; tailless.

COAT.—Black, abundant, dense, harsh; smooth on head, ears, and legs; lying close on back and sides; erect and thick around neck, forming a mane and frill; well feathered on thighs.

WEIGHT.—About 12 pounds.

DEFECTS.

White hairs are objected to.

DISQUALIFYING POINTS.

Drop or semi-erect ears.

THE SCHIPPERKE.

HERE is a quaint little Dutch dog which since its introduction into this country, less than ten years ago, has become one of ourselves, and developed into one of our British dogs as the Italian greyhound and the German boarhound have likewise done. Pronounced Skipperkee, when at home, he is found in the Dutch canal boats, where with the captain he rules the crew, hence his name. He there acts as a careful watch and guard, will kill rats when required so to do, and generally proves himself to be an engaging little companion.

That he is undoubtedly the latter there can be no doubt whatever; none of our native breeds are livelier or perkier than he; few so lively; and ever on the alert, it is no doubt on this account that he has taken the fancy of such a dog-loving nation as ourselves. The Schipperke ought to be born without a tail, or at any rate with a merely rudimentary stump, but this he seldom is, and when he is produced with the caudal appendage intact, it is of course cut off, and as the operation is performed skilfully, not even an expert can tell whether he is naturally or artificially tailless. In Holland there is a fawn-coloured variety of the breed, but here nothing but black is acknowledged, though I consider those fawn in hue are by no means displeasing to the eye, and possess quite as much character as the blacks. The latter breed true to colour, and it is very unusual for one of any other hue to be produced from black parents; still, this does occur at times, but such as are off colour and have much white about them should be at once destroyed, as they are in most instances. Now and then a perfectly white Schipperke is produced, and quite recently two or three specimens of such have appeared at our shows, the Misses Durrant, of Tunbridge Wells, being their exhibitors.

A friend of mine who keeps several Schipperkes in conjunction with his deerhounds, gives the former a very high character. He says they make excellent house dogs, being capital guards, ever on the alert and always busy, the latter being one of their prevailing characteristics. As companions they are affectionate and docile, will take the water freely, are good swimmers, and can kill rats and hunt rabbits almost as well as some of our terriers. When properly kept and attended to, they are absolutely free from any offensive odour. In constitution they are hardy and healthy, and altogether most desirable as house dogs.

This is a good character, but I do not know that it is more than they deserve. Their size—about 12 lb.—makes them particularly adaptable as house dogs, and so does their colour, especially in towns, where a white dog requires repeatedly tubbing if it be desired to keep his jacket clean and in good order. Of late there has been a tendency to increase the size of the Schipperke, and on more than one occasion prizes have gone to animals considerably over the stipulated standard. In Belgium two sizes appear to be recognised, the smaller varying from about 9 lb. to 12 lb., the larger from 12 lb. to 20 lb. I do not like the big ones at all, and I hope such will never obtain the support of the Schipperke Club in this country. Twelve pounds is quite big enough, and it is such a weight as can be continued and established without losing constitutional strength, bone, and general symmetry. Still, the specialist club in Belgium, which was established in 1888, encourages the two sizes, and at the exhibitions in that country each has a separate classification. An English club to look after the interests of the variety was established in 1890, the Kennel Club granted an entry in the Stud Book three years later; but in 1894 a second club was formed, called the St. Hubert Schipperke Club. The points and descriptions it adopted are identical with those of the Belgian club.

Not long ago a more or less interesting document appeared in our newspapers with regard to the operation performed in removing the tail of the Schipperke. Mr. W. R. Temple, who had been a great admirer of the breed, wrote as follows: "In the early days of the Schipperke craze there was a fairly well known kennel of this breed; and in course of time that kennel brought out several dogs bred in England. Whatever other points these dogs possessed, everybody remarked on ‘the wonderfully rounded quarters, just like a guinea-pig,’ they all had. No matter how pleased the dog might be there was no trace of a stump. Now, being in the secrets of this kennel I