Giant Schnauzer
ORIGIN: Germany.
UTILIZATION: Companion dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. :
Group 2 Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossian – Swiss Mountain Dogs.
Section 1 Pinscher and Schnauzer.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: Originally the Giant Schnauzer was used in the region of Southern Germany to drive cattle.
Around the turn of the century determined breeders realized that he had excellent employment opportunities and very valuable features in his character. The breed since 1913 registered in a herd, and the Giants Schnauzer was officially recognized in 1925 as a working dog.
General appearance: Large, powerful, stocky rather than slim. An enlarged, powerful image of the Schnauzer.
An imperturbable dog, prepared for the defense, whose appearance fills you with respect.
Important proportions:
– Square build in which height is nearly equal to the body length.
– The length of the head (measured from the tip of the nose to the occipital protuberance) corresponds to the half of the length of the
topline (measured from the withers to the base of the tail).
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT: Typical characteristics of this dog are benign, his temperament and his incorruptible loyalty to his boss. He has highly developed senses, intelligence, trainability, strength, endurance, speed, resistance to weather and disease.
His innate ability to tolerate stress and self-confidence make him best suited to being a companion, sporting friend and useful working dog.
HEAD
CRANIAL REGION:
Skull is powerful, long without clear occiput. The head should be in line with power of the dog. The forehead is flat, without wrinkles and parallel to the bridge of the nose.
FACIAL REGION:
Nose: Well developed nose leather with large nostrils, always black.
Muzzle: ending in a blunt wedge, a straight nose.
Lips: Black, smooth and tight around the jaws. Corners of lips closed.
Jaws / Teeth: Strong upper and lower jaw. The complete scissor bite (42 pure white teeth), is strongly developed and firmly closing.
The chewing muscles are strongly developed but the cheeks must not give distortion of the rectangular shape of the head.
Eyes: Medium sized, oval, facing foreward, dark with lively expression. Eyelids are close fitting.
Ears: Set high, V – shape, the inner edges lying close to the cheeks, evenly carried, turned forward towards temples. Folding should not be above the top of the skull.
NECK: The strong, muscular neck is nobly arched, it leads smoothly into the withers. Strongly set, slim, noble curved, which corresponds to the force of the dog. Throat skin tight without folds.
BODY
Topline: Slightly sloping from withers towards rear.
Withers: Forming the highest point in topline.
Back: Strong, short and taut.
Loins: Short, strong and deep. The distance from the last rib to hip is short to the dog and a stocky appearance.
Croup: Slightly rounded, imperceptibly continuing into the tail.
Chest: Moderately broad, oval in diameter, reaching up to the elbow. The forechest is distinctly marked by the point of the sternum.
Underline / Belly: Flanks not raised, forming a well curved line with the underside of the ribcage.
For Hand: Seen from the front, the front legs are strong, straight and not too close together. Seen from the side, the forearms are straight.
Shoulders: The shoulder blade lies close against the rib cage and is well muscled on both sides of the shoulder bone on the points of the thoracic vertebrae protrudes. For example, at an angle as possible and well to the rear, forming an angle of appr.50 degrees to the horizontal.
Upper arm: Lying close to the body, strong and well musculed, forming an angle of 95degrees to 105 degrees to the shoulder blade.
Elbows: Close fitting, turning neither in nor out.
Forearm: Viewed from all sides completely straight, strongly developed and well muscled.
Carpal: Strong, stable in itself against the structure of the forearm.
Pastern: from the front, vertical. Seen from the side, slightly sloping, strong and slightly springy.
Feet: Short and round, toes well-knit and arched with short dark nails and resistant pads.
Hindquarters: Standing obliquely when seen from the side, standing parallel but not close together seen from behind.
Upper thigh: Moderately long, broad and strongly muscled.
Knee: neither in nor out.
Lower thigh: Long, strong and sinewy, running through a strong hock.
Hocks: Well angulated, strong, firm, turning neither in nor out.
Pastern: Short, vertical to the ground.
Hind feet: Toes short. Nails short and black.
GAIT / MOVEMENT: Flexible, elegant, smooth and free. The forelegs should swing as far forward as possible, the hind legs are resilient and have the necessary drive. The front leg of one side and the hind leg of the other side move forward at the same time.
The back, the ligaments and joints are solid.
SKIN: Tight fitting over the whole body.
HAIR: The coat should be hard and dense. It consists of a dense undercoat and a not too short top layer of hair, it is close to the body.
The top layer is rough, and sufficiently long to allow the control of the texture matter, it is neither rough or wavy. The hair on the limbs is often less hard. Coat is short on forehead and ears. Typical characteristics are the not too soft beard on the muzzle and the bushy eyebrows, the eyes light over shadows.
COLOR:
– Pure black with black undercoat.
– Salt and Pepper.
When breeding Pepper and Salt, the aim is to obtain a medium shade with evenly distributed, has a good pepper color and gray undercoat. The shades from dark iron gray to silver gray are all permitted. In all color variations there is a dark mask, which should adapt harmoniously to the respective color, and emphasize the expression. A clear light markings on head, chest and limbs are undesirable.
Size and weight:
Height at withers: Dogs and bitches: 60 to 70 cm.
Weight: Dogs and bitches: 35 to 47 kg.
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 the degree of the effect of it on the health and welfare of the dog.
– For example:
-Head altogether too small or too short.
– Heavy or round skull.
– Wrinkles on the forehead.
– Short, pointed or narrow muzzle.
– Level bite.
– Strongly protuding cheeks or cheekbones.
– Light, too large or round eyes.
– Low set, too long or unevenly carried ears.
– Throat Skin.
– Throat Skin, narrow crest of the neck.
– Too long, erected or soft back.
– Cross disappearance.
– Long feet.
– Too short, too long, soft, wavy, shaggy, silky, white or spotted coat or other mixed colors.
– Brown undercoat.
– In Salt and Pepper: a black trace on the back or a black saddle.
– Over- or undersize up to 2 cm.
SERIOUS FAULTS:
– Clumsy or light build. Too low or too high on the legs.
– Elbows turning.
– Straight or open angulated hind legs.
– Over- or undersize by more than 2 cm but less than 4 cm.
Disqualifying faults:
– Shy, aggressive, vicious, overly suspicious or nervous behavior.
– Malformation of any kind.
– Lack of breed type.
– Faulty mouth, such as over- or undershot or wry mouth.
– Severe faults in individual parts, such as faults in structure, coat and color.
– Over- or undersize by more than 4 cm.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities disqualified.
NB: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
