AN EXPANDED INTERPRETATION OF
THE AKC SCHIPPERKE BREED STANDARD
Provided by the Schipperke Club of America Judges Education Committee
and as interpreted by June Moore, AKC Licensed Breeder-Judge
A
lert and curious, the
Schipperke has the heart
of a terrier in the body of
a spitz and may be related
to neither. Schipperke
means “Little Captain” in
Flemish – or possibly the name comes from
the Flemish word for shepherd. History is not
clear as to the origin. In either case, the breed
developed in Belgium in the 1600s as ratters
and guards on canal barges. At times, they
rode the backs or nipped at the heels of horses
that pulled the barges along the canals. On
land, the dog kept rats out of shops.
Although the Schipperke’s impudent
character, foxy face, upright ears and thick
coat denote a spitz-type heritage, breed his-
torians claim the dog descended from the
Leuvenaar, a Belgian herding dog that also
produced today’s Belgian Sheepdog. The
Belgian herding dog of those days weighed
about 40 pounds, smaller than today’s ver-
sion, and could well have been the ancestor
of both breeds. It has been said that only
the wealthy in those days could own the
larger dogs, so the Schipperke was used as
a “poor man’s herding dog”.
Whatever its origin, the Schipperke has
an interesting history. Initially owned by
shopkeepers and tradesmen, the little dog
had its own specialty show in 1690. That
show and subsequent competitions fea-
tured elaborate copper collars designed for
the dogs. The breed didn’t catch the atten-
tion of the upper classes until the mid-
1800’
s when Queen Marie Henriette, wife
of Leopold II of Belgium, saw a Schipperke
at a Brussels show and bought the winner.
For most of the rest of the century, the
Schipperke was virtually the only house
dog in Belgium. The English discovered
the Schipperke about the same time and
imported many dogs from Belgium. The
“
Little Captain” came to the US by the end
of the century. The breed was recognized
by the AKC in 1904.
Coat & Body
The Schipperke is an agile, active watch-
dog and hunter of vermin. In appearance he
is a small, thickset, cobby, black, tailless dog,
with a fox-like face. The Schipperke is often
referred to as a “big” dog in a small package
–
especially in his own mind. When judg-
ing the breed, the dog should “feel heavy”
and have plenty of body under the coat. The
terms “thickset and cobby” refer to the body
and overall appearance of the dog.
The dog is square in profile and pos-
sesses a distinctive coat, which includes
a standout ruff, cape and culottes. All of
these create a unique silhouette, appearing
to slope from shoulders to croup. This is
a silhouette breed! If the Schipperke does
not have the proper coat and silhouette,
it is NOT an ideal Schipperke! The
unique silhouette and coat pattern are
what makes the Schipperke different from
any other breed!
Males are decidedly masculine with-
out coarseness, while bitches are decidedly
feminine without over refinement. The
Schipperke should NEVER appear over-
done or over refined!
The Schipperke may have a sloping or
level topline. Both are equally correct. The
stand-out ruff adds to the slope, making
the dog seem slightly higher at the shoul-
ders than at the rump. Because of the
heavy coat, one must put hands on the dog
in order to know if the topline is level or
has a slope to it. Occasionally, there are
faulty dips in the topline (usually at the
shoulder) which can be hidden by the coat
and skillful grooming, but this will usually
show itself when the dog is moving.
Schipperkes are slow to mature, and the
“
thickset” appearance becomes more obvi-
ous with age. It is not uncommon to find
the top-ranked specials dogs in our breed
that are veterans.
Pattern & Color
Correct pattern is an essential breed
characteristic! The adult coat is highly
characteristic and must include several
distinct lengths growing naturally in a spe-
cific pattern. The texture is slightly harsh
to the touch. The coat is short on the face,
ears, front of the forelegs and hocks. It is
medium length on the body, and longer in
the jabot, ruff, cape, and culottes. The ruff
begins in back of the ears and extends com-
pletely around the neck. The cape forms an
additional distinct layer extending beyond
the ruff. The first distinct line you see is the
ruff, the second line is the cape. The jabot
extends across the chest and down between
the front legs. The coat on the rear of the
thighs forms culottes which should be as
long as the ruff. The hair down the middle
of the back, starting just behind the cape
and continuing over the rump, lies flat. It
is slightly shorter than the cape but lon-
ger than the hair on the sides of the body
and legs. Lack of differentiation in coat
lengths should be heavily penalized, as it
is an essential breed characteristic! Coat
pattern is obvious in all Schipperkes, even
those out of coat or young puppies. Under-
coat is necessary in the Schipperke, as it is
what makes the ruff stand out. The under-
coat should be dense on the body, and very
dense on the ruff.
While the overall dog must be black,
the under-coat can be black, or an “off col-
or,” usually grey or a slight reddish brown.
Occasional stray white hairs are permis-
sible (schipperkes tend to grow white hairs
where they have been injured and scarred
in the past – this typically shows on faces
if a dog has been involved in rough puppy
play or fights. Graying, due to age in the
Veteran dog (7 years) is permissible, but
should be faulted in younger specimens.
Photo by Rusty Wells
248 •
S
how
S
ight
M
agazine
,
N
ovember
2012