Today’s
world is steadily becoming more and more twisted with people deceiving us and
misrepresenting themselves to make a buck. I hope to properly address a few
issues here that have weighed heavily on my mind.
The first issue is concerning the “teacup” schnauzer.
The “teacup” schnauzer is registered as a Miniature Schnauzer by AKC,
because it is currently not accepted as part of the “standard” or
requirements for show of the Miniature Schnauzer.
Their tiny size is considered a fault by the American Miniature Schnauzer
Club. That just means they don’t
meet the qualifications for show (12 to 14 inches tall). This is true also of the “toy” schnauzer.
You may ask,
“Where did the ”teacup” and ”toy” schnauzer come from?”
The early schnauzer was the Standard Schnauzer.
These dogs generally ranged in size between 30 and 50 pounds.
Because they were slightly too large to do the job that they were bred
for, which was seeking out and killing rats, breeders set out to accomplish
breeding down the size. They did
this by introducing toy size breeds to make a “miniature” schnauzer.
These introductions of new breeds occurred in the 1850's.
Some of the known breeds used were: The Affenpincher, The Dutch Poodle,
The Fox Terrier, and possibly The Pomeranian.
Colors such as liver, liver and tan, Parti colors, black and silver, and
white came from the introduction of these breeds into the Standard Schnauzer.
This smaller version of the Standard Schnauzer became the Miniature
Schnauzer, recognized as its own breed. By
breeding smaller to smaller, the Miniature Schnauzer has continually become
smaller and smaller. And thus the
“toy” schnauzer and “teacup” schnauzer emerges.
(References: The Complete Miniature Schnauzer by Anne Paramoure
Eskrigge and Miniature Schnauzers Today by Peter Newman)
Just a note to
those of you looking for a “teacup” schnauzer puppy.
I am an experienced breeder of 36 years.
I have had an instrumental part in developing a quality “toy” and
“teacup” schnauzer. I have been
producing “ teacup” schnauzers for the last 11 years, since 1999 and
“toy” schnauzers for the last 16 years since 1994.
This is longer than 99% of all the “toy” and “teacup” breeders
around. A teacup schnauzer
cannot fit into a teacup. Usually
by the time they are 3 weeks old or sooner, they are hanging out of a teacup.
It is an exaggeration of the truth, and unethical for a breeder to show a
schnauzer puppy in a teacup and tell you that you are looking at a teacup
schnauzer. One breeder (who has
only been producing toys for 2 years) has put out a video and placed a picture
on her web site of a puppy in a teacup. These
pictures insinuate that the puppies in the picture are teacup schnauzer puppies.
This breeder also insinuates that your puppy should fit in a
teacup if it truly is a teacup. The
video is of a newborn puppy whose eyes are not even open.
The puppy practically fills the teacup.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY anyone can know if this puppy will be a
teacup or not. Teacup puppies
mature at approximately 3 to 6 pounds when grown at 7 months old.
The smallest teacup (3 lbs) cannot fit in a teacup.
Teacups ARE NOT 7 or 8 pounds at maturity, as some breeders
put on their web sites. These breeders may not be able to produce a teacup on a
regular basis so they have extended the weight limits to include 7 and 8 pound
dogs and charge teacup prices for them.
Teacup puppies do
not come out of Champion dogs. It
has taken many years to breed down the size of the Miniature Schnauzer. A Champion Schnauzer weighs between 14 and 18 pounds in most
cases. They have to stand 12 to 14
inches tall (AMSC and AKC requirement for show). If they were to have a tiny puppy, the chances are it would
be a runt. Runts are unhealthy
puppies. They are not tiny because
of genetics. They are tiny because
of a birth defect. So BUYERS
BEWARE of the breeder that brags about Champion blood lines in their teacup
puppies. Another sale tactic is to
claim that the dam or mother of a litter of teacup puppies weigh under 6 pounds.
A teacup size female either cannot have pups or will have great
difficulty and 95% chance of a C-section. I
personally have two teacup girls (10 and 7 years of age) as my house pets that
weigh 3 and 4 pounds. Neither of
these girls can even breed naturally. The
male cannot penetrate them. If they
were to get pregnant, they would not be able to carry the pups.
Do you want to buy a puppy from a breeder that lies about the size of
their breeding dogs? Breeders want
you to believe, because the mom and dad of the pups are teacup size, the puppies
have to be teacup when they are mature. This
thinking is wrong. A Miniature
Schnauzer in the toy or teacup size can throw toy and miniature size puppies in
every litter. Sometimes the whole
litter will be miniatures. In the
book, Meisen Breeding Manual by Hilda Meisenzahl, the gene that carries
the small characteristic is a recessive gene.
That means that it will not become a dominant trait in a puppy unless it
is combined with the same recessive gene from the other breeding mate.
Tiny sizes are more rare than the larger sizes, even in toy breedings.
The large gene is dominant. There
is only a 20% chance there will be a teacup puppy born in any planned litter.
Breeders are being deceitful if they are claiming to know the mature size
of a puppy right after they are born. We
cannot ever know if a newborn or even a puppy under 3 weeks of age is going to
be a teacup or not. To assure a
buyer of this is unethical.
Another issue I would like to address is that of the “Merle”
schnauzer. This color of
schnauzer mix was introduced within the last 5 years. They have done this by mixing the pure bred Miniature
Schnauzer with an Australian Shepherd. IT
IS A MIX BREED DOG, NOT A PURE BRED MINIATURE SCHNAUZER.
Why is this important?
1.
AKC does not and has stated emphatically that it will not register these
dogs as pure bred AKC schnauzers.
2.
The Australian Shepherd is a shedding dog (Big time!!!).
3.
The Australian Shepherd has a genetic disorder (MDR1, multi drug
resistant gene) that is intolerant to Ivermectin and many other parasite drugs.
Dogs must be tested to find out if they have this gene.
4.
They have no hair on the face or legs.
Many of the mix breed offspring also have no hair or little hair on the
face and legs.
5.
They have eye issues, cataracts and blindness.
Some of this is associated with the blue eye.
6.
The Australian Shepherd is not a breed or color used to produce
the Miniature Schnauzer from the Standard Schnauzer in the 1800’s.
Breeders calling them a “merle” schnauzer fool the public into believing
that they are getting a “pure bred” schnauzer of a different color. One “merle” schnauzer breeder claims, under her heading,
“Get Real”, that the colors of Parti, Liver, Liver and Tan, White Chocolate,
Wheaten, etc. were introduced (bred) into the Miniature Schnauzer breed in the
1990’s. This is ABSOLUTELY
FALSE!! As earlier in this
article is stated, these colors were “bred in” with the toy breeds that were
used to bring down the size of the Standard Schnauzer to the miniature size in
the 1850’s. That is 140 years
before the claims of this uninformed breeder.
This breeder needs to “get real” and “get educated”. (By the way, she changed her section to "Getting
Real". And to spite me, she has put my bloodlines on her list of dogs
that are in the pedigree that she claims produces the "blue
eye". None of my bloodlines have or ever will produce blue
eyes. The blue eyes in her case come from the Merles.) Check out the book, The Complete Miniature Schnauzer
by Anne Paramoure Eskrigge in chapter four on Color Inheritance (of the
Miniature Schnauzer). The chapter
starts on page 312, but pay close attention to the evidence of color inheritance
on page 333 paragraphs 1 and 2. Interestingly
enough, the common salt and pepper color of the Miniature Schnauzer (called
chinchilla back then), did not become a color sought after by breeders till
after the late 1920’s. The color
at that time was more commonly the bi-colors (partis) and reddish (liver) dogs.
Even in the late 1930’s there were still a considerable number of
“bicolors” and “redish” puppies. This was basically because the
"bicolors" had good confirmation that they were seeking.
The Australian Shepherd has numerous drawbacks.
The double merle gene or homozygous gene (two copies of the merle gene)
is found more commonly in the mostly white merles. This gene carries along with it blindness and deafness.
Not all homozygous merles are affected, but most are.
This blindness and deafness is not always discovered as pups.
It sometimes occurs when they are older.
The average lifespan of the Australian Shepherd, as recorded by a UK
survey taken in 2004, is 9 years. (As stated by one of the "Merle"
breeders, a breeder cannot produce a 100% Merle litter of puppies unless you
breed a merle to a merle. Sadly this breeding also produces deafness and
blindness and accentuates all the bad traits of the Aussie. So Buyer
beware.)
Though some Australian Shepherds are well-tempered and good
pets, many can become extremely destructive if their energy is not directed in a
positive way.
These dogs require a minimum of 2-3 hours a day of play, exercise, and
attention (Ref: Wikipedia.org).
Combine this personality trait with that of the Miniature Schnauzer and
you could have trouble on your hands. Those of you who have bought a
"merle" puppy may have noticed that they still carry the traits of a
herding dog. They may be trying to herd you.
Now there is a new fad going around among breeders who know better. There are AKC registered Miniature Schnauzer puppies with “blue eyes”, "blue eyed" schnauzers. “Blue eyes” is not and has never been a schnauzer trait. How did this happen? And how did they get them AKC registered? Your guess is as good as mine. I can guarantee it was not an ethical act. So “BUYER BEWARE”, these dogs are not pure bred Miniature Schnauzers. They are a mixed breed. No matter what their pedigrees and AKC papers say that they are. This blue-eyed dog could only have been produced by breeding another breed to the Miniature Schnauzer (such as the Australian Shepherd or possibly the bulldog) that carries for the blue eyes. In breeds that have blue eyes, it is not uncommon for the “blue eyed” gene to carry for blindness. All that the rest of us honest breeders and buyers can do is make a stand against buying and registering dogs and puppies produced by unethical people. “Blue eyed schnauzers” is just another unethical moneymaking scheme like calling a mix breed a “merle” schnauzer.
I
have recently pulled a pedigree on the dog "Frankie Blue
Eyes" (AKC# RM302601/02, owned and bred by Sherel and Scott Martini).
His pedigree shows that he was DNA'd. However no other dog in his pedigree
was DNA'd. The registered parents may not even be his biological parents. This is the dog that these unethical breeders are
claiming that the blue eyes came from. He is 11 and 1/2 years
old. Suddenly we now have blue eyes from him, a black and silver
dog. So far the breeder in Oklahoma is the only person to step forward
with a blue eyed dog from him. The name, "Frankie Blue Eyes",
does not mean he has blue eyes. This nick name was given to Frank Sinatra
and Frankie Blue Eyes Sporaco (a well known gangster). The breeder could have
been naming him after these guys, since he was a black and silver and the black
and silver resembles the tuxedo or a suit like those guys wore. The fact is, the
breeder in Oklahoma that is now producing these mix breeds right and left (and
charging $2500 for breeding rights), also
raises French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs. Both of these breeds have occurrences
of blue eyes. (http://www.sanderskennels.com/American_Bulldog_Breed_Standard.html)
A puppy from a schnauzer/bulldog mix would not necessarily have to resemble a
bulldog. Take a look at some blue eyes: http://www.westcoastfrenchbulldogs.com
There is too much room for doubt that the blue eyed dogs
registered as schnauzers are pure bred. There is no truth to this
claim. Those of you who are buying these dogs are paying an awful lot of
money for a mutt. If any of you pet owners have bought one of these dogs
unawares, call AKC and complain. After several of you complain, AKC will
investigate. When they check out this kind of complaint, they come
unanounced.