Wy-O's
Miniature
Schnauzers
Why
Not White
Today’s American Miniature
Schnauzer Club breed standard begins just as it did in 1934: "The Miniature
Schnauzer is a robust, active dog of terrier type, resembling his larger
cousin the Standard (Medium) Schnauzer in general appearance, and of an
alert, active disposition."
Breed Standards are what we
use to define our different breeds of dogs. In breeds such as the Chinese
Crested, their major distinction is hair - no hair, long hair, hair pattern,
but the Crested standard literally allows any color or combination of colors.
In other breeds such as the
Miniature Schnauzer, both hair coat texture and hair color are defining
characteristics of our breed. History describes early litters that were
sorted and classified by appearance including color and coat into "Schnauzer"
or "other", and this selection process was then codified into a Schnauzer
Breed Standard.
Established in 1933, the American
Miniature Schnauzer Club approved their breed standard in 1934, continuing
to specifically describe coat texture and color as important characteristics
that define the correct Miniature Schnauzer.
Our primary responsibility
as members of the American Miniature Schnauzer Club is to "encourage and
promote the correct type in the breeding of Miniature Schnauzers in conformity
with the standard of the breed as set forth by the Club and approved by
the American Kennel Club." (from the Constitution and By-Laws, page 1)
Breed type. Take some time to read our Miniature Schnauzer standard again,
carefully. And notice that since the beginning, our American Miniature
Schnauzer Club has reaffirmed that two characteristics are important enough
to rate disqualification from Championship competition - one of them is
color.
Wyoma
Clouss
(first published
in AMSCOPE, Sept 99)
11/03
My
husband and I began in Miniature Schnauzers in 1974. We have
enjoyed showing Miniature Schnauzers during summer vacations and occasional
weekends during the year, and have finished 35 AKC Champions. I've
served on the Board of the American Miniature Schnauzer Club, and as Judges
Education Coordinator, and most recently, four years as AMSC President.
In
almost thirty years, I have never had, nor ever seen, nor even heard of
a white puppy born in respected show lines. Miniature Schnauzers
were meant resemble their cousins, the Standard Schnauzer, and light or
whitish colors were considered a fault, and selected away from, from the
very beginning. Now in the year 2003, I simply do not believe that
any white puppy or any other 'rare' or 'unusual' color puppy comes from
anything other than Miniature Schnauzers who have been crossed with some
other breed during the last ten or thirty or fifty years.
In
the past, AKC registration relied on the honor system, and all it would
have taken is a misrepresentation or two about particular breedings, the
actual parents listed, to introduce unknown color genes from some other
breed of dog. Now with DNA testing, AKC can know whether the parents
listed are the actual parents. But there is no way to trace back
in history beyond dogs that are living and available for testing now.
Off-color from some so-called "throwback" could have been introduced to
the Miniature Schnauzer gene pool any time in the past, and then registered
as a Miniature Schnauzer. And now, some people deliberately continue
that kind of falsehood, talking about 'colors almost lost', 'rare', 'unusual',
even charging more money for those puppies. What a rip-off!
Only
a few years ago, before AKC's DNA program, I talked with a woman who bred
white, parti-color, red, gold & liver, but registered them all as salt
& pepper Miniature Schnauzers. You can bet people who bred from her dogs have had a few "mysterious surprises" of their own.
Click here to read The
Official Standard for the Miniature Schnauzer
and white Why
Not White and other FAQs about
MS
AKC's DNA
Program
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