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The Miniature Schnauzer Coat

This page has information regarding AKC recognized coat colors and what stripping and clipping does to a coat.

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Stripping by hand vs clipping the Schnauzer coat...

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What colors are recognized and registered by the AKC... you might be surprised -- the Internet has a lot of hype & incorrect information.  

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Piper's LIVER puppy (Ava)
Standard vs. nonstandard coloring can be confusing because of A LOT of incorrect information provided on many websites on the Internet but the AKC makes this easy to understand. The AKC "show" colors or standard colors are (Black), (Salt & Pepper), and (Black & Silver)... Easy enough to understand. However, the AKC is also aware of genetics and that other breeds were bred into a Standard Schnauzer to produce the Miniature Schnauzer (like a Poodle). This is why the AKC has registration codes for nonstandard colors as well. Here are the color codes for the AKC approved nonstandard coloring; (Liver 123), (Liver/Tan 124), (Liver Pepper 498), (Parti 038), (Wheaten 224), and (White 199). Standard colors are black based, which means the nose and pads will be black. Nonstandard colors are brown or black based, which means the nose and pads are brown or black... Incredulous... who knew!!   

Breeders have not "created" the nonstandard colors; the AKC is responsible for the name of each color (e.g parti, liver, etc) & the codes for the nonstandard colors, which have been around as long as the standard colors. I mostly produce the three standard colors but I do have one Black female (Piper) that produces a few nonstandard colors (No White or Wheaten though) & they are beautiful. All of my puppies -- regardless of color have AKC Champion bloodlines, excellent pedigrees, temperaments, & health. My stud Zach is DNA certified through the AKC. The color of your Mini-Schnauzer should be based on what you prefer & not based on Internet hype. I have been tempted many times to get my own nonstandard colored Mini... I love diversity! :)

*When you research the AKC standards for a Miniature Schnauzer the colors listed are the 3 standard colors. However, when you go to the AKC website and research further -- you find the nonstandard accepted colors. The goal when breeding down for a Miniature Schnauzer was to get the 3 colors found in the Standard Schnauzer, which is the orginal Schnauzer. The Giant and the Miniature were bred up and down in size by using other breeds, which introduced the nonstandard colors.
 
  



Parti and Liver Schnauzer History Explained

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The Miniature Schnauzer breed  was established by breeding the Standard Schnauzer with other smaller breeds such as the Affenpinscher, Miniature Pinscher, and even the Miniature Poodle. As breeders worked towards stabilizing the gene pool, mismarked, parti-colors, and white puppies were removed from the breeding programs. ~Quoted from the Hub Pages Miniature Schnauzers~. This was done in the late 1800's to the early 1900's.  Not all breeders/kennel owners discriminated against these colors and chose to secretly keep them back and breed them regardless of what others said about the  "acceptable colors". Parti Schnauzers are registered now and always have been since the early 1900's through AKC. They cannot compete in confirmation unfortunately, because the AKC did not keep their promise to fully register these beautiful Schnauzers like they originally agreed to do. 

PARTI --Resurrection of the almost extinct Parti Schnauzers. The original Parti color Miniature Schnauzers were found in Germany 1880. They were official registered with the German Pinscher Schnauzer Club PSK in 1929. Unfortunately, lots of the Parti Schnauzer's breed history was destroyed during World War II in Germany. During the Third Reich in 1933 the board of the German PSK decided to ban all Parti Schnauzers and most were eradicated. One of the main reasons given for the ban was that Parti Schnauzers looked to similar to the Wire Hair Fox Terrier which would confuse the public. Another reason was that Partis would hurt and interfere with the sales of Salt & Pepper puppies of loyal Club Members. Sadly all Parti Schnauzer vanished from Germany and Europe. A few breeders did continue breeding the Partis secretly to avoid being kicked out from the SPK and gave those color Schnauzers away or smuggled them out of Germany in hopes to preserve just a few for future breeding. The Parti Schnauzers history is older than that of the Salt & Pepper Miniature Schnauzers. Although the Germans PSK was determined to ban and destroy all the Partis, some did survive the Parti Schnauzer Holocaust .Only recently have US Breeders picked up the gap of 80 years and are resurrecting the almost extinct colors. Breeders of the Parti Schnauzers are still being looked down at with disgust by Show Breeders who believe that Salt & Pepper, Black & Silver and solid Black are and should be the only Standard colors for the Miniature Schnauzers. Parti  Schnauzers are 100% Schnauzer and are a not a mix or cross breed (Merle and Confetti Schnauzers are a mix/hybrid and are not registered through the AKC). While they are disqualified from the show ring due to color discrimination, such dogs are recognized as purebreds by the AKC and can be registered!

LIVER -- Well, for a start, these colors do not exist in the Standard Schnauzer, from which
the Miniature was developed in the 1800s. Interbreeding with Poodle, Miniature Pinscher, Affenpinscher and others was used to scale down Schnauzer size. This inadvertently brought new color genes into our Mini version that didn’t exist in  Schnauzers previously. Here we are talking primarily about the genes behind the  Liver or Chocolate Schnauzer and the Parti colored Schnauzer. So purists have  historically rejected these “outlaw” Miniature Schnauzer colors so that they are  disbarred from competing in the Show Dog arena. Such color prejudice led to  culling of these colors from breeding stock which makes them relatively rare  today. However, dogs displaying these colors can still be registered as purebred AKC Mini-Schnauzer stock and their popularity with pet owners is nurturing a revival  in their numbers. To compound their rarity, the gene that codes for brown based  coloring is recessive to the black based coloring. That means both parents must  carry and pass this gene to their puppies to get this coloring. Miniature  Schnauzers can be either black based (with black skin, nose, pads and hair  pigment) or brown based (with brown skin, nose, pads and hair
pigment). Given the many breeds that were used to down-size the Standard Schnauzer to produce  the first Miniatures, it’s not surprising that “non-official” colors have  appeared in the breed. Indeed, varying shades of Liver or Chocolate were  prominent in the early days of the breed. At least one
dog from the first litter  recorded in the Miniature Schnauzer studbook was “gelb” – German for yellow – i.e. a brown based dog with pale pigment deposition. “Parti” colors too,  commonly cropped up in these early litters, and were also recorded from a pair of black dogs belonging to the Abbagamba Kennel in Germany in 1929, and again  from a mating of two Pepper and Salt dogs in the
USA. So, while they can’t  compete in the Show Ring, there is nothing wrong with the other colors as many  like to argue. They are 100% purebred Schnauzer, and can be duly registered (AKC). Further, the Parti and other colors are extremely "old blood", found in most of  the early lines. 

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http://www.psk-pinscher-schnauzer.de/ ~~~ Pinscher-Schnauzer-Klub 1895. This is the club that  promised the Abbagamba Kennel in Germany that Parti Schnauzers would be registered completely to the point where they can acquire points in any show or  competition that they are entered and compete in and would excel!



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