Standard Schnauzer breed guide

Standard Schnauzers are sociable companions, alert watchdogs and enthusiastic backyard squirrel chasers. AKC says they insist on being included in family activities and do poorly left out alone or tied up in the yard.

Extremely intelligent, wily and crafty, they get an idea in very few repetitions. AKC calls over-training a big problem because they get bored and look at the trainer as though the trainer is slow.

Standard Schnauzers live 13 to 16 years. The Standard Schnauzer Club of America's surveys every five years call the breed very healthy. Breeders test for hip dysplasia and eye disorders and register results with the OFA.

A DNA test for cardiomyopathy, a simple recessive in the breed, lets breeders identify carriers.

Standard Schnauzers need regular grooming, with weekly tasks: washing the beard and leg hair, dental care, keeping foreign material from between the foot pads and nail trims. The harsh, wiry outer coat should be hand-stripped, since clippering it loses its resistance to dirt, brambles and water.

An energetic breed, Standard Schnauzers love to play with people and other dogs and love long hikes. They do well at performance sports such as agility, barn hunt and herding.

In Germany the Standard Schnauzer is the Mittelschnauzer, the medium Schnauzer. In the centuries before mechanized agriculture, farmers around the world strove to breed versatile all-purpose helpers, which produced breeds as varied as the Kerry Blue Terrier, the Rat Terrier and the Belgian Tervuren.

Germany's entry in the quest for an ideal farm dog became the Schnauzer.