Description: The Miniature Schnauzer is a small dog, that is 12 to 14 inches in height and 10 to 15 pounds in weight. This dog is little but is built sturdily. The body is square and in proportion, with a strong head, that is a rectangular shape. The head gets slightly smaller from their ears to the eyes. Their jaw is scissor bite. They have a strong muzzle, with a black nose. With small eyes, that are deep-set and dark brown in colour.

The Miniature Schnauzer ears are set high on the head and cropped to points in countries that permit this. When left naturally the ears are small and V shaped, folding close to the head. Their legs are straight, with pretty and small feet. The tail is docked, in countries that permit docking, and is seen over the back line of the dog. This is a double coated breed with a wiry outer coat, and a soft undercoat. The fur is clipped to give the appearance of a bushy beard moustache and eyebrows. Coat colours are; salt and pepper, black and silver, white and black. This breed's life expectancy is around 15 years.

History: This breed comes from Germany, about the turn-of-the-century. Smooth coated Miniature Schnauzers and coarse haired, Schnauzer dogs can appear in the same litters. This led to the ruling put down of three generations of coarse haired Schnauzer coats for registration. This quickly helps sort out and set the breed types. From there, the standard Schnauzers, Affenpinscher, and possibly the Poodle, were used in the genetic pool. This dog was used as a vermin exterminator, but nowadays is mostly a companion dog. Some of their talents include tracking, hunting, watchdog, performing tricks and competitive obedience.