Schipperke History

More on the Controversy!

The Official Book of the Schipperke, Edited by Vella M. Root, Russell F. Kent, Janice Martin.

"However, there was no proof that the boatmen created the breed nor possessed the largest number of them. On the contrary, this little black dog was found more widely distributed throughout the various towns of central Belgium in the homes of the middle class businessmen and among the members of the tradesmen guilds. These people thought of the Schipperke as a diminutive shepherd and believed that the word Schipperke was derived through a corruption of the word for shepherd, "scheper," and thus meant little shepherd."

Schipperkes, A Complete Pet Owner's Manual. Barron's.

"The name "Schipperke," or "little shepherd," seems to be a variation on the Flemish word, scheper, shepherd. The smaller specimens of the Leuvenaar, the ancestors of the Schipperke, were bred to catch the vermin and act as watchdogs. Today, this ancient herding instinct surfaces on occasion - many Schipperkes will nip at a person's heels as if keeping an unruly farm animal in line.

When the Spanish occupied Flanders in the fifteenth century, the French regulations against big dogs were abolished. As farmers once again bred full-sized shepherds, the Schipperke found use as a household guardian and rat catcher."

More Schip History submitted by Melanie Stockton.

In 1996, I was given a 4 page document that was "Translated by Dirk Vandelannoote from The New Illustrated Dog Encyclopedia, MCMXC". Mr. Vandelannoote is from Belgium.

The schipperke, with its intelligent fox-like head, its smart twinkling eyes and pointed ears is a Belgian race. The origins of this small, black and always active and watchful dog are rather obscure. Even its name has given rise to many misunderstandings. People used to think it referred to the word schipper and that the dog was mainly known as a companion to Dutch and Belgian canal boat captains. It was believed to have had a well defined job aboard these ships, mainly as a guard dog and to eradicate vermin. Nowadays, this theory is regarded as myth. The story seems to have originated in the rich fantasy of British breeders. During the 19th century they were so charmed by this race that they invented a nice history about it. Thus the smallest of the Belgian shepherds, because that's what it really is, became known as a Dutch "schipper"-dog.

But that doesn't answer the real origin of its name. Modern cynological insights make it very likely that this is a very old race which has existed for centuries around the Flemish city of Leuven (home of the world's second oldest university. -d.v.) It was first mentioned in a 15th century cronicle by the monk Wencelas, who regarded this small tailless black Flemish dog as the impersonation of the Devil! This seems to be an unmistakable portrait of what came to be known as the schipperke.

Its history begins to be better defined during the 17th and 18th centuries. The well known Belgian cynologist Charles Huge, who was an authority on Belgian shepherd dogs around the end of the 19th century, thought that the schipperke descended from dogs who were very widespread in the province of Brabant (in which Leuven is situated) during the 17th century. These wolflike shepherd dogs were also black and were usually owned by simple folk who put them to uses that fitted their limited height. Gradually descendants were selected for a variety of uses and the race diversified into different directions. The biggest were shepherd dogs from which the four modern varieties of Belgian shepherds are descended (the Groenendael, the Mechelaar, the Tervueren and the Laeken). The smallest were used to keep the mouse and rat populations in check and to guard the farm's poultry. These specifically became the ancestor's of today's schipperkes.

The name is actually derived from the word "scheper" (pronounced "shaper"/ cfr. "sheep" in english - d.v.) which is Flemish for shepherd. Thus, schipperke simply means small shepherd dog. They were also lovingly called "spitzke" because of their pointed noses, or "moorke" (cfr. "morrish" : black - d.v.) because of their colour.

A schipperke can best be described as small, but refined and robust. On the outside it looks just like any other small dog, but those who know them better realise that their appearance can be misleading. It's a small package of dynamite, that can also be very sweet and affectionate at times. Belgian races are known for their personalities. Large or small, none of them have soft characters. This doesn't prevent them from being extremely attached to their master, though.

This is also true for the schipperke, although one must bear in mind its shpherd ancestry that gave it its lively and indomitable spirit. In spite of its small size, experts regard it very highly as a guard dog. Although its jaws are too small to do any real harm, it commands respect from any intruder by its furious barking at the smallest sign of danger ...

Like all Belgian shepherds, it feels very uncomfortable when its master isn't there, although it's very self-assured and not at all impressed by strangers whom it will treat with suspicion or indifference. The schipperke is not everyone's friend. It's honest as gold and its actions are direct and clear.

The Schipperke, a wholly black little shepherd dog (in Flemish dialect Schipperke means �little shepherd dog�), and the Belgian Shepherd have a common ancestor, the �Leuvenaar�, an extinct Belgian breed, whose name means �inhabitant of Louvain�.
It is generally accepted that the first �specialty show� organised for any breed was the competitive exhibition for Schipperkes in 1690 in the market place in Brussels. In 1885, the Belgian Queen Marie-Henriette acquired a Schipperke. This made the breed tremendously fashionable and popular. On 4 March 1888, the Schipperke Club was formed. It is the oldest breed club in Belgium!

The following comes from Dr. R. Pollet, a belgium authority on the breed who currently is still involved with breeding schipperkes.

Reference: �Schipperke�, Dr. R. Pollet, Interpet Publishing, 157 pages

What is the difference between a "Shepherd dog" and a "Sheepdog" ? Is there a difference ? To answer those qestions, why not examine the words used in Belgium, the country of origin ?

In the spoken and written french language, people use always the term "Chien de berger". The litteraly translation is "Shepherd dog". The name of the first association founded in Brussels on the 29th of September 1891, was the "Club du chien de berger belge " (= Club of the Belgian Shepherd dog). The first Standard approved by the General meeting of 3 April 1892 used only the term "Chien de berger belge" (= Belgian shepherd dog). The first Standard divided the breed into three varieties : the long-haired, the short-haired and the rough-haired without regard to the colour of the coats.

What about the dutch language used in the North half of Belgium or the Flemish country ? The oldest book I found during my research is dated 1916 and published in Antwerp. The author, Jos. M. Pan�si was a trainer. He used always the word "herdershond" (= shepherd dog). Once he used "Onzer schaapherdershonden" (= our shepherd dogs of sheep"). There was also a time of dogs used for the guidance and guard of the flocks of geese. I have a document dated "3 september 1911" with the titel " Groote Koersen voor SCHAPERSHONDEN". The exact translation of "schapershonden" is "sheepdogs".

Very interesting are the articles published in the Flemish magazine "Cultura" in 1925/26 by Louis Hyughebaert (1868-1952), the godfather of our Malinois. He wrote the following : " Shepherd dog is used in the Netherlands, sheepdog in Belgium. I give the preference to sheepdog, firstly because the sound is better, secondly because the word is used by people language. In our Flemish country, people said usually " een schone scheper"(= a beautiful sheepdog)".

Effectively, when I am walking with my Malinois, people said mostly : "een Belgische scheper" (= a Belgian sheepdog) or "een Mechelse scheper" (= a Malinois sheepdog.).

Louis Huyghebaert explains also that our Belgian breed "Schipperke" (little black dog without tail) the diminutive is of the Flemish word "scheper". Effectively, if the literal translation of "schipper" is "boatman", the true meaning of the word "Schipperke" has a very different origin. According to the area, one pronounced it as "schaper, scheper or schieper ". This is still the case today. The final "ke " always indicates the diminutive. "Schipperke" is a little sheepdog and come not from the Flemish word "schipper" (= boatman). That is why today the "Schipperke " is rightly classified in the group of the sheepdogs.. The "Schipperke Club" was the first canine Club on the European continent founded in Brussels on the 10th of March 1888.

Jean-Marie Vanbutsele

Here are some good links for more information on the history of the schipperke