Miniature Pinscher

Miniature Pinscher

Miniature Pinscher
Other names	Zwergpinscher
Common nicknames	Min Pin, King of the Toys
Origin	Germany
Classification / standards FCI Group 2, Section 1.1 Pinscher #185 standard AKC Toys standard ANKC Group 1 (Toys) standard CKC Group 5 - Toys standard KC (UK) Toy standard NZKC Toy standard UKC Companion Breeds standard
Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

The Miniature Pinscher (Zwergpinscher or Min Pin) is a small breed of dog originating from Germany. The breed's earliest ancestors may have included the German Pinscher mixed with Italian greyhounds and dachshunds.

Historical artifacts and paintings place the Min Pin as a very old breed, but factual documentation began less than 200 years ago, leaving their actual origins to debate. The Miniature Pinscher is reported to include the Dachshund and Italian Greyhound among its ancestors. Many historians and those who have researched the background of the breed agree that this heritage is most likely, adding the shorthaired German Pinscher to the family tree. The international kennel club, the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, lists the Miniature Pinscher in Group 2, Section 1.1 Pinscher, along with the Dobermann, the German Pinscher, the Austrian Pinscher, and the other Toy Pinscher, the Affenpinscher. Other kennel clubs list the Miniature Pinscher in the Toy Group or Companion Group.

The misconception that the Miniature Pinscher is a "miniature Doberman" occurred because the Doberman Pinscher (a breed developed by Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann around 1890) was introduced to the US before the Miniature Pinscher. In 1919 the Miniature Pinscher was introduced to the AKC show ring. At the time, not knowing that it was referred to officially in Germany as the Zwergpinscher (little biter), the AKC referred to the breed as simply "Pinscher" and listed it in the miscellaneous category. When the Miniature Pinscher Club of America (MPCA) was created in 1929 (the year of the breed's official introduction into the AKC), they petitioned for Miniature Pinschers to be placed in the Toy group. The AKC's description, that the dog "must appear as a Doberman in miniature", led to the misconception common today that this breed is a "Miniature Doberman Pinscher".