The history of the Schipperke is complicated. It can be divided into two parts: before 1880, when the breed first appeared in print (and therefore history) and before 1880, where they date hundreds of years back in legend and lore. For instance, there is a legend that two pet Schipperkes saved William the Silent, but the pug breed also claims to be that breed, and a statue shows the dog to be a spaniel and neither breed! There is a drawing that dates back to 1770 that depicted a dog that could likely walk into the show ring today, but the Pomeranian breeders also want to claim this legend. In 1880, at the celebration for Belgium's 50th anniversary, M. le compte de Beauffort created a class "TERRIERS A POIL RAS, ZAINS, A OREILLES DROITE, SANS QUEUE, DE RACE FLAMMANDE (SCHIPPERKE)". In 1892, an article in the Chasse et Peche states that in doing this, he gave the breed its name. Two years later, the breed appeared in the stud book with the same description, except it excluded the word "zain". (Illustration to the left). If you look up this description you will find that the Schipperke, as a ratter, was considered a terrier, short haired, upright ears, no tail, Flemish breed, and completely black. Later, in 1888, Louis VanderSnickt drew a picture of Schipperkes with other terriers hunting rats. (Illustration to the left) Throughout the early 1880's a group of Schipperke lovers sought to "reconstitute" or resurrect the breed, as it was considered to be nearly extinct. During this time, the Schipperke was considered to a NATURALLY tailless breed, and the early breeders docked the tailed Schipperkes only to help bring back the breed from extinction. The breed was advertised in Belgium and other countries as naturally tailless (indeed, when some early breeders in Great Britain produced puppies with tails, they killed the litter thinking they had somehow produced mutts). Eventually, the breeders began to admit to themselves that the breed would never be truly a naturally tailless one, and a Belgian vet (Reul) wrote an article that declared the tailless (anure) Schipperke a "fraud" and "falsified". Their fashion status fell in many countries after this. Nevertheless, the breed had created for itself a small fan base, a club was formed, a standard was written. In 1885, there was a gathering of about 50 people who knew the breed who came to share everything they knew about them. Color was discussed - there were a few colors other than black but the vast majority wanted black only. Their ratting abilities were much discussed as well. There were also countless articles in Belgium that discussed their present on the barges and boats, and the original standard stated under the title "Le Schipperke", "Petit Chien de Batelier", directly translated, "little dog of the boatman". One of the most interesting articles during the time was written by a dog judge from Belgium to the American Field magazine in 1889. This man, John Lysen, states that the Schipperke has always been called Spits, and when he asked one of the earlier fanciers about the name change, he was told "the Pomeranian was already called Spits in Germany, and moreover a queer name would render the dog more attractive to foreigners!" As odd as this may sound, there is more than a little evidence that during this era, there was a sizable industry of new and/or rare breeds being exported and sold to wealthier clients as pets (and many random dogs called Schipperkes may have been sold under their guise). Lysen also makes what I consider to be one of the truest statements about the history of the breed, when he says, "the black tailless Spits has been the dog of the working-class people, especially butchers, shoemakers, and also not infrequently was he was seen on the canal boats". While I have not studied every dog breed history in the world, Schipperkes must stand among the few breeds which were not developed by the rich, but by the regular, working people. I personally love that about the breed! Lysen also gave an accurate description of the Louvain Schipperke, a sister variety of the club Schipperke, that was used for herding, and a few of these examples were used in the development of the Belgian Shepherd, likely causing the slight genetic connection between the breeds. He is the only person to attempt to illustrate the Louvain Schipperke with a drawing, though several early fanciers did describe the variety. (One such illustration is on the left, below "The Morocco Dog". Hence, the Schipperke breed is not a little Belgian Shepherd, but it is very possible that the Schipperke did inspire the form the Belgian Shepherd took. Schipperkes, as a breed, went to Great Britain very quickly, the first being a natural bob tail Schipperke named Flo, and even America as early as 1889, if not earlier. There was a small but steady following throughout this era right up through WWI. This war devastated Europe, and like many breeds, a lot was lost in their country of origin. In Belgium, many of the early documents were intentionally destroyed when they were an occupied country. After WWI, a woman in America was looking for a breed to develop, and a friend from Belgium suggested the little Schipperke. In 1924, she went to Belgium and brought home Flore de Veeweyde, LOSH 18140. She went back several times, and throughout her life imported many Schipperkes, including many of the top winners of her time. Her name is Isobel Ormiston, and she established Kelso Kennels in America, helped to create the Schipperke Club of America, and prolifically wrote about the breed until her death in the 1950's. This early history has been compiled using original historical pieces only, and from multiple sources - including newspapers, magazine articles, and the writings of multiple original founding breeders of this beautiful breed. This is a fairly short synopsis of the early history of the breed in Belgium, and their coming to America. There are hundreds of articles and snippets of information on the breed before WWI. The first book written just about the breed was written in Great Britain by Charles Freeman and published in 1907, and there are many other books written in America, as well as articles about the breed written for magazines, which are highly informative. If you want to learn more, we have compiled a book of as many of the early articles as we could find, and Volume I and II is currently available. There is more information on our BOOK PAGE. |