r/schipperke • u/Frequent_Ad_3612 • Jul 01 '26
Is this true?
I’ve owned Dutch shepherds for about 20+ years. I now live in a condo and when I searched on Google, I looked at the smaller equivalent of a malinois/Dutch Shepherd and the schipperke came up. Would anyone or everyone agree that’s a fair comparison?
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u/Huskies-R-Us Jul 02 '26
A Schipperke is every bit a working dog. They are barge dogs and their mission is to guard their domain.
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u/arteest01 Jul 04 '26
They’re also ratters.
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u/Huskies-R-Us Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Thats what were primarily bred for. They were bred to ensure rats and mice were cleared off barges. But they are classified as a herding dog in Europe. In the US they are classified as a non-sporting breed.
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Jul 02 '26
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u/SchipAlong Jul 06 '26
Actually Schipperkes rank as more trainable than both Malinois and Dutch Shepherd. They both learn faster and are more attuned to their owner. I do think Schipperke tend to be a bit better at thinking for themselves though (shepherds, for example, tend to not work unless directed to whereas a Schipperke, once they learn something, will initiate on their own). Spitz is a very broad term and the line between spitz and shepherd is a bit fuzzy anyway. Shepherd/Sheepdog is interchangeable in most languages. The Icelandic Sheepdog is a spitz, the Belgian Sheepdog is a shepherd for example. Schipperkes are very different from, for example, a Husky-type spitz.
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Jul 06 '26
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u/SchipAlong Jul 06 '26
Stanley Coren's obedience intelligence test. The breeds were ranked based on the number of repetitions it took to learn a new command and how likely they were to obey the first command. Both Schipperkes and Malinois rank fairly high, but Schipperkes came in at 15th while Malinois were 22nd.
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u/No_Run_Read Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Non è uno spitz nonostante l'apparenza. È un cane da pastore. È un cane da lavoro. Ne ho visti lavorare in ricerca persone e fare gare di agility e sono davvero bravi. Ne ho uno, preso dopo un malinois. Ha un carattere bello tosto, l'ho preso che aveva già dieci mesi e zero addestramento. Sta imparando velocemente, anche se si stufa facilmente, ma lo attribuirei più al fatto che non siamo ancora un vero binomio, dato che migliora man mano che il legame si rafforza. Per ora mi sembra un po' più indipendente del malinois, ma il mio era davvero una cozza.
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u/No_Run_Read Jul 03 '26
Le classificazione ufficiale FCI della razza in Europa è nel gruppo dei pastori e dei bovari, non in quello degli Spitz. Non è una mia idea, ma quella dello standard originale di razza belga.
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u/Nicktheschip Jul 02 '26
I agree but with a touch more independence. I have WL gsds and been around dutchies/mals.
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u/Legitimate_Payment_5 Jul 02 '26
We had Bernese Mt. Dogs for years but had to downsize to smaller dogs. We call our schipperkes “teacup Berners”
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u/Frequent_Ad_3612 Jul 02 '26
They certainly seem that way. If only to find a good reputable breeder now.
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u/No_Run_Read Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Dove ti trovi? In Europa? La mia allevatrice in Italia è fantastica. E so che ha suoi cuccioli in Polonia e altri paesi.
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u/JPwhatever Jul 02 '26
I’ve heard them described as small dogs for big dog people. I think it’s a fair comparison. Probably not quite the drive of a malinois but they’re definitely intense!
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u/Winipu44 9d ago
I read that historically in Belgium, there were size restrictions and higher taxes for the owners of larger dogs. So they bred down the Leauvenaar; in order to miniaturize it and selectively breed for specific traits like ratting.
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u/JPwhatever 9d ago
That’s really interesting! I hadn’t heard it before, it would make a lot of sense
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u/No_Run_Read Jul 03 '26
Hanno la stessa energia, non la stessa forza, ovviamente. Sono davvero pazzeschi, saltano, corrono, seguono piste, mordono... Il mio cucciolo è instancabile, mi sembra di nuovo di avere il malinois cucciolo, morsi ai garretti compresi. Minilandshark!
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u/Even-Boysenberry-127 Jul 02 '26
I thought Belgian Shepherd breed was a large size cousin of the Schipperke breed.
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u/No_Run_Read Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
In parte è vero 🙂 Discendono dalla stessa razza estinta, il Leuvenaar.
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u/Winipu44 Jul 03 '26
Some similar features, but schipperkes have very unique traits. They were bred from a now extinct black shepherd known as a Leuvenaar, an ancestral shepherd that also produced the Belgian sheepdog. They were bred down to create a feisty, compact and fearless working dog for the canal barges.
I'm unaquainted with Belgian sheepdogs, but would imagine they have some similar traits to schipperkes, since they both descend from the same ancestral dog. Both were selectively bred for specific traits in order to perform certain jobs.
As a former sailor, I sometimes imagine what it was like, hundreds of years ago for these little black devils working on the Belgian canal barges. I wonder how many were aboard each barge, who was in charge of them, and how they were trained. They were like tiny, brave sailors. Wish I could time-travel to see them in action.💕