Many thanks for information for mrs Jaana Fors , DIUDI ’ s kennel owners (Finland) The Giant Schnauzer is basically a very old breed, it has been mentioned in a book called "Der Hund und seine Rassen", which was published in 1876. In this book however the Giant Schnauzer was referred to as "the Bavarian Wolfhound". The ears were cropped and the tail docked. The Bavarian highland, in between the rivers of Lech and Isar, is the birthplace of this breed, but it also existed in Tyrol, Austria. The peasants used it for hearding cattle and as a guard dog. The Giant Schnauzer made its ґ first appearance in a dog show in Munich in 1909. All the dog represented in that show, except for one, originated from the same city. This is probably the reason why, in the Schnauzer-Pincher club Breedbook it is called " the Munich Schnauzer". The actual breeding had started in the turn of the century and the first breed standard, (where the name Riesenschnauzer was used) was established in 1923. The most important breed characterizations are still valid today: The Giant Schnauzer has to clearly appear as a strengthened version of the Schnauzer Dog, the aim is a tough working dog. In 1925 the Giant Schnauzer was approved as a working dog breed in Germany. The pepper and salt giant has a limited gene pool which can cause problems in the breeding of them. That's why world wide cooperation with other breeders and owners is very important. We are all working to expand the gene pool. One way to do it is to mix black and pepper and salt giants and some breeders abroad have done this in the past years. To get the correct balance, good character health and type I believe the following are needed: health examinations with the results recorded for the breed, character testing through working trials and show entries to get type, conformation and movement assessed. To archieve this we need cooperation of every owner and breeder. In the future gene technology will help and that's why in 2004 I have started to collect and to store DNA samples of dogs which are owned and bred by me.

all photos »