Schipperke History

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, November 2012 issue.

Schipperke History

The known history of the breed begins in 1690 when the shoemakers in the St. Gery quarter organized a competitive exhibition of Schipperkes on designated Sundays on the Grand’ Place in Brussels. The workmen exercised their ingenuity by making collars of hammered or carved brass for their Schipperkes. Always kept gleaming, these collars were worn only on Sundays and were fastened in a manner designed to pull out as few hairs as possible from the ruff.

One hundred and fifty years later (1830–1840), the Schipperke remained very fashionable in Brussels and, curiously enough, was protected by the disciples of Saint Crispin. Even in this later period, it was still the custom to adorn Schipperkes with enormous collars of worked brass that were often real works of art. On Sundays, one could see a shoemaker going out with or without his wife or children but never without his Schipperke. Although he could readily forget to shine his boots, he would never forget to polish the dog’s collar.

During this period of early development, the breed was known by two names, giving rise to controversies on the true origin of the breed. The people of Brussels used the colloquial name “Spitz” or “Spitzke” to describe the small black dog. This name sheds little light on the breed’s ancestry because several breeds which are referred to as a “Spitz” in Germany or America are called “Loulou” in Belgium. Thus, no relationship to these breeds is established by the Belgian call name.

Mr. F. Verbanck of Ghent, a noted Belgian authority of the breed, summed up his thoughts on this subject when he wrote, “If the Spitz group is composed of all the nordic dogs, the German Shepherd and the other continental sheepdogs of the wolf-type, as well as the Collie and the Shetland Sheepdog, then the Schipperke is also a Spitz. But, if the Spitz is limited to the group of German Wolfspitz breeds which now includes the Keeshond of Holland, then the Schipperke is not a Spitz.”

Over the years, various writers outside Belgium have claimed a Spitz origin for the Schipperke. One well-known dog chart even shows the Schipperke as a direct descendant of the Pomeranian. Victor Fally, a founder of the Belgium Schipperkes Club, debated the possibility of such an origin, writing, “It is true that the Pomeranian and the Schipperke resemble each other just as they resemble the sheepdogs. They belong to the same original stem which corresponds to a primitive type spread throughout the regions of the North and Baltic Seas, which is related to the Norwegian, Swedish and even the Eskimo breeds. [But] it is impossible for the Pomeranian, itself, to have served to create the Schipperke because the latter has been revealed to have existed here before the introduction of the Pomeranian. The Schipperke has an entirely different aspect.”

Another interesting point of comparison, which may also shed some light on tracing the ancestry of the Schipperke, is its natural tail carriage. Although most twentieth-century literature maintains that the undocked tail of a Schip is carried over the back like a Spitz, early authorities are in disagreement with this assertion. Some years ago, the eminent Belgian judge, Charles Huge, and Victor Fally wrote that those Schipperkes left with a tail carry it like a Groenendael Sheepdog or Shepherd. For proof, in an earlier French dog book by M. Megnin, there is a photograph of a Schipperke with a tail carried straight like that of a sporting dog.

Mr. Fally also contended that an undocked Schipperke with its tail curled over the back like a Pug or a Spitz is evidence that there has been crossbreeding in its ancestry, regardless of the names appearing in the pedigree. Some English authorities have stated that the undocked tails of the Schipperke are carried in two ways: some are straight like a shepherd and others are carried curved over the back. It is believed likely that there has been occasional crossbreeding to some Spitz breed, particularly the Pomeranian, but the possible Spitz-like characteristics resulting from such crossbreeding is not considered evidence of the original derivation of the Schipperke.

The name Schipperke was apparently introduced and used by boat captains who piloted their vessels between Brussels and Antwerp. According to these Antwerp boatmen, the word Schipperke came from the Flemish word for boat, “schip,” and meant “little boat man,” or, as more commonly known in America, “little captain.” It was partly because of possible confusion with the German Spitz breeds that the breed was officially renamed Schipperke. Despite the official recognition of the name, the breed is still commonly called Spitz by the layman in Belgium.

It has been suggested that the boat captains were responsible for the elimination of the Schipperke tail, as a dog minus this appendage was less likely to upset goods upon the narrow boat decks. However, there is no proof that the captains created the breed nor even possessed the largest number of them. This allegation was partially substantiated in the early twentieth century by Joseph Verbanck, a brother to Florimond Verbanck, an avid Schipperke fancier. Prior to 1930, Joseph Verbanck operated a barge line on the Ruhr between Rotterdam and Paris and procured several Schipperkes as watchdogs for his boats. He later wrote, “Let me say that these purebred Schipperkes created surprise and envy among the other shippers, but, when they heard about the prices paid for them, their interest abated immediately and they returned to their crossbreeds at giveaway prices. This will confirm that Schipperkes have never been used regularly as watchdogs on barges.”

The little black dogs were found more widely distributed throughout various towns of central Belgium in the homes of middle-class business people and among the members of the trade 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.” Impressed with the resemblance in appearance and characteristics between the Schipperke and the native sheepdog of Belgium (not to be confused with the Belgian Sheepdog known in the show ring today), these fanciers concluded that the Schipperke is the diminutive of the latter. Many arguments support this theory.

For one, there existed an intermediate type of dog, now extinct, which possessed many of the characteristics and the same general appearance of these two breeds. This dog, called the Leuvenaar, was frequently seen in the region of Louvain, accompanying wagoners and messengers traveling the route between Brussels and Louvain. Also tailless, this dog is described by early authorities as an all-black, small-sized dog with a lively and active nature, weighing between 10 to 12 kilograms (22 and 26½ pounds). This indigenous sheepdog was very common in the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Some were still in existence at the turn of the present century, but they now appear to be extinct. It is believed that the workmen and business people living in the cities of those regions chose the smallest specimens for use as watchdogs and ratters, characteristics which are an integral part of our Schipperkes today.

One of the early presidents of the Schipperkes Club, who was also a judge, particularly favored these dogs and insisted that this variety should never become lost. He was well known for preferring the largest exhibits when judging, even to the point of awarding first place to dogs whose weight exceeded the maximum limit of the Standard.

A further argument for the relationship between the Schipperke and these sheepdogs is in the natural herding ability exhibited by some of the larger Schipperkes when given the proper opportunity to exercise it. Thus, the Leuvenaar was considered as the missing link, uniting the Schipperke to the sheepdog.

After due consideration, the Belgium Schipperkes Club founders accepted, as the most logical explanation, the belief that the Schipperke is a diminutive shepherd and that it was derived from the small native black Belgian sheepdog. Belgian canine authorities consistently supported this origin down through the years. Before learning of the Belgian theory, Dr. Leon Whitney, renowned veterinarian and author, placed the Schipperke as a sheepdog. Felix Lese, past vice-president of the Eskimo Sled Dog Club of America, wrote F. Isabel Ormiston the following statement: “Your claim that the Schipperke is a diminutive Belgian Sheepdog is to me an additional reason to believe that the Schipperke is a member of the Samoyed group, for there again many authorities place both the Alsatian (German Shepherd) and the Belgian Sheepdog in that classification also.”

A further complication to tracing the breed’s origin is the fact that many old dog books and magazine articles erroneously designate the Schipperke as a Dutch breed originating in Holland. This may be because the Flemish language is a form of Dutch. Hence, the word Flanders has been interpreted to mean Holland instead of the Flemish provinces of Belgium.

In addition, Belgium and Holland were united against their common oppressor Spain for a time. They were again one for a few years after the Battle of Waterloo, but by 1815, long separation had aroused certain antagonisms. The countries separated for the final time in 1830. The elder Louis Vander Snickt, a founder of the Schipperkes Club and a noted discoverer of Belgian breeds, put the theory that the Schipperke was a Dutch breed to rest when he wrote in 1886, “the Schipperke is, perhaps, the only indisputable Belgian dog that we possess.” It is the hope of fanciers today that the Schipperke breed may always thrive in Belgium, its native home.