German dog breeds

German Shepherd

Its standard was set at its club’s first meeting, in Frankfurt on 20 September 1899, to create a high-achieving working dog.

Affenpinscher

A house dog from southern Germany. Its ancestors appear in Albrecht Dürer’s woodcuts, and a ring of harsh hair gives it a monkey-like face.

Boxer

Descended from the small Brabant Bullenbeisser, which seized game and held it for the hunter.

Dobermann

The only German breed named after its first breeder, Friedrich Louis Dobermann (1834 to 1894).

German Pinscher

Also called Deutscher Pinscher

An old breed, in the German stud book by 1880. It shares its ancestors with the Schnauzer.

Giant Schnauzer

Also called Riesenschnauzer

Used in southern Germany to drive cattle; recognised as a working dog in 1925.

Great Dane

Also called Deutsche Dogge

In 1878 a committee in Berlin grouped the old types of big German “Dogge” as one breed; its first standard followed in 1880.

Hovawart

Its name is old German for “farm guardian”. Rebuilt from farm dogs from 1922, and recognised as a breed in 1937.

Landseer

Listed under Germany and Switzerland. White with distinct black patches; males stand 72 to 80 cm.

Leonberger

Bred around 1840 by Heinrich Essig of Leonberg, near Stuttgart, to look like the lion on the town’s arms. Named Leonbergers in 1846.

Miniature Pinscher

Also called Zwergpinscher

A small version of the German Pinscher. The stud book for 1925 already held 1,300 of them.

Miniature Schnauzer

Also called Zwergschnauzer

A small Schnauzer from around Frankfurt am Main, first described as a rough-haired Miniature Pinscher.

Rottweiler

Its standard traces it to Roman cattle dogs. It is named after the old free town of Rottweil, where it drove and guarded herds.

Schnauzer

Also called Mittelschnauzer

A stable dog in southern Germany, prized for killing rats. Registered in 1895 as the “rough-haired Pinscher”.

Jagdterrier

Also called Deutscher Jagdterrier

Created after the First World War by hunters who wanted a black and tan terrier purely for hunting, above all underground.

Dachshund

Also called Dackel or Teckel

Known since the Middle Ages and bred to hunt below ground. Its oldest club, the Deutsche Teckelklub, dates from 1888.

Eurasier

Bred from 1960 by Julius Wipfel, first from a Chow Chow and a Wolfspitz, then with a Samoyed.

German Spitz

Also called Deutscher Spitz; the Wolfsspitz is the Keeshond

Its standard traces it to Stone Age “peat dogs” and calls it the oldest breed in Central Europe, with many other breeds developed from it.

Bavarian Mountain Hound

Also called Bayerischer Gebirgsschweißhund

A lighter tracking hound for the mountains, where the Hanoverian proved too heavy. Its club was founded in Munich in 1912.

German Hound

Also called Deutsche Bracke

The last surviving Bracke of the old Westphalian kind, called the German Hound since 1900.

Hanover Hound

Also called Hannoverscher Schweißhund

Descended almost unchanged from the leash hounds of the early Middle Ages. It tracks wounded game.

Westphalian Dachsbracke

Also called Westfälische Dachsbracke

The short-legged variety of the German Hound: compact and sturdy, 30 to 38 cm tall.

Deutsch Stichelhaar

Called by its standard the oldest German rough-coated pointing dog. Its club was founded in 1892.

German Longhaired Pointer

Also called Deutsch Langhaar

Bred pure since 1879; Baron von Schorlemer wrote its first standard in 1897.

German Shorthaired Pointer

Also called Deutsch Kurzhaar

Descended from the pointers used to catch birds with nets; the double-barrelled gun, from 1750, made it a versatile gundog.

German Wirehaired Pointer

Also called Deutsch Drahthaar

A rough-coated pointing dog, bred to a plan from the early 1900s to be an efficient wirehaired German gundog.

Large Munsterlander

Also called Großer Münsterländer

A black and white longhaired pointer. Its own club formed after the German Longhair club stopped breeding black dogs in 1909.

Pudelpointer

A versatile gundog bred from just two breeds, the Poodle and the Pointer.

Small Münsterländer

Also called Kleiner Münsterländer

Bred in the Münsterland of northern Germany since about 1870; its breed club was founded in 1912.

Weimaraner

Kept at the Weimar court by the early 1800s, and likely, its standard says, the oldest German pointing breed.

German Spaniel

Also called Deutscher Wachtelhund

A flushing dog. Hunting books show dogs like it working for centuries; its founding sire came from Upper Bavaria.

Kromfohrländer

One of the newest German breeds, recognised internationally since 1955, from a wire-haired Fox Terrier and a Grand Griffon Vendéen.