Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Schipperke Breed Overview
- History of the Schipperke Breed. Where Schipperkes came from
- What the Schipperke Looks Like
- How Much is the Schipperke Puppy?
- Best Schipperke Breeders
- Adopting or Rescuing the Schipperke
- Schipperke Growth
- What Colors do Schipperkes Have?
- The Temperament of the Schipperke
- Schipperke Litter Size
- How Fast Schipperkes Can Run
- Good Names for Schipperkes
- How Intelligent are Schipperkes?
- How Popular are Schipperkes with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Schipperkes and How to Prevent Them
- How to Take Care of Schipperke
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Schipperkes
- Other Things to Know About Schipperkes
Schipperke Breed Overview
The Schipperke is a tiny-sized dog.
The adult Schipperke stands 10 to 15 inches tall at the shoulder.
The Schipperke belongs to the Companion Dogs group.
Dogs in the Companion Dogs group, like the Schipperke, were bred to be companions for humans. Their main goal in life is to be with people, and they will be very sad if left to themselves for long hours day after day.
The fact that the Schipperke belongs to the Companion Dogs group is one of the reasons why Schipperkes have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Schipperke is generally described as:
- Agile
- Confident
- Curious
- Faithful
- Fearless
- Independent
History of the Schipperke Breed. Where Schipperkes came from
Schipperkes are a small, compact breed of dog that originated in Belgium.
They were originally bred as working dogs, and were often used as watchdogs on barges and boats.
Schipperkes are intelligent and active dogs, and make great companions.
They are also relatively easy to train.
They have a thick, dense coat of fur that is black in color, and they typically have no tail.
They are generally good with children, but may be Territorial around other dogs.
Schipperkes require moderate exercise, and do well in apartments or small homes.
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What the Schipperke Looks Like
The Schipperke is a small, compact dog with a black, thick coat of fur.
They have pointed ears and a long, curled tail.
Schipperkes are known for being intelligent and inquisitive dogs.
They are also very active and playful, and make great companions for children.
Schipperkes are loyal and protective of their families, but can be wary of strangers.
Overall, they are happy, friendly dogs that make great pets.
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How Much is the Schipperke Puppy?
The average price of a Schipperke puppy is $1110. The price of a Schipperke puppy ranges from $900 to $1400.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Schipperke. These factors include what health records the Schipperke puppy has, the lineage of the Schipperke puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Schipperke based on the many factors that determine the price of the Schipperke puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Schipperke puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Schipperke breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Schipperke Breeders
We have researched reputable Schipperke breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Schipperke breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
Los Osos Kennel
Puppy Price: $950.00
Dream Mtn Kennel
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Deborah Kunic
Puppy Price: $2000 -$ 2500
Karen Highland
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
John Jones
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Adopting or Rescuing the Schipperke
You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Schipperkes included, are currently available for adoption in your local dog shelters.
These helpless but adorable dogs are waiting in dog shelters hoping that someday someone will rescue them. Dog adoption costs are lesser than the cost of a new puppy. Dog adoption costs are usually around $300 or even less.
In addition to your local dog shelter, another good place to find dogs that are available for adoption is petfinder.com.
Below is an adorable Male Schipperke named Jake that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Schipperkes like Jake on pefinder.com.
Skipper is the name of another Schipperke (Male) on petfinder.com that is looking for a new forever home.
You can find more Schipperkes that are available for adoption on petfinder.
Schipperke Growth
New Schipperke owners need to know about the growth of their Schipperkes. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.
Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Schipperke will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Schipperke early.
See our calculator for predicting how big your Schipperke puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Schipperke at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Schipperke
What Colors do Schipperkes Have?
Schipperkes come in the following beautiful primary colors:
- Black
- White / Cream
- Brown / Chocolate
The Temperament of the Schipperke
The temperament of the Schipperke based can be summarized as in the table below.
The table shows the scores of the Schipperke for 13 important dog behavioral factors.
We obtained these scores by analyzing raw data from the C-BARQ dog personality survey tool. The higher the score of a dog for a factor, the worse the temperament of the dog regarding that factor.
The C-BARQ tool was developed by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, and it is a scientific tool that is used worldwide for reliably measuring the temperament of dog breeds.
See our complete analysis of the temperament of the Schipperke here.
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Prey Drive | 69.0 percent |
| Energy Level | 64.1 percent |
| Attachment Attention Seeking | 62.4 percent |
| Dog Directed Aggression | 58.6 percent |
| Dog Rivalry | 55.7 percent |
| Stranger Directed Aggression | 52.3 percent |
| Touch Sensitivity | 48.6 percent |
| Excitability | 43.1 percent |
| Stubbornness | 33.1 percent |
| Dog Directed Fear | 24.3 percent |
| Stranger Directed Fear | 23.0 percent |
| Owner Directed Aggression | 18.1 percent |
| Separation Related Behavior | 15.8 percent |
| Nonsocial Fear | 12.5 percent |
Schipperke Litter Size
Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 15 different Schipperke birth litters.
From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Schipperkes can have is 4 puppies. Also, the Schipperke can have as few as 2 puppies per litter and as many as 10 puppies per litter.
The number of puppies that the Schipperke will have depends on factors such as the age of the Schipperke, the method of pregnancy, etc.
Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Schipperke will have and how the litter size of the Schipperke compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.
How Fast Schipperkes Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 58 different Schipperkes, the average speed of the Schipperke is 19.9 mph (32.0 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Schipperke ran in a race is 25.26 mph (40.7 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Schipperke is 12.72 mph (20.5 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Schipperke compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Schipperkes
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Schipperke ranked by popularity:
- Grinch
- Skipper
- Jake
- Urchin
- Squishy
- Barnacle
- Snoopi
- Frost
- Mayhem
- Gus
How Intelligent are Schipperkes?
| Schipperke | |
|---|---|
| Intelligence Rank | 15 out of 130 dog breeds |
| Trainability | Tend To Learn New Commands After 5 To 15 Repetitions |
According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:
- Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.
- Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.
- Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.
Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.
Prof. Coren found that the Schipperke has an obedience intelligence rank of 15 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Schipperkes in the `Excellent Working Dogs` category.
This means that Schipperkes tend to learn new commands after 5 to 15 repetitions.
However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.
See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:
| Breed | Intelligence Rank |
|---|---|
| Standard Poodle | 2 |
| Shetland Sheepdog | 6 |
| Papillon | 8 |
| Collie | 16 |
| Brittany | 19 |
| Pomeranian | 23 |
| Vizsla | 25 |
| Giant Schnauzer | 28 |
| Cairn Terrier | 35 |
| Affenpinscher | 37 |
| Bichon Frise | 45 |
| Scottish Deerhound | 47 |
| Dachshund | 49 |
| Chinese Shar-Pei | 51 |
| Skye Terrier | 55 |
| Great Pyrenees | 64 |
| Chihuahua | 67 |
| Lhasa Apso | 68 |
| Borzoi | 75 |
| American Bulldog | 77 |
How Popular are Schipperkes with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Schipperke.
The popularity of the Schipperke averaged over the years is Number 109 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Schipperkes and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Schipperke is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Schipperke puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Schipperke breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Schipperkes for:
- Autoimmune thyroiditis
- Cardiac Evaluation
- Eye Examination
- Hips
- Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB (MPS IIIB)
- Patellar Luxation
- PennGen
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Schipperkes here.
How to Take Care of Schipperke
To take good care of your Schipperke, you need to make sure that you groom your Schipperke regularly.
Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Schipperke regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Schipperke`s preventative care.
Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Schipperke daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Schipperke.
Also, you need to feed your Schipperke high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Schipperke from getting overweight or underweight.
See our recommendations on what to feed the Schipperke and how much food to feed the Schipperke at different life stages.
Finally, you need to make sure that your Schipperke has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Schipperke needs to drink at different ages.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Schipperkes
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Schipperke.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Schipperke:
- Bluetick Coonhound (75 percent match with Schipperke). Learn more about the Bluetick Coonhound here.
- Lancashire Heeler (74 percent match with Schipperke). Learn more about the Lancashire Heeler here.
- Miniature Pinscher (75 percent match with Schipperke). Learn more about the Miniature Pinscher here.
Other Things to Know About Schipperkes
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Schipperke that you need to know about the Schipperke breed: