Schipperke Twin Finder: 116 in the Pool

To find your Schipperke's twin, upload one clear photo to PetMatch and the model compares your dog's face against the 116 Schipperkes already in the pool, returning the real dog whose face sits closest to yours. The solid black coat is what people notice first, but the match leans on the fox-like head underneath: a medium skull narrowing into a wedge, a muzzle slightly shorter than the skull, small oval dark-brown eyes, and small triangular ears carried very erect.

A fox-like face

The American Kennel Club standard, approved November 13, 1990 and effective January 1, 1991, describes the Schipperke as a small, thickset, cobby, black, tailless dog, with a fox-like face, square in profile. The expression is questioning, mischievous, impudent, and alert, but never mean or wild. A well-proportioned head, with the correct eyes and ears, is what the standard says produces that expression.

The skull is of medium width, narrowing toward the muzzle. Seen in profile with the ears laid back, the skull is slightly rounded. The upper jaw is moderately filled in under the eyes, so that, viewed from above, the head forms a wedge tapering smoothly from the back of the skull to the tip of the nose. The stop is definite but not prominent. The length of the muzzle is slightly less than the length of the skull.

The ideal eyes are small, oval rather than round, dark brown, and placed forward on the head. The ears are small, triangular, placed high on the head, and very erect when the dog is at attention. A drop ear or ears is a disqualification. The nose is small and black.

Suggested height at the highest point of the withers is 11 to 13 inches for males and 10 to 12 inches for bitches. Quality should always take precedence over size. A face photo shows none of that height.

A black coat, short on the face

The outer coat must be black. Any color other than a natural black is a disqualification. The undercoat may be slightly lighter. During shedding the coat might take on a transitory reddish cast, penalized to the degree that it detracts from the overall black appearance. Graying due to age, at seven years or older, or occasional white hairs, should not be penalized.

The coat is short on the face and ears, medium on the body, and longer in the ruff, cape, jabot, and culottes. The ruff begins behind the ears and goes around the neck. A dense undercoat makes that ruff stand out. Texture is abundant, straight, and slightly harsh. Silky coats, body coats over three inches, and very short harsh coats are equally incorrect. Only trimming of the whiskers and the hair between the pads is optional. Any other trimming must not be done.

That short face coat leaves the wedge readable. A solid black coat still gives a matcher almost no pattern. Why black dogs blur together is a contrast problem, and on this breed the geometry has to carry the match.

What the matcher keys on

PetMatch matches on facial geometry and pattern rather than a breed label. For a Schipperke the strongest signals are the wedge, the definite but not prominent stop, the small oval eyes, and the high triangular ears.

Schipperke or black Pomeranian?

A small black dog with a ruff and erect ears is easy to mix up in a tight crop, and a black Pomeranian is correct under its standard. The Pomeranian standard allows all colors, patterns, and variations, judged on an equal basis, and specialty open classes may be divided to include Open Black, Brown, and Blue. Its expression may be referred to as fox-like. The eyes are dark, bright, medium sized, and almond shaped. The ears are small, mounted high, and carried erect. The stop is well pronounced, and the muzzle is rather short, with muzzle length to skull at one-third to two-thirds. A light blue, blue marbled, or blue-flecked eye is the disqualification.

The Schipperke parts company on the proportions a face photo can show. Its muzzle is only slightly shorter than the skull, the stop is definite but not prominent, and the eyes are small and oval rather than round. A drop ear is a disqualification. The outer coat must be natural black, and the face coat stays short, while a Pomeranian ruff frames the head. The Pomeranian pool holds 396 dogs, separate from these 116, and the Pomeranian lookalike finder covers that breed. Pomeranian weight is 3 to 7 pounds. The Schipperke standard states height, and a headshot hides that difference.

When the twin is a mix

A small mixed-breed dog that kept the black coat, the wedge skull, the dark oval eyes, and the small erect ears can place ahead of the Schipperkes. The model is matching the face in the photo, not guessing at a pedigree.

A photo that shows the ears and the stop

Shoot head-on at eye level in open shade, mouth closed, so both eyes, the full wedge of the muzzle, and both ears stay in the frame. Leave the ears as the dog carries them. Open shade keeps the dark eye and the black coat from crushing into one shape.