The Miniature Pinscher is puppy with tons of energy, loads of character, and a very sunny mood.
Owners of Miniature Pinschers tend to report that they never seem to get tired of playing and running on a leash. The Miniature Pinscher is a great choice for families with children, as well as single people who want a little cuddle-addict to curl up with on the couch. They’re eager to please and highly intelligent, making them quite trainable as well.
Jump to: Appearance, Breed History, Health Issues, or Miniature Pinscher Training.
Miniature Pinscher training is neither the easiest, nor the hardest dog training experience to go through. Inexperienced dog trainers will see their training skills forged by this little guy or gal, because the Miniature Pinscher tends to be fairly stubborn. But the rewards of raising a Miniature Pinscher are great.
In the end, you get a lovely companion for almost any setting, who will always want to be near you. If you’re inclined to train your Miniature Pinscher for agility sports, they’re quite adept, and once you get past the stubbornness, they’ll pick up on obedience training with no problem.
Appearance – Miniature Pinscher
The Miniature Pinscher looks fairly similar to a Doberman Pinscher, but in fact, they don’t share any common ancestors.
This toy breed is small and stocky, with a short coat that comes in several different styles of markings. The coat styles are stag red (red and black mixed), chocolate, black and rust, or solid red. It’s a smooth coat that requires weekly brushing and sheds moderately.
Physically, a healthy Miniature Pinscher is a compact dog with solid strength. The males are square in proportion, being as tall as they are long, the females are sometimes a tad longer. Either sex will be about 11 inches tall when fully grown, give or take an inch or so. They weigh between 8 and 10 pounds.
Breed History – Miniature Pinscher
This little working dog was bred as a rat-hunter. Although their oldest past isn’t well-documented, it’s believed they descend from a mix of German Pinscher, Dachshund, and Italian Greyhound blood.
Unique Health Problems – Miniature Pinscher
As I mentioned, the Miniature Pinscher is a healthy dog. They are prone to fewer hereditary complaints than many other breeds. During their 13 to 15 spunky, energetic years, their biggest risks are related to their size – they can accidentally be dropped or trampled. So long as you provide the best dog food and a healthy diet with lots of exercise to burn off their endless energy, your Miniature Pinscher will do just fine.
Here are the few health problems worth knowing to any Miniature Pinscher owners:
- Legg-Perthes Disease, a deformation of the ball joints
- Epilepsy, and repeat seizures
- Patellar Luxation, a leg complaint that can be bred out, but can also happen from lifestyle.
- Progressive Retinal Atrophy, which can happen with almost any breed of dog.
Miniature Pinscher Training
Keep in mind that the Miniature Pinscher is a willful, intelligent dog which is often called the “King of Toys.” It got that nickname from its independent state of mind, and you’ll see that royal mentality in action quite a lot during the early Miniature Pinscher training process.
In order to begin making progress as early as possible, start training your Miniature Pinscher as soon as you bring him or her home.
Some of the special points to keep in mind during Miniature Pinscher training:
- You will need to be strict and consistent, when it comes to enforcing the rules in a calm, humane way. Earning a Miniature Pinscher’s respect as a leader will take a while.
- A Miniature Pinscher is even more of a creature of habit than other dogs. Don’t let your pup learn that problem behaviors are acceptable just because they’re cute during puppyhood.
- In particular, counter surfing and jumping up on people are common behavior problems with Miniature Pinschers that must be trained against.
- A Miniature Pinscher trainer or owner must puppy-proof their home. This breed likes to eat things it shouldn’t. Anything from stray pins and needles, through stray poisons, must be kept very safe from this breed, who likes to climb up on counters.
- The Miniature Pinscher is also a household explorer, so protect your own assets.
- Prevent your Miniature Pinscher from escaping. Make sure you can’t put your hand through your yard fence, and watch your feet when you come and go through doors and gates.
- Play and exercise will help during Miniature Pinscher training and throughout their life. They have tons of energy to burn and will be happiest when that energy is spent well.
- Excessive barking is a frequent behavior problem with the Miniature Pinscher. If you need help getting a dog to stop barking, I’ve written an article about that.
- Dog-to-dog aggression is another problem that Miniature Pinscher trainers should train against. Early puppy socialization is the best way to prevent that aggression from happening.
- When socializing a Miniature Pinscher puppy, make sure to include time with children. Without this, a Miniature Pinscher can become very irritated with any loud children.
- Crate training is extremely useful with a Miniature Pinscher. When they are at home alone, it’s a generally bad idea to let them have free run of the house.
- A Miniature Pinscher can be trained to understand all the basic obedience commands, but they’ll remain stubborn for life. You should never allow your Miniature Pinscher to leave the yard without a leash.
- To avoid over-feeding your Miniature Pinscher during training, you should seriously considerclicker training.
Learn about how to train a puppy, or go back to choosing a dog breed.