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non-sporting dog

Schipperke, Belgian dog breed that originated in Flanders (northern Belgium) as early as the 15th century. It was used as a watchdog on barges navigating the canals and rivers of the Low Countries (the coastal region of northwestern Europe, consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

Breed data
  • Other names: Schips, Little Captain
  • Area of origin: Belgium in the 1400s
  • Breed group: Nonsporting
  • Height at withers: 10–13 inches (25–33 cm)
  • Weight: 10–16 pounds (4.5–7 kg)
  • Lifespan: 12–16 years
  • Did you know? Although most Schipperkes in North America are tailless, they are not born this way; the tails are simply docked extremely short. Most Schipperkes are born with a long bushy tail that curls over the back like the tail of a spitz. According to legend, two neighboring shoemakers fought because one of their dogs kept going to the other’s shop and chewing on shoes. In a rage, the offended shoemaker whacked off the dog’s tail. The owner and others liked the look of the tailless dog, giving rise to this popular styling of the breed.

Descended from a black shepherd dog, the Leauvenaar, which also gave rise to the Belgian sheepdog, the Schipperke (“Little Captain” in Flemish) was an excellent ratter (a rat-catching animal)—a much-coveted trait in the decades after Europe’s devastating Black Death pandemic (between 1347 and 1351), spread by rodents. A short thickset spitzlike dog, it has a dense black coat and a foxlike head with erect triangular ears and small oval eyes. Lively and affectionate but curious and independent, it is a generally hardy and energetic breed.

Care and upkeep

The dog’s coat is easily maintained, requiring brushing and combing once or twice a week, more often during shedding periods once or twice a year; it is a moderate shedder. The undercoat is fairly thick but does not easily mat, and occasional bathing will keep the coat looking and feeling its best. No special care is needed. The nails should be kept clipped and the teeth regularly brushed.

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The Schipperke is a very active breed and needs socialization, but its exercise needs can be met with an hour or so of daily exercise. This can consist of games in a small yard or a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

The breed is also generally hardy, though some 15–20 percent of Schipperkes (a higher rate than in any other breed) may carry a heritable disorder known as mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III), also known as Sanfilippo syndrome, which presents itself between ages two and four. Clinical signs include tremors, a lack of balance, and difficulty walking up stairs. A DNA test can determine if a dog has or carries the disease.

Temperament

Schipperkes make excellent companions. Their convenient size, amiable personalities, and eagerness to please make them a great match for older children. They may be too energetic for toddlers, whom they may nip and bite in response to sudden moves and rough play. They are playful but also content to relax inside the house, making them equally good partners for older adults. Schipperkes are agreeable toward strangers and other dogs and pets, but they are explorers and can be stubborn and mischievous, so training is necessary. Too small to be effective guard dogs, they make excellent watchdogs, but they can be yappy, barking excessively if not trained.

These are well established and widely accepted generalizations about the breed. Individual dogs may differ in behavior and temperament.

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Caroline Coile
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dog, (Canis lupus familiaris), domestic mammal of the family Canidae (order Carnivora). It is a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and is related to foxes and jackals. The dog is one of the two most ubiquitous and most popular domestic animals in the world (the cat is the other). For more than 12,000 years it has lived with humans as a hunting companion, protector, object of scorn or adoration, and friend.

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The dog evolved from the gray wolf into more than 400 distinct breeds. Human beings have played a major role in creating dogs that fulfill distinct societal needs. Through the most rudimentary form of genetic engineering, dogs were bred to accentuate instincts that were evident from their earliest encounters with humans. Although details about the evolution of dogs are uncertain, the first dogs were hunters with keen senses of sight and smell. Humans developed these instincts and created new breeds as need or desire arose.

Dogs are regarded differently in different parts of the world. Characteristics of loyalty, friendship, protectiveness, and affection have earned dogs an important position in Western society, and in the United States and Europe the care and feeding of dogs has become a multibillion-dollar business. Western civilization has given the relationship between human and dog great importance, but, in some of the developing nations and in many areas of Asia, dogs are not held in the same esteem. In some areas of the world, dogs are used as guards or beasts of burden or even for food, whereas in the United States and Europe dogs are protected and admired. In ancient Egypt during the days of the pharaohs, dogs were considered to be sacred.

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Origin and history of dogs

Ancestry

Paleontologists and archaeologists have determined that about 60 million years ago a small mammal, rather like a weasel, lived in the environs of what are now parts of Asia. It is called Miacis, the genus that became the ancestor of the animals known today as canids: dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes. Miacis did not leave direct descendants, but doglike canids evolved from it. By about 30 to 40 million years ago Miacis had evolved into the first true dog—namely, Cynodictis. This was a medium-size animal, longer than it was tall, with a long tail and a fairly brushy coat. Over the millennia Cynodictis gave rise to two branches, one in Africa and the other in Eurasia. The Eurasian branch was called Tomarctus and is the progenitor of wolves, dogs, and foxes.

Genetic evidence suggests that dogs descended directly from wolves (Canis) and that the now-extinct wolf lineages that produced dogs branched off from the line that produced modern living wolves sometime between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago. The timing and location of dog domestication is a matter of debate. There is strong genetic evidence, however, that the first domestication events occurred somewhere in northern Eurasia between 14,000 and 29,000 years ago. In this region wolves likely facilitated their own domestication by trailing nomadic people in northern Eurasia and consuming the remains of game animals that hunters left behind.

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
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Most studies agree that domestication was not a single discrete event. It was a process that unfolded over thousands of years—likely involving dog populations that appeared in different parts of Eurasia at different times, with dogs and wild wolves continuing to interbreed with one another and with early dog populations being replaced by later ones. Some genetic studies have documented evidence of early domestication events in specific regions. One study contends that wolves were domesticated 16,300 years ago to serve as livestock in China, whereas another reports that early dogs dating from about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago came from a small strain of gray wolf that inhabited India. Genetic evidence also reveals that dogs did not accompany the first humans to the New World more than 15,000 years ago, suggesting instead that dogs came to the Americas only some 10,000 years ago. One study even suggested that some dogs have descended not from the wolf but rather from the jackal. These dogs, found in Africa, might have given rise to some of the present native African breeds.

No matter what their origins, all canids have certain common characteristics. They are mammals that bear live young. The females have mammary glands, and they suckle their offspring. The early breeds had erect ears and pointed or wedge-shaped muzzles, similar to the northern breeds common today. Most of the carnivores have similar dental structures, which is one way paleontologists have been able to identify them. They develop two sets of teeth, deciduous (“baby”) teeth and permanent teeth.

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Canids walk on their toes, in contrast to an animal like the bear, which is flat-footed and walks on its heels. Dogs, like most mammals, have body hair and are homeothermic—that is to say, they have an internal thermostat that permits them to maintain their body temperature at a constant level despite the outside temperature.

Fossil remains suggest that five distinct types of dogs existed by the beginning of the Bronze Age (about 4500 bce). They were the mastiffs, wolf-type dogs, sight hounds (such as the Saluki or greyhound), pointing dogs, and herding dogs.