Weight, height and measurements of the Schipperke
ABSTRACT
Dr. Robert POLLET
Member of the Belgian Standards Commission
At the Belgian Specialty Show of the ‘Royal Schipperkes Club’ on July 4, 1999, on request of the Belgian Standards Commission, I weighted and measured 50 Schipperkes, 25 dogs and 25 bitches.
I found average weights of 6.5 kgs for males and 5.1 kgs for bitches, the overall average being 5.8 kgs.
The average height at the withers was 33.6 cms (13.2 ins) for dogs and 31.2 cms (12.3 cms) for bitches.
I also measured the length of body, the depth, width and circumference of the chest, the length of muzzle, the length of head and the width of skull.
From these results the three important body proportions or indices which should be mentioned in every breed standard (see the so-called ‘FCI-Model Standard’) could be calculated:
- The first is the so-called ‘body index’ or the proportion ‘length of body/height at withers’, which in the Schipperke ideally should be 1. We found in fact that the length of body on the average was 103 percent of the height at the withers, a result which is very reassuring. In fact, this shows that it is realistic to require a square body structure (body index 1).
- The second is the ‘depth of chest index’ or the proportion ‘depth of chest/height at withers’,
the average value of which was 0.476. This is in agreement with the new standard, which stipulates ‘chest well let down’. This means that the depth of chest in Schipperkes is 47,6 percent of the height at the withers
- The third important proportion is the ratio ‘length of muzzle/length of head’, which, on the average, was about 0.4 (or 40 %), a result which has been specified in the new standard.
The measurements of the 50 show Schipperkes clearly show that, morphologically, the Schipperke is not a miniature Belgian Shepherd Dog, more specifically not a Belgian Sheepdog or Groenendael of small dimensions. The general appearance of the Belgian Shepherd Dog is ‘mediolineal‘. The Schipperke however is more robust and compact: it has proportionally a broader rib cage, a stronger head, a broader skull and a shorter muzzle. Certainly, this ‘black little devil’ still is lupoid (wolf-like or lupine), but tending to a compact or ‘brevilineal’ (brachymorphic) conformation. The results of the weighing and measurements helped us a lot to draw up the new Breed Standard of the Schipperke.
Canine terms:
brevilineal,short-lined or brachymorphic: stocky, compact and robust and having a rather short or wide skull.
depth of chest: the distance from the withers to the brisket or lower chest.
height at the withers: the distance from the ground level to the highest point of the withers in
a standing position.
longilineal or long-lined: slender, fine and having a long skull.
length of body: the distance from the forechest (the front of the chest or the point of shoulder) to the back of the buttocks.
length of head: the distance from the nose to the occiput (the back of the skull).
length of muzzle: the distance from the nose to the stop (depression between the eyes).
mediolineal: intermediate between brevi- and longilineal (having normal proportions).
morphology: the study of the form and structure of an organism or any of its parts.
square body: when the height at the withers and the length of body are equal.
Breed book in English:
‘Schipperke’, Dr. R. Pollet, Interpet publishing, 157 p., 2001.