He was once known as the Munchener Dog for the proximity of his birth place to Munchen (Munich), and in those days, he was a cattle herder developed from rough coated shepherd dogs, smooth-haired droving dogs, and perhaps the black Great Dane. Until the arrival of railroads, he was a stalwart in moving stock, but once boxcars entered the scene, the Munchener’s job waned along with cattle drives. It got expensive to feed these big dogs, and the breed became more prevalent in small towns as butcher shop and beer hall guards in the 1800s.

According to some sources, it was during this time that breeders got to thinking that the dog looked a bit like smaller schnauzers, and shaped their breedings to emphasize this similarity. Most breed historians think it was then that a cross was made to the Standard Schnauzer. The resulting puppies were called Munich Schnauzers for awhile, but in time it would be replaced with the more majestic sounding, “Giant.” Today, of course, we know these magnificent dogs as Giant Schnauzers.

“Bedbug” by Deborah Wiebe 

This print is available here