Because Miniature Pinschers were used to kill rats back in the day, there were many who believed the dogs were actually terriers, and, in fact, that is the AKC group in which the breed was put when the Miniature Pinscher Club of America was formed in 1930. A year later, the breed was reclassified as a Toy breed which makes this next bit all the more interesting.

An early admirer of the breed in Germany was Louis, a hard working public servant who had long wanted just such a breed, only fifteen times bigger.  Louis set out to create his vision of the perfect dog and used the  German Pinscher as his primary foundation stock, the same breed believed to be in Min Pin ancestry. By 1899, Louis had his dog, and the world would come to agree that the new breed that bore his name, the Doberman Pinscher, was indeed magnificent.

The Min Pin is not a scaled down version of the Doberman Pinscher, the former being the far older breed of the two, but many believe it was a model for the creation of the Doberman Pinscher. Out of little packages come big ideas. The Doberman Pinscher would go on to become the official U.S. Marine Corps War Dog.

Image:Miniature Pinscher by Dottie Dracos
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