Scipperke

Scipperke is usually a misspelled or informal form of Schipperke, the small Belgian watchdog and vermin dog associated with canal boats, workshops, and city homes. The breed has a compact, square body, prick ears, a foxlike face, and a dense double coat that forms a ruff around the neck. Solid black is the classic color in many registries, though other solid colors are seen in some countries and lines. Schipperkes are alert, quick, and self-possessed, with more seriousness than their size suggests.

A Schipperke can live in an apartment or house if its mind is kept busy, but it is not a passive toy dog. Daily exercise, reward-based training, and early work on recall and barking help channel its curiosity. The coat needs brushing, especially during seasonal sheds, yet it is not normally clipped into a style. Because the breed can carry inherited conditions such as mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB, informed buyers ask about DNA testing and eye and knee screening. Rescue adopters should expect a clever escape artist if gates, routines, and household rules are loose.

Colors: Apricot, Bicolor, Black, Black and Tan, Black and White, Black Mask, Blue, Blue and Tan, Blue Merle, Blue Roan, Blue Tick, Brindle, Brown, Brown and Tan, Brown and White, Chocolate, Cream, Dapple, Domino, Fawn, Fawn and White, Gold, Gray, Harlequin, Irish Marked, Liver, Liver Mask, Mantle, Mask, Merle, Mottled, Parti-Color, Piebald, Red, Red and White, Red Merle, Red Roan, Red Tick, Reverse Brindle, Roan, Sable, Saddle, Silver, Speckled, Spotted, Tan, Ticked, Tricolor, Tuxedo, White, Yellow