Harlequin Pinscher Breed Information – Dub Ranch Danes & Harli Pins

Brief History of the Harlequin Pinscher

To read the full story of the Harlequin Pinscher visit: http://www.harlequinpinscherassociation.com

The Harlequin Pinscher is one of the original patterns that the Germans had, bred and registered as Miniature Pinschers. As it goes with most clubs when somebody gets in the position of authority and power and decides they don’t like something they change it irregardless of what the eventual outcome will be and the same holds true for the Harlequin Pinscher.

The Harlequin Pinschers history does run hand in hand with that of the Miniature Pinscher. The early breeders of the patterned Pinscher however were unaware of the genetic makeup of the Merle gene. Over a period of years the dogs became decreasing in number due to hereditary defects and eventually went extinct.

A group of ladies here in the US decided to reintroduce the merle pattern to the Miniature Pinscher using contributions from the Rat Terrier. Along with the merle gene also came the brindle and piebald patterns to form the breed we know today as the Harlequin Pinscher.

A Merle x Merle breeding is considered unethical.

Breed Standards

Other Names: Merle Miniature Pinscher
Merle/Piebald Miniature Pinscher
Piebald Miniature Pinscher
Brindle Miniature Pinscher
Fancy Min-Pin

Height: Toy variety – 6-12″ Miniature Variety – 13-18″ Standard Variety – 19-24″

Group: Terrier

Weight: Toy 4-12# Miniature 13-18# Standard 19-26#

Coat: Short, Flat, Smooth, And Tight To The Body

Color/Pattern/Markings:

Colors: Black, Brown, Blue or Fawn with Tan, Rust or Crème points (*ie Black/Tan)
Red, Blue-Fawn or Tan (*solid no points)

Patterns:

Solid, Bi, Tri, Tuxedo, MERLE, Merle/Piebald or Piebald pattern. Brindle pattern (*added in 2009)
Combination patterns acceptable. Additional Tweed pattern possible in association with Merle pattern.

Appearance:

Deer like in appearance being smooth-coated, alert, spirited and structurally well balanced and square bodied to slightly leggy.

Movement:

Quick, yet well balanced & graceful.

Temperament:

Loyal, and willing to please. Happy. Ready to defend family if necessary but eager to make friends.

Uses:

Companion – Ratting & Hunting

Confirmation:

HEAD:

Skull: Elongated, and broad. Appears flat and tapers forward toward the muzzle.
Eyes: Dark, Blue or Green/Gold, bi is acceptable.
Ears:    Cropped, Not cropped, tipped or natural erect. If cropped must be cropped in proportion to head at 12-16 weeks of age.
Muzzle: Medium and tapering to an unexaggerated point.
Nose:   Black on Black and Red base coated dogs. Red dogs may also have self colored brown nose. Brown on Brown and Fawn. Blue on Blue. Blue on Blue/Fawn. Brown on Tan (*added 2009)
Bite: Scissor
Teeth:   Clean, of correct number, shape and position.

Neck:

Broad at shoulders, slightly arched.

TORSO:
Topline: Level or slightly slopping toward the hind quarters.
Chest: Very deep, slightly barrel shaped, well formed with no exaggeration.
Body: Well muscled, square in form measuring within 1 inch of height from ground to point of wither as from bend of neck to bend of tail.
Legs: Perfectly straight forelegs. Length being justifiable to length of body to give a square visual appearance.

Hind legs are angulated.

Height:
Toy: 4-10 inches from ground to point of elbow. 4-12 inches from ground to point of wither.
Miniature: 11-16 inches from ground to point of elbow. 13-18 inches from ground to point of wither.
Standard: 17-24 inches from ground to point of elbow. 19-26 inches from ground to point of wither.

Feet:

Compact, arched toes, dewclaws removed on both front and back feet.

Tail:

Docked to be 1 to 2 inches long at maturity, set high. Undocked tails are acceptable but not preferred and will be placed below same quality dog with properly docked tail in class.

Natural Bobtail is acceptable.

Proportional Appearance:
Body:

Perfect being 1 pound of body weight per inch of dog in height.
Head:
Ears cut in proportion to head.
Skull width and nose length in correct proportion for an overall gathered appearance.
Gait: Deer like

Faults/Penalties:
Any deviation from the breed standard such as but not limited to height/weight ratio, tail length, dewclaws, improper chest formation, unsocial, overly shy, timid. Dirty teeth heavily penalized.

DISQUALIFICATIONS:
Double Merle

Cryptoid

Not within height standard.
Not within weight standard.
Exaggerated difference in height/weight ratio.
V-Chest
Coat being anything other than short, flat, smooth and tight to body.
Any color, pattern or markings not listed in breed standard.
Ears not of same set. Ears that are not cut in proportion to head – Too short or too long.
Any over-exaggeration of confirmation as stated by breed standard.
Dewclaws on any legs.
Bad Teeth, improperly aligned teeth.
Tail docked to short.

Coat Colors & Pattern

There are 3 Primary Colors in dogs being Black, Red and Brown. All other colors are dilutions or modifications to these 3 colors. There are a variety of coat colors and patterns in the Harlequin and Miniature Pinschers.

Main Coat Colors:

1. Black – Dominant in nature. Only requires 1 black gene to be black.
2. Red – Red is dominant over all colors and dominant in nature. Often referred to as Sable. Only requires 1 red gene to be Red.
3. Brown – Recessive in nature. Requires 2 brown genes to be brown.

*** Note: Some people/registries call the brown coat color Chocolate. Here we will refer to it as brown as that is the proper genetic term.***

Black:

To be breed standard ALL Blacks of the Min-Pins and Harlequin Pinchers MUST have tan points, Black noses, Black eyelids and Black paw pads. None of these breeds have solid blacks.

Red:

Comes in varying shades from light blonde color to a deep dark mahogany. Red is the lighter genetic type with NO black tipping on hair. Stag Red is the darker genetic type with black tips on hairs. Nose can be Black or Brown. Brown nosed Red is the Red dog expressing they carry the brown gene.

Brown:

To be breed standard ALL Browns of the Min-Pins and Harlequin Pinchers MUST have tan points, Brown noses, Brown eyelids and Brown paw pads. None of these breeds have solid browns.
There is NO black on a brown dog.

Dilutes:

The dilute gene is recessive and found on the D locus. Dilutes should be bred with extreme caution and only from obviously full coated breeding dogs. They can have a condition called CDA – Color Dilution Alopecia meaning hair loss known to the Dilute gene.

1. Blue – Dilution of Black. Requires two dilute genes.
2. Fawn – Dilution of Brown. Requires one brown gene and one blue gene.

3. Tan – – Recessive
4. Blue/Fawn – Recessive

Blue:

To be breed standard ALL Blues of the Min Pins and Harlequin Pinschers must have tan points, Blue noses, Blue eye lids and Blue paw pads.

Fawn:

To be breed standard ALL Fawns of the Min Pins and Harlequin Pinschers must have tan points, light brown noses, light brown eye lids and light brown paw pads.

Blue-Fawn:

Blue-Fawn is the dilution of the black hairs on a Stag Red dog instead of the whole coat being diluted. A blue-fawn has a blue pigmented skin making the coat appear a Peachy cream color.
To be breed standard Blue-Fawns must have Blue noses, blue eye rims and blue paw pads.
Blue-Fawns DO NOT have tan/rust points.

Tan:

Tan is the dilution of the brown hairs on a Red with brown nose dog. A tan has a brown pigmented skin

Patterns

MERLE :

Merle is a PATTERN and not a color – it MODIFIES colors. Merle can occur on any color and even in combination with other patterns. Merle effects only eumelanin thus Black, Brown, Blue and Fawn coats are noticeably merle in pattern. Red is Phaeomelanin and often times the Merle gene is not easily noticed on a Red coat. Red Merle is an undesirable color/pattern combination due to it’s lack of being a visibly seen at times. Merle is a dominant gene in all breeds therefore AT LEAST ONE parent must be merle in order to get Merle offspring.

The Merle gene modifies the coat to a lighter color, leaving patches of the original coat color. Merling can be in varying degrees from just a single spot to almost full body. Merle modifies the coat by LIGHTING areas it touches which can include eyes turning them blue

****The dogs base color will be the DARKER spotted areas.****

Tweed:

Tweed is a merle gene modifier when inherited along with the merle gene causes a varying shade of patches on the coat. If the merle gene is not present the merle modifiers will go unnoticed.
It is believed Merle Modifiers are located on their own locii.

Brindle:

The brindle is the “tiger striped” coat pattern. Brindle affects the red coat colors and tan points. The brindle pattern shown in the Harlequin Pinscher the brindle gene has only be known to be dominant in nature meaning AT LEAST ONE parent must be brindle to get brindle offspring.

Merle/Brindle:

This is a dual pattern where the merle and brindle pattern is expressed on the same dog. The Merle and Brindle genes are located on separate loci’s, therefore it is safe to breed these two patterns together.

White Spotting

Found on the S Series – Can express itself in varying degrees from:

Tri: – Small amount of white usually on toes, chest, chin and forehead. Sometimes these markings are caused by pigment migration interruption during embryo development. Tri can also be the lowest form of the Piebald gene.

Tuxedo:

Also known as Irish Spotting – Where there is a white pattern on feet, chest and a partial to full collar. A tuxedo patterned dog looks to be wearing a Tuxedo when stood on its hind legs.

PIEBALD:

A white base coat with patches of unconnected colour. A dog with a spotted coat.
Extreme white Piebald as seen in some breeds, such as the White Bull Terrier & Boxer, may cause deafness due to lack of pigment in the inner ear.