Affenpinscher lines and Families

This article is mainly produced to be a reference for those interested in British lines.   I have been promoted to produce this following my recent collaboration with Mrs Pirrie to produce the book "The First Fifty Champions" for the affenpinscher club.

This idea of lines and families is one which is popular in horse breeding and I came across the idea from my association with Griffon Bruxellois where it is an established method of identifying breeding stock.   The idea was first attributed to dogs by Marjorie Cousens in her book "The Second Book of the Griffon" published in 1966.   She herself acknowledges the idea for this book came from an article published in Our Dogs in 1936 by Mrs Kirkby Peace.

The huge task undertaken by Mrs Cousens in researching and cataloguing the origins on the griffons in the UK was made more difficult because of the lack of registration documentation and the amount of time which had passed since the original imports.   In the Affenpinscher in the UK, we are much more fortunate as, at the time of writing, only 30 years have passed since the first imports and throughout this time the KC registration system has proved to be a valuable tool.

The idea of lines coming down through the dog tail, from sire to sire and the family coming down through the bitch tail, from dam to dam, is not universally popular but I hope that it will spark some curiosity to look at the origins of dogs which might help the diversity of the our tiny breed in the future.   I also hope that   it could help to prevent, as was noted by Mrs Cousens in the Griffon, the loss of these valuable bloodlines.   Unfortunately even in the few years that have passed in this breed some have already been lost.

In Griffons a line or family is only considered to be active if it has produced Champions, CC winners or Dam/Sires of Champions which are still alive and while I have tried to follow the overall pattern of Mrs Cousens in this article, I consider that a dog or bitch as active if they have produced progengy registered in the UK Breed record supplement, not just if this progeny goes on to win in the showring.

A new male tail-line can be brought in only by an import from a different bloodline but often even imports do not bring in a new line due to the fact that worldwide gene pool is so small with the largest reservoir being in the US. The male tail line passes from father to son, so an active dog tail is one in which has a viable male who is proven sire. Similarly the female family passed from mother to daughter once she is a proven brood.

Affenpinscher Dog Tail-lines in the UK

There are 4 dog tail-lines currently active in the UK: Deddi, Wilhelm, Flauschi and Aff-Airn. Unfortunately several dog tail-lines from imported dogs have already been lost.

Deddi (D) line

From Int Ch Deddi von Grundlachtal, descending through his two sons Furstin Miraculous Conception and Shelbor Schwarz Spinne von Champflower.

Shelbor Schwarz Spinne von Champflower was used very little, producing only 3 litters (9 offspring). Only two males are currently still available to our knowledge from this branch, it makes a negligable contribution to affenpinscher entries.

Furstin Miraculous Conception was used quite extensively producing 52 offspring in total and 3 Champion sons but the majority of his sons have not gone on to produces further active branches. The only branch of his which currently continues to produce strongly is from his famous son Ch Last Edition at Furstin, until very recently the breed record holder, bred by T Teasdale and W Boorer and owned by W Boorer. (update 27th May 2007 - the lastest Kennel Club Breed Record Supplement (BRS) has provided another active sub-branch of the Deddi line through Furstin Miraculous Conception as Capps Regardez Moi (a Grandson of Ch Northrise Ben Sarek), bred and owned by P Johnson, has produced his first recorded litter - fingers crossed for a future son!)

Ch Last Edition at Furstin produced 31 offspring in total and 6 Champions. The line has then been further sub-divided into three by his sons, Ch Kilbarchan's First Edition, Ch Furstin Laptop Lover and the currently very successful subdivision through Ch Cransbere Kindamagic at Bodebi.

Ch Cransbere Kindamagic at Bodebi, bred by L McGill and owned by John and the late Gary Turner, has produced to date a total of 33 offspring and 3 Champions. At UK Championship shows around 35-40% of all affenpinscher entries come from this division mainly through his son Ch Scapafield Schwarz Jet, bred and owned by J Wiggins, having produced to date a total of 27 offspring and 3 Champions.

Ch Kilbarchan's First Edition, bred H Moffat and owned by W Boorer, has produced a total of 29 offspring and 3 champions. This subdivision continues through his sons Ch Tonsarne I Claudius JW (Current Breed Record holder) and Ch Tapfer Herz at Ingerdorm with around 8% of affenpinscher entries from this subdivision.

Ch Furstin Laptop Lover, bred by W Boorer and owned by S Phillips, has produced a total of 27 descendents. This subdivision continues through his sons Furstin Future Perfect at Tarcalion and Jarube the Outlaw with around 8% of affenpinscher entries from this subdivision.

Wilhelm (W) Line

From Am Ch El Cocagi Wilhelm (US Imp) through his son Scapafield Schwarz Gerhart at Carmichan and his Grandson Hilane High Flyer at Zipaty (US imp)

Scapafield Schwarz Gerhart at Carmichan, bred by J Wiggins and owned by C Mumby. produced a total of 30 offspring but the only remaining active sub-branch we can find is from his grandson, Ch Avantgarde Umberto Ecco at Ingerdorm, through to Ingerdorm Yankee Doodle. We can currently find only two active dogs from this line and the branch accounts for around 5% of entries.

Hilane High Flyer at Zipaty (US imp), bred by J Cushman in the US and owned by the Late Pat Patchen, produced a total of 5 offspring and 2 Champions. This subdivision which is the most dominant in the UK showring descends entirely through his son Ch Furstin Fruitful Union.

Ch Furstin Fruitful Union, bred and owned by W Boorer, produced a total of 55 offspring and 3 champions. This subdivision accounts for about 45% of all entries mainly through his son Carmichan Rabskallion and his grandsons, Ch Darkle Devil May Care and Ch Darkle Simian Slapstick.

Flauschi (F) Line

From Int Ch Flaushi Schachterteuferl, descending through his son Ignaz Maskottchen to his two sons, Vroni Kleine Pavian at Tonsarne and Furstin Foreign Asset at Tonsarne and a separate sub-line to his Grandson Ups Maskottchen. This line accounts for around 5% of UK show entries.

Ignaz Maskottchen was exported to the US from Germany by the late Sharon Strempski, owner of the Vroni Kleine Kennel. His son Furstin Foreign Asset at Tonsarne was imported to the UK in Dam, after his mother Tonsarne Fantasia was sent to be mated in the US and delivered her litter back in the UK in quarantine.There is only one male currently active from this sub-division, Tonsarne Red Hot Patootie. The other UK-based Ignaz son, Vroni Kleine Pavian at Tonsarne,was imported from the Vroni Kleine Kennel, but there is no dog currently active from this line

Ups Maskottchen, bred by Frau Bergermeyer of the Maskottchen Kennel, was imported to the UK from Germany in 1998 with his kennel mate Tipferl Maskottchen (pre-pet-passport!). He is currently the top producing affenpinscher male of all-time with 73 offspring (3 champions to date). This line remains active through his son Int Ch Ingerdorm Sticky Whiskers, grandson Ch Avantgarde Prince Rupert and Great-Grandson Ch Unkle Urkle at Cransbere (BOB Crufts 2007).

Aff-Airn (A) Line

This line can be traced back to Aff-airn Chocolate Chewy (and beyond) through Flo-stars Broadway Tommy at Ingerdorm who was imported from the late Flo Stromeyer's Flo-star kennel in the US in 1996 with his sister Ir Ch Flo-stars Madison Tavenue at Ingerdorm (again pre-pet-passport) but it is a tiny line in the UK (more popular in the US) with Alfred (Ch Ingerdorm Drosselmeyer von Orlock) and his son Busie (Am Ch Orlock Mysterious Stranger) being the only members currently in the UK. Various past imports including Balu's Schwarz Gaba, Hassan V Invictus and Tajar's Taco were variations of this line.

NB Please do let me know if I have missed a proven dog which would provide another tail-line, it would be great to add another line to those available!!

I will continue with families later on in the Month as these are less endangered and all four imported families remain intact.

For further information on the Champions mentioned here please click here