schipperke

Meaning

Noun

• A small breed of dog developed in Belgium, sometimes used as a watchdog on boats.

Origin

• From Belgian Dutch (Flemish), but unclear at the word level.
• Conventionally taken to be schipper + -ke, allegedly alluding to a role as watchdog and/or rodent catcher on canal boats.
• Alternatively, a mutation of scheperke, a diminutive of scheper, referring to the breed's purported descent from an extinct larger breed of sheepdogs.
• Related to the etymological debate is a longstanding informal one about whether the dog itself should be regarded as a spitz or a miniature sheepdog.
• For more, see