A Schnauzer ( , ; plural ; ) is a dog breed type that originated in Germany from the 14th to 16th centuries. The term comes from the German word for "snout" and means colloquially "moustache", or "whiskered snout", because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout. Initially it was called Wire-Haired Pinscher, while Schnauzer was adopted in 1879. Breeds There are three breeds: the Standard, the Giant, and the Miniature. Toy and teacup are not breeds of Schnauzer, but these common terms are used to market undersized or ill-bred Miniature Schnauzers. The original Schnauzer was of the same size as the modern Standard Schnauzer breed and was bred as a rat-catcher and guard dog. The Giant Schnauzer and the Miniature Schnauzer were developed from the Standard Schnauzer and are the result of outcrosses with other breeds exhibiting the desirable characteristics needed for the Schnauzer's original purpose. By the VDH and FCI Schnauzer is placed in "Group 2, Section 1: Pinschers and Schnauzers", with "Nr. 181, 182 and 183" in "Section 1.2: Schnauzer" dedicated to all three Schnauzer breeds. Standard Schnauzers (also known as Mittelschnauzers) are around tall at the shoulder and weigh . They are in the group of working dogs, bred as multifunctional dogs to catch rats and other rodents, as livestock and guard dogs, and later they have also carried messages in times of war, helped the Red Cross and been police dogs. It is considered to have a common ancestry with the German Pinscher as a wire-haired coated variant of the Pinscher breed, and was possibly crossed with black German Poodle and gray Wolfspitz, to which influence is attributed the black soft coat and the salt-and-pepper gray wiry coat. Giant Schnauzers (also known as Riesenschnauzers) are around tall at the shoulder and weigh between . They are working dogs that were developed in Swabia in the 17th century, once known as the Munich Schnauzer, originally bred to drive livestock to market and guard farms, and later used as police and military dogs. The cynologists believe that the Giant Schnauzer was developed independently through crosses of black Great Danes, Munchener German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Boxers, Bouvier des Flandres, Thuringian Shepherds, and the Standard Schnauzer. Miniature Schnauzers (also known as Zwergschnauzers) are around tall at the shoulder and weigh between . They were developed since the late 19th century, and the cynologists consider that the Miniature Schnauzer is the