schipperke

Meanings

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

Etymology

From Belgian Dutch (Flemish), but unclear at the word level. * Conventionally taken to be schipper (“skipper”) + -ke (“diminutive suffix”), allegedly alluding to a role as watchdog and/or rodent catcher on canal boats. * Alternatively, a mutation of scheperke, a diminutive of scheper (“shepherd, sheepdog”), 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 Schipperke § History on Wikipedia.Wikipedia