Funnily enough, my long, wiry beard isn’t just there to make me look smart and wise – it actually once served a very specific purpose! When I was a ratter on farms in Germany (catching rats, no surprise there!), my hairy beard served as protection. Rats and other vermin would bite my beard instead of my face, so I couldn’t feel a thing!

Long before farmers had machines to help them harvest crops, they had dogs like the Schnauzer work on their land. The Schnauzer breed originated in 15th-century Germany, specifically Bavaria, where farms were plentiful – and farmers needed pups to help them herd their livestock. They also used us as ratters to help them catch rats and other vermin. (Yuck!) Schnauzers come in a variety of sizes. I’m a Standard Schnauzer, referred to as a Mittelschnauzer in German, but there are also Mini Schnauzers and Giant Schnauzers. Miniature Schnauzers are hybrids of Standard Schnauzers and Affenpinschers, and Giant Schnauzers are a mix of Standard Schnauzers and Great Danes! In the 1870s, when dog shows were becoming popular in Europe, we were referred to as Wire-Haired Pinschers, but our name changed within a few decades to Schnauzer, meaning “whiskered snout.” While my breed rose to fame in the 19th-century as a pretty pawesome farm dog, we were helpful in other ways, too! When our owners went