Affenpinscher
Learn about the temperament and personality of the Affenpinscher. Discover what he's like to live with, his traits and characteristics and how he generally behaves. And look at lots of Affenpinscher photos.

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Watchdog | ![]() |
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Affenpinscher Temperament
Affenpinscher is German for Monkey Dog, and the Affenpinscher is every bit as active and playful as his name implies. These are peppy, plucky, busy, fun-loving, mischievous, and sometimes conniving dogs. The Affenpinscher is a small dog with a big attitude! Sometimes they are too intelligent for their own good. Obedience training can be tricky with this breed. The Affenpinscher is loyal, affectionate and devoted toward his master and friends. He is always ready to protect his owner, his home, and his family's possessions. They are very good watchdogs, reserved with strangers, and fearless toward any aggressor. This little dog thinks he is far larger than he is. An Affenpinscher parent will need to remain vigilant that his little guy does not pick a fight with a dog ten times his size! These hardy dogs are very active indoors. Most of their exercise needs can be met with indoor play, but they do enjoy daily outdoor walks. They are charming little comedians and will entertain you by throwing their toys up in the air and walking around on their hind legs, just for fun. They are generally quiet, but can have erratic, nervous reactions to stimuli that they find nerve-wracking: noise, people, animals, and especially children. It is very important to socialize this breed to help thwart this tendency to freak out. Affenpinschers do not particularly like kids, but pose no threat to them. This is a toy breed that can easily be injured by a child who means no harm. An Affenpinscher can and will bite if provoked, so children must be taught to be respectful with him. While this is a smart breed, and while they will quickly learn things that interest them, they are notoriously slow at housetraining. They also like to eat weird things so that you have to take them to the vet: rocks, lipstick, candy wrappers, dead bugs, etc. These loving dogs will want to be with you all the time. They will crave your attention and companionship and will want to cuddle and sit on your lap. And they will show you their sensitive, gentle side, once they are certain you can handle it.
Affenpinscher Training
The Affenpinscher is intelligent and quite easy to train. He learns new commands quickly at an above average rate.
Affenpinscher Shedding
The Affenpinscher sheds practically no hair at all. You'll virtually never find a hair in your home!
Affenpinscher Grooming
Pet coat (less work): Cut his coat short every few months and then it only needs to be brushed every so often.
Show coat (more work): Strip his coat every six months and brush it daily.
Adopt an Affenpinscher
Affenpinscher Photos
Rating: Ease of training
Tells you how easy or difficult a breed is to train.
A higher rating means the breed is easier to train, a lower rating means the breed is harder to train.
An easy to train breed require less time and patience to train.
Rating: Intelligence
Tells you how intelligent a breed is in terms of how quickly it can learn commands from humans. A higher rating means the breed will learn your commands faster (and is therefore generally considered to be more intelligent), while a lower rating means the breed will learn your commands more slowly (and is therefore generally considered to be less intelligent).
Keep in mind that this is only one way to measure a dog's intelligence and a low rating might still mean the breed is highly intelligent in other ways.
Rating: Shedding
Tells you how much hair the breed sheds. The higher the rating the more hair the breed sheds.
Rating: Watchdog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a watchdog and raising the alarm when a stranger approaches. A higher rating means the breed will bark vigorously to warn you of a stranger's presence on your property. A low rating means the breed probably won't bark much if a stranger enters your property.
Rating: Guard dog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a guard dog due to the appearance, size, and strength of the breed. A breed with a high guard dog rating will make an intruder think twice before stepping foot on your property.
Rating: Popularity
Tells you how popular the breed is in terms of ownership. A higher rating means that more people own the breed. The more popular a breed is the easier it is to find and purchase one because there are more breeders breeding it.
Rating: Size
Tells you how large or small the breed is. A lower rating means the breed is smaller and a higher rating means the breed is larger. It gives you a quick idea of how physically large or small the breed is compared with all the other breeds.
Rating: Agility
Tells you how agile the breed is. A higher rating means the breed is fast and nimble on its feet while a lower rating means the breed is heavier and slower on its feet.
Rating: Good with kids
Tells you how good the breed is with children. A higher rating means the breed is good with children. Note: all breeds are generally good with kids when they're raised with them.