The Kennel Club Introduces Colour Watch Initiative

“The Kennel Club has introduced its new Colour Watch initiative as an aid to communicating and educating on the importance of breed standard colours in pedigree dogs”

The initiative was a recommendation from The Kennel Club’s Non-Breed Standard Colours Working Party
(NBSCWP), following an in-depth review of the issues surrounding the registration of dogs of colours which are not recognised.

In the UK there are currently two recognised colours for Giant Schnauzers:

1. Black
2. Pepper & Salt

Black & Silver is currently listed as a non breed standard colour (NBS).

The Colour Watch system categorises breeds according to the prevalence of NBS colours being registered. Based on previous registrations, Giant Schnauzers are categorised as follows:

Category 1: Breeds with 0 to 2% registered NBS colours

The category will be updated annually, and can be found on the Kennel Club Giant Schnauzer information page under the ‘Colours’ tab: Kennel Club Giant Schnauzer

The last registered litter of non-breed standard colour puppies (previously colour not recognised) in the UK was  in 2016.

On 1st July 2021 Black & Silver Giant Schnauzers became a recognised colour in Europe, by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). The German Pinscher Schnauzer Club (PSK) issued strict breeding regulations involving coat colour DNA testing of K and A locus, and set criteria for the approval of matings.