The Affenpinscher is a flexible breed: it doesn’t matter if you live in a palace or a small apartment, your pup should be happy on account of it not needing a vast amount of space.
Although it loves to exercise — like all dogs — its small stature means that its exercise requirements aren’t on the Olympian end of the scale. 30 minutes a day, or around six miles a week, should suffice. Be mindful when you walk it, however, that it tends to think it stands a good chance in confrontations with larger dogs. Don’t let it get into fights; it may not be as strong as it thinks. (For this reason, while it’s not impossible to have a cat and an Affenpinscher, leaving them alone isn’t a great idea because of the latter’s ratting DNA).
Your Affenpinscher will need regular, but not daily, grooming. Brush it weekly, breaking up any tangling you observe. Its teeth should be brushed a few times a week so that it has a good chance of fighting off tartar and decay. Like most dogs, this breed will only need its nails trimmed about once a month.
A pro tip is that the Affenpinscher can overheat because its nose is so small; so always be on high alert when your dog has been in the sun or exercised for a long time. Make sure it has access to water and that its body doesn’t seem abnormally hot — there’s great advice on how to prevent your dog from overheating here. If you’re seriously worried, always contact a vet for expert advice.
Affenpinscher health risks
You should have around 13 years, hopefully more, with your Affenpinscher dog. But along the way there’s bound to be the odd health complication to manage. While we obviously hope you never have anything serious to worry about, with Affenpinschers, the following conditions are a little more likely to occur than others. Keep a particular eye out for:
Lick granuloma
Also known as acral lick dermatitis, lick granuloma is a condition that’s caused by a dog excessively licking their limbs, usually the front of their legs. A range of factors might be causing your Affenpinscher pup to lick their legs (allergy or stress, for example) but the licking itself is likely to irritate the skin, maybe thickening it and even causing alopecia.
Trying to identify the root cause of obsessive licking is important. It may be a result of a psychological issue like stress, boredom, or separation anxiety; it might be that your dog has an allergy and is licking to soothe the inflammation; or it might be that there is some pain in the leg and the dog may want to relieve this pain with licking.
Whatever the cause, generally diet changes or medication will be the advice of a vet. Diet will be the likely course of action if the vet suspects that a food allergy is the underlying cause; and if the cause is deemed to be stress, the vet may prescribe clomipramine hydrochloride. For the reduction of pain, a vet is likely to give non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Patellar luxation
If you notice that your Affenpinscher is limping, or perhaps refusing to exercise or experiencing swelling in the leg, it may have patellar luxation. This is a commonplace disorder that sees the dog’s kneecap dislocated from the knee joint. Normally hereditary, the condition can also be caused by trauma sustained to the knee instead.
You may not know right away if your young pup has patellar luxation because before around six weeks old the little one could just be interpreted as being a bit clumsy. At approximately this age, however, a vet will be able to diagnose it.
Once a diagnosis has been confirmed (and graded from between 1-4 according to severity), your vet may prescribe medication like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs but it’s more likely that they will recommend surgery (if they don’t want to try solutions like leg braces or bandages). The surgeon may want to insert pins into the tibia, shape the bone to add depth to the femur’s groove, or make fascial release incisions on the side of the affected knee.
Hip dysplasia
Although the genetic disease hip dysplasia is an issue that’s diagnosed a little more commonly in larger dogs, the Affenpinscher could easily fall victim to it because it’s a pervasive condition in dogs in general.
‘Hip dysplasia’ is a term that means the ball and socket of both hip joints are malformed in some way, causing the head of the dog’s femur to grind in the socket of the joint rather than gliding smoothly.
It can be caused by malnutrition, injury or weight gain (though you should also be careful not to over-feed your pup, as this may exacerbate it as well) and will be noticeable as a result of your dog not moving smoothly, not jumping, or experiencing lameness in the hind legs.
You should be aware, however, that the signs of hip dysplasia often don’t rear their head until dogs are a little older, so it’s less obvious to identify in an Affenpinscher puppy.
Feeding a Affenpinscher — what’s the best diet?
The Affenpinscher is a small dog and doesn’t need a massive amount of food every day. It should be fed roughly one cup of food every 24 hours. But what kind of food?
As with all other dogs, it’s important that you give your Affenpinscher plenty of high-quality, nutrient-rich food full of animal proteins to keep it healthy and full of energy. Do your research and avoid harmful ingredients and things like fillers. If you can afford it, favor dog food brands that are transparent about how they source their ingredients and what goes into each packet.
Try if possible to avoid giving it scraps from your plates — food specially formulated for dogs will always be preferable. You can read a great guide on whether you should feed your pup wet or dry food here.
And, if you want comprehensive information about the best dog foods out there, check out our friends at Dog Food Advisor. They have in-depth brand reviews that include ingredient analysis, so you know exactly what you’re feeding your pet.
