Before the name 'Schipperke' was officially taken, the breed was also known colloquially as 'Spits' or 'Spitzke', a name commonly used to describe a small dog with pointed ears. They were also occasionally called 'Moorke', meaning 'little black animal'. Schipperkes are widely referred to in the United States, albeit erroneously, as 'Belgian barge dogs' or 'Belgian ship dogs.' Schipperkes were first recognized as a formal breed in the 1880s, their standard being written in 1889. Much of what is known of their origins and early history comes from Chasse et Pêche (French for 'Hunting and Fishing') magazine, articles from which were translated into English and published by the English magazine The Stockkeeper. In World War II, the Belgian Resistance used the dogs to run messages between various resistance hideouts and cells, to which occupying Nazi forces were none the wiser.