Grifón de Bruselas"Australia"

One may be an ancient ancestor of the other but you must not fool yourself into believing that they are “more or less” the same when you judge them.
Both are sturdy, or “cobby” in build and both represent the “terrier” of the toy breeds in spirit and temperament. Both have harsh jackets, broad chest, small ears, round bone, short backs, firm top-lines, high set tails, meaty hindquarters, short hocks and cat feet.
As the two breeds go round the ring they are quite different in balance and outline. The Griffon carries his head on a crested neck.
The Affenpinscher neck is short and straight and he is less well angulated in front and rear.
So, whereas the Griffon should reach out in front and drive from behind, the Affenpinscher “goose-steps” in front with a much shorter strid that is comically exaggerated and high stepping. He has little drive from behind.
In stance, the Affenpinscher’s hind feet should be set under his body so that overall, he covers rather less ground standing or moving than the Griffon.
The body shape is not the same. A Griffon is possessed of a well rounded ribcage and contrasting short, strong, loin.
Look down on to the body of an Affenpinscher and you will see he is one consistent “shapeless” mass.
Think of the Affenpinscher body as a tube or a roll of carpet, so as to understand that it is without any appreciable tuck-up.
The Affenpinscher coat is, when untrimmed, longer and more loose (shaggier) on the topknot, neck and chest, so as to form something og a ruff or mane.
This tends to be brushed -and sprayed!- forward to accentuated this, leaving a short, tight body coat with the longer hair again on the hindquarters, useful to hide any excessive angulation!
The colour is black, but with grey shading permissible, and grey muzzles are not unknown.
One wonders how undocked Griffons will carry their tails, and I suspect that the answer will be “many and varied” and that we will became paranoid trying to legislate by dictating to nature what the corect carriage in the breed standard should be. Affenpinscher already carry their tails pretty uniformly, with a gentle yet obvious curve.
But do not expect them to stand in similar fashion, as it is not natural.
The head is the hallmark of both breeds. The Affenpinscher’s is much smaller and more pointed than the Griffon's.
It´s ears may be erect or semi-erect, provided, as with the Griffon, they are small and high set.
Both breeds require a dark eye and eyerim, but the Griffon eye is the larger and, of course, he owns a flat face, whereas the Affenpinscher's is formed by an equal triangle from eye to eye and eye to muzzle.
On no account should he be “down faced” but equally not so short in muzzle as to veer towards Griffon type. Both breeds must have a prominent bottom jaw with turn-up to give the mischievous monkey-like quality.
The Griffon is invariably present in a smart jacket closely following the contours of his body and without excessive, Schnauzer-like, furnishing.
The beauty of an Affenpinscher is in his rather unkempt appearance, being brushed into place rather than trimmed.
It is essential these differences between the two breeds are recognised and appreciated so as to preserve the type and character of each. Vive la difference!