General Appearance
Compact, short-coupled and well knit with an almost
square outline. Firm condition, the profuse coat not
disguising any lack of substance.
Characteristics
The German Spitz is intelligent, active and alert. Its
buoyancy, independence and devotion to the family are
the breed characteristics.
Temperament
Happy, equable disposition, showing confidence, without
sign of nervousness or aggression.
Head and Skull
Medium large, broad and nearly flat skull when viewed
from above and narrowing in a wedge shape to the
nose. Stop moderately defined; muzzle approximately
half length of head. Cheeks clean. Flews tight, no trace
of lippiness.
Nose
Black in black, white, black/white parti-colors, black/tan
bi-colors. Self color as compatible with coat color. Never
parti-color or pink.
Eyes
Medium size, oval-shaped and obliquely set. Not too
wide apart. Always dark with black rims in blacks, whites
black/white parti-colors, black/tan bi-colors. As dark as
compatible with coat color in other color varieties.
Ears
Small, triangular and set high. Perfectly erect.
Mouth
Upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set
square to the jaws. Black lips in black, white, black/white
in parti-colors, black/tan bi-colors. Color as compatible
with coat color in other color varieties.
Neck
Clean, moderately short and well set into the shoulders.
Forequarters
Moderately sloping shoulder; upper arm of sufficient
length to ensure elbow is vertically below point of
withers. Moderate forechest. Elbows equidistant
between ground and withers, turning neither in nor out.
Well-boned, straight legs. Pasterns strong and flexible.
Body
Length from point of shoulder to point of buttock equal
to height at withers; short, well-developed loin..
Moderate tuck-up. Well ribbed up and rounded.
Distance from brisket to ground not less than half the
height from ground to withers. Top-line level.
Hindquarters
Moderate angulation with hocks moderately well let
down. Neither cow-hocked nor wide behind.
Feet
Small, rounded, cat-like, with well arched toes.
Tail
High set, curled right up from root, lying curled over
back.
Gait/Movement
Moving without exageration from any angle. Straight
coming and going. Viewed from side, effortless, brisk
action, retaining top-line.
Coat
Double coat consisting of a soft woolly undercoat and a
long harsh-textured perfectly straight top coat covering
the whole of the body. Very abundant around neck and
forequarters with a frill of profuse off-standing straight
hair extending over the shoulders. Forelimbs well
feathered tapering from elbows to pasterns. Hindlimbs
feathered to hocks. Ears covered with soft short hair.
Hair on the face smooth and short. Tail profusely
covered with long spreading hair. This is not a trimmed
breed and evidence of trimming and shaping, other than
tidying of the feet, anal area and legs below the hocks,
unacceptable.
Color
All color varieties and markings acceptable. Butterfly
pigment not permitted with any color.
Size
Mittel: 12-15 ins, 9-13.5 lbs.
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be
considered a fault and the seriousness with which the
fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion
to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare
of the dog.
Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal
testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
form, but consisted of small kingdoms, princedoms
and dukedoms, whose boundaries were constantly
changing. Different countries developed different
spitz to suit their own needs. Goods were often
transported via wagons and most coachmen had a
'coachman's spitz' which would run alongside of
the wagon or ride on the horses back and would
warn of strangers when parked for the night. Many
other types of spitz appeared all over Europe.
They varied in colours/heights, but were used to
watch over various buildings or boats/areas of
importance.
In England the breed became popular in the 18th
Century under the influence of George 1 and his
German wife. His descendants married German
aristocrats bringing German visitors to the English
court. They brought with them the forerunners of
today's German spitz, called 'Pomeranians'
because they were believed to originate from a
place called Pommern. They did not resemble the
breed known as a Pomeranian today because
they were much larger in size.
The decline of the breed in the UK is believed to
be related to World War 1. Many German breeds
went rapidly out of favor in the wave of patriotism
which swept the country.
The re-emergence of the breed:
The first German spitz ,as known today in the UK,
was imported by Mrs. Averil Cawthera (Lireva) who
wanted to re-introduce the white Pomeranian (not
the German spitz). She imported many white Poms
from Holland, including Tum-Tum van het
Vlinderhof of Lireva (Tum-Tum) in 1975 followed
by Venestien's Mauricia of Lireva (Velvet) in 1976.
Rosemary Bridman imported April Folly at
Tordown, an oversized Pom which Rosemary
hoped to gain KC acceptance for as a larger size
in Poms in 1977. Later, she gained Tum-Tum and
Velvet from Averil who had bred her white Poms. In
1979 Julie Smith and Janet Edmonds (now J.
Al-haddad) along with Rosemary, imported a
Dutch bred bitch - Tefanra-Leona's Lady Xabrina
(Minty). She was registered under the Joint affix of
Julie and Jannat of 'Dovetrees'. She was the first
to qualify for Crufts in our breed in the UK in any
variety not separately classified class at West and
East Ladies Kennel Club championship show
(WELKS). In 1981 Ms. J. Haddad went to Vienna
and brought back Prinz Schneeflocke von cottas
(Schani). He was Austrian bred but of czech
pedigree and registered as German Kleinspitze in
Austria.
In the meantime the three (Tum-Tum, Velvet, and
Folly) had been mated with the Pomeranian
breeds in the UK and also to each other, due to
the KC registering them as Poms. This caused
major problems. It was decided to form a separate
club, after opposition to two sizes of Pomeranian
by the small Pomeranian breeders. A decision
was made to attempt to get recognition for a breed
separate from the pom called the German Spitz.
Despite revelations that some of the above
mentioned dogs had in fact been registered in
Holland as Dwerg Keeshonden which was in fact
Pomeranians when translated and after lots of
talks with the KC in the UK they agreed that there
would be two sizes of German spitz to be called
Klein (small) and Mittel (middle) and any progeny
from the 'First four dogs could be added to the
German spitz register. The puppies to be
registered as German spitz who had only one of
the four in their breeding would be put on a
development register, while puppies with two of the
first four as their sire and dam would be registered
as full German spitz in one of the two sizes. The
owner to decide which size. Once registered there
was to be no inter-breeding of sizes and an
agreement was required that the newly formed
German Spitz Club would agree to no
color/markings barred. You now have our present
day German spitz in two sizes in the UK. They are
gaining popularity due to their happy disposition
and the high rankings reached in both Crufts and
championship shows around the UK giving them a
higher profile in the media.
A few breeders in the USA have imported German
Spitz from the UK and Australia. Several litters
have been bred here and the population of these
adorable little wonders is growing slowly.
American Breeders are working with the AKC to
gain recognition for the breed here in the US.
Right now, German Spitz are registered as
Foundation Stock with AKC, and can be registered
as a rare breed with the American Rare Breed
Association.
Acknowledgement for information in this page
regarding the breed history and standard in the
UK must be given to Ms. Jannat Al-haddad who
wrote 'The German Spitz."
