German Spitz
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Spitz captivate by the beauty of their coat, made to stand outside the abundant undercoat. Particularly impressive is the strong type of mane around the neck (“ruff”) and the thick tail carried boldly over the back. The fox head with alert eyes and small pointed ears, set close together, give the Spitz its unique feature, a cheeky appearance.
Personality: active, cheerful and mate.
Energy Level : Very Active.
Good with children: Yes.
Good with other dogs: With supervision.
Grooming: Seasonal.
Life Expectancy : 12-16 years old.
Bark level: Bark when necessary.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
German Spitz are descended from Stone Age dogs: > (Torfhund) > and later Lake Dweller's (Pfahlbau) Spitz; are the oldest dog breeds in Central Europe. Many other races were created from them. In non-Germanic speaking countries the “Wolfsspitz” are known as Keeshonds and the Dwarf Spitz as Pomerania.
Country of Origin: Germany.
BEHAVIOR AND TEMPERAMENT: The German Spitz is always attentive, smart and exceptionally devoted to its owner. It is very docile and easy to train. His distrust of strangers and his lack of hunting instinct make him an ideal guard dog for homes and farms. He is neither shy nor aggressive. Indifferent to the weather, robustness and longevity are its most important attributes.
HEAD:
CRANIAL REGION: Medium-sized head; seen from above, it appears wider at the back and narrows, wedge-shaped, to the tip of the nose.
Stop: Moderate to marked, never abrupt.
FACIAL REGION
Nose: round, small and pure black in color; dark brown on brown Spitz.
Muzzle: Not too long and harmoniously proportioned to the skull. (In Wolfspitz/Keeshond - Wolf Spitz, Large Spitz and Medium-sized Spitz the ratio between the length of the snout and that of the skull is approximately 2:3; in the Small Spitz and Dwarf Spitz it is approximately 2:4).
Lips: They are not exaggerated, well adherent to the jaw and do not form any wrinkles in the corners of the mouth (labial commissures). They are completely black in Spitz of all colors; brown in brown Spitz.
Jaws and Teeth: The jaws are normally developed and show a complete scissor bite, with 42 teeth, corresponding to the dog's dental formula, i.e. the upper teeth (incisors) close tight to the lower teeth (incisors) and are orthogonally inserted into the jaws. . In miniature and dwarf Spitz (Pomerania), the lack of some premolars is tolerated. Pincer bite is allowed on all varieties of German Spitz. Cheeks: They are delicately rounded, without protruding.
Eyes: Medium in size, elongated, slightly slanted and dark. The eyelids are black in all shades of color; dark brown in brown Spitz.
Ears: The small ears are set high and relatively close together, triangular and pointed; they are always carried erect, stiff at the tips.
NECK: Of medium length, it is broad at the insertion between the shoulders; slightly arched, without dewlap and covered by a thick, profuse coat that forms a large mane.
TRUNK
Topline: Begins at the tip of the ears, carried erect, and merges in a gentle curve with the back, which is short and straight. The thick, broad tail that partially covers the back rounds out the silhouette.
withers and Back: The high withers descend imperceptibly to the shortest possible back, straight and firm.
Loin: Short, broad and strong.
Croup: It is broad and short, without being dropped.
Chest: Deep and well sprung; well-developed forechest.
Bottom line: The rib cage reaches as deep as possible; the belly has only a slight tuck-up.
TAIL: Set on high and of medium length. It projects upwards and bends forward over the back; straight from the root. It is placed firmly on the back and is covered with a very thick coat. A double curve at the tip of the tail is tolerated.
MEMBERS
PREVIOUS: Straight, with a wider front.
Shoulders: The scapula is long and well laid back. The shoulder is well muscled and firmly connected to the chest.
Arms: The arm is approximately the same length as the scapula; forms a 90° angle with it.
Elbows: Elbow joint is strong, properly fitted to the chest and turning neither in nor out.
Forearms: Of medium length in relation to the body; strong and completely straight. The back of the forearm is well fringed.
Pasterns: Strong, of medium length and form an angle of 20° with the forearm with the vertical.
Feet: As small as possible, round and closed, called “cat feet” with well-arched toes. The toenails and pads (cushions) are black in all color varieties, but dark brown in brown dogs.
HINDQUARTERS: The hindquarters are very muscular and heavily feathered to the hocks. The hind legs are straight and parallel.
Thighs and Legs: They are approximately the same size.
Knees: Strongly articulated, with only moderate angulation; in motion, they turn neither in nor out.
Metatarsals (Hocks): Of medium length, very strong and vertical to the ground.
Feet: As small as possible, tightly closed with well-arched toes, called “cat feet”. The cushions (cushions) are resistant. The color of nails and pads is as dark as possible.
GAIT/MOVEMENT: The German Spitz moves straight forward, with good drive, fluent and springy.
SKIN: The skin covers the body tightly, without any wrinkles.
COAT
Coat: The German Spitz has a double coat: the outer coat is long, straight and separate; the undercoat is short, thick and woolly. Head, ears, front of forelegs and hindquarters, and paws are covered with short, thick (velvety) hair. The rest of the body has a long, rich coat. Not wavy, curly or corded and not split on the back. Neck and shoulders are covered by an abundant mane. The back of the forelegs is well feathered, the hind legs are heavily feathered from the croup to the hock. The tail is thick.
COLOR:
a) Wolfspitz / Keeshond (Wolf Spitz): Shaded gray.
b) Large Spitz: Black, brown and white.
c) Medium Spitz: Black, brown, white, orange, shaded grey, other colors.
d) Small Spitz: Black, brown, white, orange, shaded gray, other colors.
e) Dwarf Spitz (Pomerania): Black, brown, white, orange, silver gray, other colors.
Black Spitz: In Black Spitz, the undercoat and also the skin must be black and the top coat must be a glossy black with no white or other color markings.
Brown Spitz: The brown Spitz should be uniformly dark brown.
White Spitz: The coat should be pure white without any particular shade of yellow that often occurs, especially on the ears.
Orange Spitz: The Orange Spitz should be evenly in the mid-range (tone) of the color.
Gray Shaded Spitz (greyish) / Keeshond (Wolf Spitz): Gray Shaded is a silvery gray with black fur tips. Dark colored muzzle and ears; around the eyes, the well-defined “glasses”, appear as delicate brushstrokes of black lines starting from the outer corner of the eyes to the lower corner of the ear, together with defined and shadowed marks forming an expressive eyebrow; a lighter mane and collar over the shoulders; forelegs and hindquarters without any black marks under the elbows or knees, except for slight black strokes on the fingers; black tail tip; below the tail (ventral face) and pale silver gray breeches.
Other Spitz Colors: The term “other colors” covers all shades of color, such as: cream, cream-“sable” (cream-sable), orange-“sable” (orange-sable), black and brown (“tan ”) and particolor (with white as the dominant color). The black, brown, gray or orange marks should be distributed over the entire body.
SIZE:
Height at withers:
a) Wolfspitz / Keeshond (Wolf Spitz): 49 cm +/- 6 cm.
b) Large Spitz: 46 cm +/- 4 cm.
c) Medium Spitz: 34 cm +/- 4 cm.
d) Small Spitz: 26 cm +/- 3 cm.
e) Dwarf / Pomeranian Spitz: 20 cm +/- 2 cm. (Dogs under 18 cm are undesirable.)
WEIGHT: Each variety of German Spitz should have a weight according to its size.
FAULTS
Any deviation from this standard should be considered a fault and penalized in exact proportion to its severity and its effects on the health and well-being of the dog.
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS
• Aggressiveness or excessive shyness.
• Any dog that shows any sign of physical or behavioral anomaly must be disqualified.
• Atypical dogs.