FCI-Standard
N° 97 / 05. 03. 1998 / GB
GERMAN SPITZ, INCLUDING KEESHOND AND POMERANIAN
(Deutscher Spitz, inklusive Keeshond und Pomeranian)
TRANSLATION : C.Seidler.
ORIGIN : Germany.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID
STANDARD : 05.03.1998.
UTILIZATION : Watch and Companion Dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 5 Spitz and
primitive types.
Section 4 European Spitz.
Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : German Spitz are
descendants of the stone age « Peat
Dogs » (Torfhund) « Canis familiaris
palustris Rüthimeyer » and the
later Lake Dweller’s (Pfahlbau) Spitz;
they are the oldest breed of dog in Central
Europe. Numerous other breeds have been produced
from them. In non-German speaking countries
Wolfsspitz are known as Keeshonds and Toy
Spitz as Pomeranians.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Spitz breeds are captivating
on account of their beautiful coats, made
to stand off by plentiful undercoat. Particularly
impressive is the strong, mane-like collar
round the neck (ruff) and the bushy tail carried
boldly over the back. The foxy head with alert
eyes and the small pointed, closely set ears
give the Spitz his unique characteristic,
cheeky appearance.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS : The ratio of height
at withers to body length is 1 : 1.
BEHAVIOUR AND CHARACTER : The German Spitz
is always attentive, lively and exceptionally
devoted to his owner. He is very teachable
and easy to train. His distrust to strangers
and lack of hunting instinct make him the
ideal watchdog for home and farm.
He is neither timid nor aggressive. Indifference
to weather, robustness and longevity are his
most outstanding attributes.
HEAD
CRANIAL REGION : The Spitz’s medium
size head, seen from above, appears broadest
at the back and tapers in wedgeshape to the
tip of the nose.
Stop : Moderate to marked, never abrupt.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : The nose is round, small and pure black,
dark brown in brown Spitz.
Muzzle : The muzzle is not overlong and stands
in pleasing proportion to the skull. (In Wolfspitz/Keeshond,
Giant Spitz and Medium-size Spitz the ratio
length of the muzzle to length of the skull
is approximately 2:3, in Miniature Spitz and
Toy Spitz approximately 2:4.).
Lips : The lips are not exaggerated, close
fitting to the jaws and do not form any folds
to the corner of the mouth. They are completely
black in all colours, brown in brown Spitz.
Jaws/Teeth : The jaws are normally developed
and show a complete scissor bite with 42 teeth,
corresponding to the teeth formula of the
dog, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping
the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
In Miniature-and Toy (Pomeranian) Spitz the
lack of a few premolars is tolerated. Pincer-bite
is permissible in all varieties of Spitz.
Cheeks : The cheeks are gently rounded, not
protruding.
Eyes : The eyes are of medium size, longish
shape, slightly slanting and dark. The eyelids
are black in all shades of colour, dark brown
in brown Spitz.
Ears : The small ears are set high and relatively
close to each other, triangular and pointed;
they are always carried upright, stiff at
the tips.
NECK : The medium length neck is set broadly
into the shoulders, slightly arched without
throatiness and covered by a thick, profuse
coat forming a large ruff.
BODY :
Topline : The topline starts at the tips of
the erectly carried prick-ears and merges
in a gentle curve with the short, straight
back. The bushy, sweeping tail, which partially
covers the back, rounds off the silhouette.
Withers/Back: : The high withers drop imperceptibly
into the shortest possible, straight, firm
back.
Loin : Short-coupled, broad and strong.
Croup : The croup is broad and short, not
falling away.
Chest : The deep chest is well sprung, the
forechest well developed.
Lower line : The brisket reaches as far back
as possible; the belly has only a slight tuck
up.
TAIL : The tail is set on high and of medium
length. It reaches upwards and rolls forward
over the back, straight from the root. It
lies firmly over the back and is covered with
very bushy hair. A double curl at tip of tail
is tolerated.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS :
General : Straight, rather broad front.
Shoulders : The shoulder-blade is long and
well laid back. The upper arm, which is approximately
the same length, forms an angle of 90 degrees
to the shoulder-blade. The shoulder is well
muscled and firmly connected to the brisket.
Elbow : The elbow joint is strong, close fitting
to the brisket and turns neither in nor out.
Forearm : The forearm is of medium length
in relation to the body, sturdy and completely
straight. The back of the forearm is well
feathered.
Metacarpus (Pastern) : The strong, medium
length front pastern stands at an angle of
20 degrees from the vertical.
Front feet : The front feet are as small as
possible, round and closed, so called cat
feet, with well arched toes. Toe-nails and
pads are black in all shades of colour, but
dark brown in brown dogs.
HINDQUARTERS :
General : The hindquarters are very muscular
and abundantly feathered to the hocks. The
hind legs stand straight and parallel.
Upper and lower thigh : Upper and lower thigh
are of about equal length.
Stifle : The stifle joint is strong with only
moderate angulation and is turned neither
in nor out in movement.
Metatarsal (Hock) : The hock is of medium
length, very strong and vertical to the ground.
Hind feet : The hind feet are as small as
possible, tightly closed with well arched
toes, so called cat feet. The pads are coarse.
The colour of nails and pads is as dark as
possible.
GAIT/MOVEMENT : The German Spitz moves straight
ahead with good drive, fluid and springy.
SKIN : The skin covers the body tightly without
any wrinkles.
COAT
HAIR : The German Spitz has a double coat
: Long, straight, stand off top coat and short,
thick, cotton-wool-like undercoat. Head, ears,
front side of front and hind legs and the
feet are covered by short, thick (velvety)
hair. The rest of the body has a long rich
coat. Not wavy, curly or corded, not parted
on the back. Neck and shoulders are covered
by a thick mane. The backside of the front
legs is well feathered, the hind legs have
ample feathering from croup to hocks. The
tail is bushy.
COLOUR :
Toy Spitz/Pomeranian : Black, brown, white,
orange, grey-shaded, other colours.
Black Spitz : In the black Spitz, the undercoat
and skin must also be black and the colour
on top must be a shining black without any
white or other markings.
Brown Spitz : The brown Spitz should be uniformly
dark brown.
White Spitz : The coat should be pure white
without any trace of yellow in particular,
which often occurs, specially on the ears.
Orange Spitz : The orange Spitz should be
evenly coloured in the medium colour range.
Grey-shaded Spitz Keeshond / Keeshond : Grey-shaded
is a silver grey with black hair-tips. Muzzle
and ears dark in colour; round the eyes well
defined « spectacles » shown as
a delicately pencilled black line slanting
from outer corner of eye to lower corner of
ear, coupled with distinct markings and shading
forming expressive short eyebrow; mane and
ring on shoulder lighter; fore- and hindlegs
without any black marking under the elbows
or stifles, except slight pencilling on the
toes; black tip of tail; underside of tail
and trouserpale silver grey.
Other coloured Spitz : The term « other
colours » covers all shades of colour,
such as : cream, cream-sable, orange-sable,
black and tan and particolour (with white
always as main colour). The black, brown,
grey or orange patches must be distributed
over the whole body.
SIZE AND WEIGHT :
Toy Spitz/Pomeranian 20 cm +/- 2 cm Dogs under
18 cm undesirable.
Weight : Each variety of German Spitz should
have a weight corresponding to its size.
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.
SERIOUS FAULTS :
• Faults in construction.
• Head too flat; distinct apple head.
• Flesh-coloured nose, eyelids and lips.
• In Wolfspitz/Keeshond, Giant Spitz
and Medium size Spitz missing teeth.
• Faults in movement.
• In grey-shaded Spitz missing of distinct
markings of the face.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
• Gap in fontanel.
• Over-or undershot bite.
• Ectropion or entropion.
• Semi-pricked ears.
• Definite white patches in all not
white Spitz.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently
normal testicles fully descended into the
scrotum.
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