The breeds · northern
AKC Miscellaneous · UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 97
German Spitz.
FCI 97 utilization: watch and companion dog; the standard calls the German Spitz the ideal companion, family dog and watch dog for home and farm. UKC history: a valiant defender of his home and fields (first documented in 1450). Wikipedia: kept on farms for herding and guarding, later bred smaller as companions. Royal Kennel Club: highly intelligent and full of character; descended from larger spitz dogs brought from Scandinavia by the Vikings..
Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.
The lines
Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.
German Giant Spitz (Grossspitz), FCI 97 variety; 45 cm plus or minus 5 cm.
German Miniature Spitz (Kleinspitz), FCI 97 variety; UKC and Royal Kennel Club Klein; 27 cm plus or minus 3 cm.
German Medium Size Spitz (Mittelspitz), FCI 97 variety; UKC and Royal Kennel Club Mittel; 35 cm plus or minus 5 cm.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
No center: the standard prints a nominal with tolerance, not an ideal. The AKC 'Large' size is shown beside the standard but is not tied to the Giant by the page. Wikipedia's 43 to 55 cm text is shown and left out of low and high (Chad's Oct 9 amendment).
No center: ranges and a nominal with tolerance, no single printed ideal.
No center: ranges and a nominal with tolerance, no single printed ideal.
Weight
Weight appears only on the AKC page and Wikipedia; no standard prints one. The AKC 'Large' size is not tied to the Giant by the page.
Weight appears only on the AKC page and Wikipedia; no standard prints one. Wikipedia's infobox gives a much higher figure that disagrees with its own text and the AKC page; it is left out.
Weight appears only on the AKC page and Wikipedia; no standard prints one.
Coat
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from the coat description (heavy double or long = 2). The FCI's 'indifference to weather' is a registry statement, not a heat measurement.
How long they live, and what they cost
Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.
Median lifespan
UK sample of the Mittel size only; the Dogs Trust table has no Klein or Giant row. Interval is for dogs that had died by the study date.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Exercise need
RKC band 'up to 1 hour' recorded as 60 minutes.
Exercise need
Band words as the RKC prints them; AKC bands are not measured.
Energy
AKC bands, not measured.
Grooming load
RKC band 'every day' = 4. The RKC bands Mittel and Klein differently; both stand.
RKC band 'more than once a week' = 3.
Grooming
AKC bands.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
Farm watch dog and companion by history in every source.
Primary game
Handler-relevant: the FCI standard says the breed lacks hunting instinct.
Field trial standard
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Most common disorders
Registry view only. No VetCompass paper or breed club survey was read.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
What to ask a breeder for
The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.
- UKEye testingBVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme · The Royal Kennel Club, German Spitz (Mittel) breed page (Utility group), Internet Archive copy
How to read this page
Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.
Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Deutscher Spitz, Mittelspitz, Kleinspitz, Grossspitz
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour german spitz, on the record.
Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.
Get the app