General Appearance:
Compact, short
coupled and well knit with an almost square outline. Firm condition, the profuse
off-standing 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, with no 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 the length of head.
Cheeks clean. Flews tight, no trace of lippiness.
Nose:
Black in Black, White and Black/white parti-colours. Self colour as
compatible with coat colour in other colour varieties. Never parti-colour or
pink.
Eyes: Medium size, oval shaped and obliquely set. Not too wide apart.
Always dark with black rims in blacks, white, black/white parti-colours,
black/tan bi-colours. As dark as compatible with coat colour in other colour
varieties.
Ears:
Small triangular and set rather high.
Perfectly erect.
Mouth:
A perfect, regular and complete
scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set
square to the jaws. Black lips in black, white, black/white parti-colours,
black/tan bi-colours. Colour as compatible in other colour
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, 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 and rounded. Distance from brisket to ground
not less than half the height from ground to withers. Topline 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:
Set high, curled
right up from root, lying curled over back.
Gait/Movement:
Moving without exaggeration from any angle. Straight coming and going.
Viewed from side, effortless, brisk action, retaining
topline.
Coat:
Double coat consisting of soft woolly
undercoat and 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 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.
Colour:
All colour varieties and
markings acceptable. Butterfly pigment not permitted with any
colour.
Size:
Kleins 23-29 cms (9 - 11 ½ inches) Mittels
30-38 cms (12 - 15 inches) Dogs masculine, bitches
feminine.
Faults:
Any departure from the foregoing
points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault
shall be regarded should be in exact proportion to its
degree.
Note:
Male animals should have two apparently
normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
Copyright: The Kennel
Club