The Spitz
We have only to take a step into the street, and surely it won't be long before we get to see a spitz-like dog, this may be where it will, from St. Petersburg down to Italy. There are only a few breeds that have found such a wide distribution and on the other hand only just as few large breeders. If we want to count the breeders in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, we can only bring together a very small bunch. I've racked my brains about this without getting a satisfactory answer. It can't be the character, otherwise he wouldn't have found such enormous distribution in his hybrid forms, for this proves that he's very popular. Should it be that our values about dogs treat him more or less neglectfully and attribute some things to him that he doesn't have at all. So starts z. For example, the chapter on spitz in Vero Shaw reads: It is well known that the spitz is one of the less interesting breeds and therefore has few admirers."
Elsewhere he is belittled even more: As we have noted, the Spitz's few virtues have earned them few friends here in England, which is understandable as no good traits pretty much paralyze the bad. In sharp contrast to his handsome coat of hair and rather intelligent countenance is his dour disposition and lack of affection which the breed too often lacks!
It was not easy for me to read a more incorrect assessment of our Spitz, but such omissions are by no means isolated. We shall endeavor to describe the character below, as taught to us by our own experience and as communicated to us by old, well-established breeders of this breed. Above all, I ask you to carefully study the characteristics of the ancestors or relatives described above, and the keen observer will learn to understand some peculiarities of character from this history and development and will grasp that a race that has been bred for thousands of years for a certain purpose is not all at once today old habits.
The Spitz did not only develop in the north, as is often said today, but its distribution area is very extensive. We find his representations on ancient Greek and Roman objects of all kinds, and also in very pretty sculptures. According to its ancestor the "canis palustris", its main seat was much more in Central Europe and from here it evenly advanced north and south. It is striking that its Asian relatives also mainly occupy Central Asia with branches to Sumatra. On the attached pictures (pictures 1-5) of Greek and Roman descent, we can see how little the Spitz has changed over the centuries. It is peculiar that he was then almost completely put aside, for we then see him neither described nor depicted. I attribute it to the fact that it was so widely spread and known that it was no longer considered worth immortalizing.
Beckmann mentions that the medieval designation of the larger court dogs Hovawarth (court guard ), the smaller "Mistbella" barking at the dung was. Furthermore, that the first designation as "Spitz" is found in the house rules of Count Eberhardt zu Sayn in 1450 as a scolding word, in which the use of "Spitzhundt" is forbidden for the servants, and that in glossaries of the first High German edition of Reinicke Fuchs the finds the term "pointed hat" for prosecutors, which probably derives from the corrupt "pointed dog".
It was not until the beginning of the last century, with the emergence of cynological works, that we found him mentioned in detail. Thus the Cynographia Britannica" 1800 published, already an exact description of the spitz or fox dog. Oddly enough, Beisner does not mention him in Germany, nor could he be recognized among those he called "Gesellhund", only Dr. Ludwig Reichenbach 1836 gives a very detailed description of the Spitz and classifies him as a primal dog. With this author we find him as canis pommeranus", French: "Chien pomérien", English: "The pomerian Wolf-dog " designated. This designation is probably very old, we still find it in France alternating with "Chien loup", which was probably meant for the wolf-colored ones, otherwise "Lou-lou de Pomeranie" , called "Pommerska Spetzen" in Sweden. This is by no means to say that Pomerania is the homeland, perhaps that in 1700 Pomerania was especially known for its white lace. We still find something similar today with the so-called "Mannheimers" (black dwarf Spitz). Colors have always been versatile. as early as 1836, Reichenbach mentions white, Isabella, more rarely brown, black or spotted.
Character from the Great Pomeranian
His character has been particularly conditioned by his qualities as a guard dog. Before the railroads roared through our beloved fatherland, he was the constant companion of the carters, as he is to-day with the great bargemen, hence his outstanding quality is vigilance. One must have seen him on the big vehicles, now in front, now behind, now above, now below, nothing escaped his fine hearing and his sight, his voice was light and easy. That's how he is today: his hearing is extremely well developed, his ears are always on the move and his small, lively eyes speak alertness. As a result, he is suspicious and very inquisitive. He is less aggressive, he barks and is very cautious about all attacks, so that he has been accused of cowardice. This is fundamentally wrong, for he cunningly avoids coming within reach of the human hand, but he snaps at lightning speed when the enemy gives himself a weakness, which in turn has earned him the title "sneaky". It is true that the spitz is often more attached to the thing to be guarded than to the person himself, who he only sees as a part of the whole. This only depends on what his guard is to cover. If he is there for the personal protection of humans, then there is hardly a more affectionate dog than the spitz, he is incorruptible, which cannot be emphasized enough. The examples of a spitz ruthlessly risking his life for guarding are not uncommon. He's smart, if you can't say docile, when it comes to things other than guard duty.
A fine example of wisdom was told to me by Charles Kammerer, an old breeder. In his garden he has a water basin in which he lets his tip bathe, especially in summer. Some jump in by themselves. others by order, only one shies away from the water like a tomcat. After bathing, they are allowed to run out in a meadow, where they frolic, roll and shake to get dry. What does the water enemy do, he immediately runs into this meadow, frolics, rolls, behaves in a word as if he has taken a bath. His master laughs at his cunning and so he often escapes from the bath.
The same gentleman writes to me that he has observed that the very big snipers are more good-natured than the small ones, and that jealousy is a very pronounced characteristic of all snipers, that 90 out of 100 fights are due to it.
Since the Spitz is very temperamental, its training requires a calm and determined trainer: its self-will is not easy to break, but once broken it is the most affectionate animal imaginable. When it comes to guarding house and yard, it is not easy to surpass it, it is more a guard dog than a companion dog. Hunting qualities are dormant in him, but not expressed when properly instructed; neglected, he gives himself over to hunting with a special fondness. In my own experience, most of the poaching dogs were Spitz-type.
Oscar Wirth, who occupied himself with Spitz breeding very thoroughly 20 years ago, writes about the character that the Spitz is definitely one of the most alert dogs, weather-hardy and undemanding. He feels that if he could make a distinction between smart and smart, the Spitz would be more the latter. He doesn't find the upbringing easy either, but thinks that the blacks have always given him the greatest resistance, but he praises the great loyalty to the family.
Breed description
General appearance.
Short, stocky figure much more prominent in the smaller species than in the large Spitz, bold carriage with fox-like head and lively gaze. The whole dog betrays temperament and some inactivity. His hair is rich, straight and stands up from the body, in small dogs the heavily curled tail almost touches the nape of the mane.
1. head
a) Wolfspitz.
Medium size, seen from above, the skull appears widest at the back and tapers in a wedge shape to the tip of the nose; seen from the side moderate forehead drop, top of head almost flat, a bit of a Rams nose desired; stuck noses find faulty.
b) White and Black Lace.
Medium-sized seen from above, the head formation shows some cheeks, the snout (muzzle) not too long, always in relation to the top of the head (forehead length), the forehead as strong as possible, the forehead also strongly arched, everything rounded and nothing on the top of the head angular or flat. Nose tip round, fine, some Ramsnae desired. Lips not overhanging and forming no wrinkles at the corners of the lips. Ears small, set close together, the closer the better, triangularly pointed, set high and always carried erect with a stiff tip. Ears lobed downwards at birth, usually raising at change of teeth; however, it happens that they are carried upright earlier. medium sized eyes. oblong in shape, inserted at a slight angle and always dark in colour.
2. neck and torso.
Due to the abundance of hair in this breed, it is impossible to assess the individual forms more precisely. Neck of medium length, back as short as possible, completely straight but higher in front than behind. Chest deep in front, rib cage arched and stomach moderately tucked up backwards.
3. Rod.
Medium length, set high, arching upwards at the root and forward over the back, then laterally, turning downwards to the right or left and curled in a circle, always resting on the back, or curled directly on the back so that they almost touches the mane.
4. runs.
Medium length, stocky in relation to the body and completely straight, the rear
are only slightly bent in the hocks, i. H. moderately angulated throughout.
5. paws.
As small as possible, rounded, pointed, with arched toes, so-called
Cat's paws.
6. hairiness.
Short, soft and dense all over the head, the ears, the paws, the outside and inside of the front and hind legs, the rest of the body rich and long. The peculiarity of the Spitz hair consists in the fact that it stands loosely and straight from the body all around, especially on the neck and shoulders, without appearing wavy or shaggy. The hair does not part on the back either, but spreads out loosely in a fan shape towards the back. The hair below the neck and on the tail is at its greatest length. The back of the forelegs bear a strong downward gradual feathering from the elbows down to the flexures of the forelegs; on the hind legs the feathers do not reach all the way down to the hocks, so that these, like the rest of the legs and paws, appear short-haired from there to the soles.
7. color.
a) The Wolfspitz.
Solid silver-grey or wolf-grey, that is yellow-grey or ash-grey with a blackish tinge of the individual hair tips; on the snout and around the eyes, on the legs, the belly and the tail colored lighter greyish-yellow and whitish, to a similar extent as the well-known markings of the dachshund, but far more vague and colorless, quite corresponding to the markings of the wolf. Black masks give the Wolfspitz something defiant and look better than faces with light shots, which usually lose their expression as a result.
b) the white spitz
should appear pure chalk white, without any hint of yellow, which often occurs on the ears in particular.
c) By the hair on the black tip
The undercoat must also be dark in color like the skin and the surface color must be a brilliant blue-black without any white or colored markings. When she changes her hair or when she bathes a lot in summer, the black hair gets red tips, but one has to be very careful when assessing them, since there are also those who always have a red tinge, which is wrong. For all three types of Spitz, the nose, eyelids and nails must be black and the eyes dark brown.
8. Size.
Wolfspitz, males and females not less than 45 cm, any size above acceptable, the larger the better up to 54 cm, but the overall appearance must not suffer from the size. Common gray spitz that are less than 18 inches at the back are often referred to as wolf spitz. A real wolfspitz should have size as well as color.
Black and white lace not less than 40 cm back height.
The following errors are particularly noteworthy.
Too blunt snout, too flat top of the head, any kind of overbiting, goggle eyes, ears that are too long or not completely stiff, or even ears that flap forward or to the side and if it only happens when moving, also an ear that is too thick . Too long back, a tail not lying close to the sturgeon, but carried high, hanging freely to the side or hanging, wavy or parted hair. The white as well as the black spitz should be absolutely uniform, free from all markings and spots. Flesh-colored noses are faulty, but a lighter middle band, which sounds flesh-colored, often occurs with the white tip in early youth, this becomes more apparent with the respective hair changes. Light eyes, flesh-colored eyelids, lips and apple heads are also faulty.
When breeding Spitz, the last-mentioned mistakes are to be avoided, in the case of the White Spitz the progressive albinism, which is first noticeable in the flesh-colored eyelids, and with the Wolf Spitz the size must be kept in mind. It is much easier to breed small dogs and with small dogs, which unfortunately many tend to do today. It's hardest to eradicate the long, too straight backs, like the too big, side-set ears, which naturally increase with size.
The Wolfsspitz has its headquarters on the Rhine, in the Berg-Land, where it is still most commonly found today. The black spitz was found most frequently in central Germany, Württemberg and Baden. The white spitz originally came from Pomerania, today it has not found a large breeder up there.
In conclusion, it should be noted that there are other colors as well, but these are e.g. Currently not recognised, at least not in the case of the large spikes, such as brown, fox-red and isabelle colored ones. The former are the product of blacks when inbred too much, the latter particularly apt to result from crossing blacks with whites and vice versa. Such crossings are sometimes unavoidable when the whites degenerate as a result of too long inbreeding and take on an albinotic character. If you keep crossing white afterwards, there will be pure whites again in 5-6 generations.
The color print included shows the Wolfspitz Sieger "Honey", white Spitz "Castor" and black Spitz Sieger "Spitz";
Source:
The German dogs and their ancestry, Strebel Richard, publisher of Eduard Koch Munich, edition of 1910