About Pomeranians
FCI
Standard No. 97
05.03.1998/GB
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 Wolfspitz 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 wedge shape 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.
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 win 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:
A) Wolfspitz/Keeshound :
grey
shaded.
B) Giant-Spitz:
black, brown, white.
C: Medium-size Spitz:
black, brown, white, orange, grey-shaded, other colours.
D)
Miniature Spitz:
black, brown, white, orange, grey-shaded, other
colours.
E) 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 he 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 trousers pale 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:
Height at the withers :
a)
Wolfspitz/Keeshond 49 cm +/- 6 cm
b) Giant Spitz 46 cm +/-4 cm
c) Medium size Spitz 34 cm
+/- 4 cm
d) Miniature
Spitz 26 cm +/- 3 cm
e) 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.