Quick Facts
Origin: Germany
Height: Large: 16”-20”, Medium: 16″-20″, Toy 8″-12″
Weight: Large: 30-50 lbs, Medium: 15-25 lbs, Toy: 10-11 lbs
Color: Black, black & tan, brown, cream, orange, red, white, wolfgray
Lifespan: 13-15 years
Temperament: Spunky, devoted, bright
Overview
No, it’s not a Pomeranian. It’s the adorable and lively German Spitz. These pups are great with families, make alert watchdogs, and become best buddies to other animals in the home. They can adapt to any sized home provided they get enough exercise.
They have lots of energy, so making sure to tire your pup out to avoid mischief. German Spitz are very intelligent and if you begin early, they are easy to train.
They tend to bark, which training early will help curb. German Spitz come in three sizes: toy (klein), medium (mittle) and large.
Celebrity Owners
Michelangelo, Mozart, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon
Fun Facts
- Rumor has it these pups may have originated during the First Stone Age!
Health
German Spitz are generally healthy dogs. Some health issues to keep an eye out for include:
- Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
- Patellar luxation: Luxating simply means out of place or dislocated. Patella is a kneecap. A Luxating patella is a kneecap that chronically moves out of its normal position.
- Progressive retinal atrophy: Atrophy is a wearing or wasting away of a body part. In this case, it is the retina in the eye, which eventually leads to blindness.
- Retinal dysplasia: Both an inherited and a result of viral infections, retinal dysplasia is an abnormal growth of the retina in the eye.
- Persistent pupillary membrane: This benign condition is caused by fetal membrane that crosses the pupil. While visually it looks painful, it is not.
As with all pure breed dogs, request health screening information from both parent pups.
While you always hope your pet will live a long and healthy life, it is always a good idea to invest in pet health insurance.
Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.
Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.
Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.
Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:
- Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
- Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
- Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
- Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
- At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.
Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.
Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.
Grooming
These luxurious pups are always having a good hair day. Twice a year, their undercoat will shed completely. During this time, you will need to brush your pup daily. Otherwise, you will have fur all over.
Adding baths during this time will help to remove the dead hair. The rest of the year their beautiful flowing double coat shed minimally. Weekly brushing to remove all tangles and matts. Bathing during these times can be minimal.
Never clip your pup’s coat too far, this will damage your pup’s natural insulation. As with all dogs, keep your pup’s eyes and ears clean. Keep their nails clipped and brush their teeth several times a week.
Exercise
German Spitz require around 45 minutes of activity per day. Long leisurely walks, playing in a park or a fenced in yard are all activities your pup will love. If you are leaving your pup outside in a fenced in area, make sure there are no holes.
A huge fan of adventure, German Spitz can slip through spaces you might not think possible. When you are not engaged in activities with your pup make sure to have plenty of toys around, so your pup feels like there is something to do.
German Spitz tend to bark when they are bored.
Nutrition
On average your German Spitz will eat around 2 cups of food per day. Your dog’s specific food requirements will depend on age and activity level.
Monitor your dog’s weight to make sure it is maintaining the appropriate mass.
Excessive weight gain especially with small dogs can gravely affect their health. Small dogs should be eating kibble appropriate for their mouth size. All that said, make sure to be using top dog food for your dog.
Training
As with all pups, early socialization with humans and other animals is tantamount to your pup’s success. While German Spitz are eager to please and very intelligent, they can also be quite stubborn and willful.
Starting your training with you pup early will help set necessary boundaries. Always keep training sessions interesting and fun with lots of rewards and positive feedback.
Proper training is essential to ensuring the safety of your dog and those around you. Having your dog come when they should, and in general having them listen is something you want to address early in your pups life, as it will pay dividends down the line. There are many tried and true training programs to accomplish this training – faster and better than you might think!
Unless you’re living on a farm, or have the space, a yipping dog, or one that barks all day when you are gone could be an issue with the neighbors and/or landlord. Historically, dogs would bark to communicate with the rest of the pack when hunting and bark as a warning shot to predators eyeing up their flock. Barking is deep rooted in dogs and manifests itself in many ways and for a variety of reasons.
Just like any habit or instinct, there are effective ways you can train this issue away.
Supplements
A solid Glucosamine Supplement for hips and joints will go a long way to helping your furry friend.
Other helpful supplements include full-spectrum hemp oil or CBD oil. Fish oil skin and coat supplement.
Ensuring a comprehensive preventative vitamin and mineral plan is essential to keeping your dog healthy. Truth is, there are vitamins and minerals that your dog needs, but doesn’t produce naturally. While many of these vitamins and minerals can be found in your dog’s current diet and dog food, the question becomes, are there enough vitamins to ensure they aren’t deficient.
Poor nutrition can lead to some of the most common health issues, such as weak joints, compromised immunity, increased allergies, and low energy.
Vitamins play a vital role in your pet’s health and overall life expectancy. Here are some multivitamin and joint relief options.
As regulations around marijuana have eased, the emergence of CBD oils for humans and dogs have sprung up.
Just to begin to dispel the negative stigma, CBD extract comes from Hemp, marijuana’s cousin. Unlike its cousin, there are no psychoactive qualities in CBD oil. An emerging number of clinical and institutional studies have shown the wide variety of healing qualities in CBD, including pain management, and the containment of seizures and epileptic episodes.
Explore this remedy further to see all the health benefits that have transformed the lives of so many dogs to date.
The Good
Good with children
Good with other animals
Minimal activity requirements
The "Ruff"
Tend to bark when bored
Will seek out mischief if left alone too long