German Spitz – Happy and Attentive Guard, Companion and Family Dog

The Spitz is one of the oldest German dog breeds even though its origins are not completely clear. However, there is evidence of spitz-type dogs living alongside humans 4,000 years ago. Due to their wide-spread use as guard dogs on farms and bourgeois households they were known to writers and artists. One German spitz who helped the breed became well known was in the tale of The Widow in Max and Moritz, a story compilation by Wilhelm Busch when the widow, Tibbets, wrongly punished her dog for her chicken disappearing when it was the boys who committed the crime. Spitzs have a reputation for being yappy. They are, indeed, happy to bark, however, whilst this is a desired trait for a guard dog, nowadays it’s something that not all neighbours will appreciate.

An innate mistrust combined with incorruptibility and loyalty are central to the German spitz character. They are predestined to be look outs, keeping a close eye on their territory and letting you know if there is anything suspicious happening. Everything they trust will be defended. If they’re not at their look-out stations, these dogs are very friendly and loyal, sometimes even possessive who are very close to their owners and thoroughly enjoy a good stroke. The German spitz is, generally child friendly.

With merry playfulness and an eagerness to learn German spitzs need to have something to do. They are happy as guard, companion and family dogs. With lots of positive reinforcement and loving consistency training them is easy and easy to master, even if you have little experience with dogs. To properly keep a German spitz, you have to be waterproof, these dogs love the outdoors in wind, rain or shine. They are perfect companions for joggers, riders and cyclists. They also love agility. Since they don’t have much of a hunting instinct on forays into nature they don’t tend to go off on their own and they will be easy to call back to you. In residences with lots of neighbours they are not the most suitable pets since they bark a lot. Similar to poodles, you can find Spitzs in different sizes from Pomeranians to Wolfspitzs. The most well-known type is the Mittelspitz with a shoulder height of 34–38 cm and a weight of up to 10 kg. Apart from their size there is nothing to differentiate the different types.

Surprisingly, the fluffy fur of the Spitz is not particularly hard to care for. Their coats repel dirt meaning occasional brushing is sufficient. On top of this, a German spitz is very clean and will keep themselves groomed. They are also generally healthy, robust dogs.