It should be first noted that the FCI views the German Spitz to be in the same family as the Pomeranian/Toy Spitz (the smallest) and the Keeshond/Wolfspitz (the largest), with three sizes of German Spitz in the middle (giant, medium, and miniature.) Therefore, the history of the German Spitz is intertwined with these two other breeds.
First references of the spitz can be found in 1450 when Count Eberhard Zu Sayn of Germanyremarked that the dog was a valiant defender of the home and fields. The province of Pomerania, a historical region on the south shores of the Baltic between modern-day Germany and Poland, was the home of many of the early members of this breed, hence the early name of Pomeranian.
What the small spitz lacks in bulk, they make up for in alertness and voice. Traders and fishermen took these dogs on their boats as alert watchdogs for their goods. On farms, the spitz’s acute hearing was used for early warnings of intruders. They would sit up on anything high and use their high-pitched alarm bark at the first sign of anything strange. In Germany, they are sometimes calledmistbeller,meaning dung-hill barkers.
Originally a peasant’s dog, the spitz gained popularity with the royalty and upper class of England. In the 18th century when George I took the throne, he and his German wife, naturally, had many German visitors to the court and they had brought their spitz dogs with them. Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and Queen Victoria have also devoted fans of the breed in their time.
The beginning of World War I saw a rapid decline in the breed and it wasn’t until 1975 after several Keeshonds were imported from Holland and bred to larger Pomeranians, that the breed made a comeback.
