Standard AKC
Description

General Appearance

The Pomeranian is a compact, short-backed, active toy dog of Nordic descent. The double coat consists of a short dense undercoat with a profuse harsh-textured longer outer coat. The heavily plumed tail is one of the characteristics of the breed. It is set high and lies flat on the back. He is alert in character, exhibits intelligence in expression, is buoyant in deportment, and is inquisitive by nature. The Pomeranian is cocky, commanding, and animated as he gaits. He is sound in composition and action.

Head.

The head is in balance with the body. The muzzle is rather short, straight, fine, free of lippiness and never snipey. His expression is alert and may be referred to as fox-like. The skull is closed. The top of the skull is slightly rounded, but not domed. When viewed from the front and side, one sees small ears which are mounted high and carried erect. To form a wedge, visualize a line from the tip of the nose ascending through the center of the eyes and the tip of the ears. The eyes are dark, bright, medium in size and almondshaped. They are set well intothe skull on either side of a well-pronounced stop. The pigmentation is black on the nose and eye rims except self-colored in brown, beaver, and blue dogs. The teeth meet in a scissors bite. One tooth out of alignment is acceptable. Major Faults: Round, domed skull; undershot mouth; overshot mouth.

Body

Neck is set well into the shoulders with sufficient length to allow the head to be carried proud and high. Topline is level from withers to croup. Body is compact and well-ribbed. Chest - oval tapered extending to the point of elbows with a pronounced prosternum. Back - short-coupled, straight and strong. Loin - short with slight tuck-up. Croup is flat.

Forequarters:

The Pomeranian has sufficient layback of shoulders to carry the neck and head proud and high. The shoulders and legs are moderately muscled. The length of the shoulder blade and upper arm are equal. The forelegs are straight and parallel to each other. Height from elbows to withers approximately equals height from ground to elbow. The pasterns are straight and strong. The feet are well-arched, compact, and turn neither in nor out. He stands well up on his toes. Dewclaws may be removed. Major Faults: Down in pasterns.

Hindquarters: The angulation of the hindquarters balances that of the forequarters. The buttocks are well behind the set of the tail. The thighs are moderately muscled with stifles that are moderately bent and clearly defined. The hocks are perpendicular to the ground and the legs are straight and parallel to each other. The feet are wellarched, compact, and turn neither in nor out. He stands well up on his toes. Dewclaws, if any, on the hind legs may be removed. Major Faults: Cowhocks or lack of soundness in hind legs or stifles.

Hindquarters

Angulation balances that of the forequarters. Buttocks are well behind the set of the tail. Thighs - moderately muscled. Upper thigh and lower leg length are equal. Stifles - strong, moderately bent and clearly defined. Legs - when viewed from the rear straight and parallel to each other. Hocks when viewed from the side are perpendicular to the ground and strong. Feet same as forequarters. 

Gait:

The Pomeranian’s gait is smooth, free, balanced and vigorous. He has good reach in his forequarters and strong drive with his hindquarters. Each rear leg moves in line with the foreleg on the same side. To achieve balance, his legs converge slightly inward toward a center line beneath his body. The rear and front legs are thrown neither in nor out. The topline remains level, and his overall balance and outline are maintained.

Coat:

A Pomeranian is noted for his double coat. The undercoat is soft and dense. The outer coat is long, straight, glistening and harsh in texture. A thick undercoat will hold up and permit the guard hair to stand off from the Pomeranian’s body. The coat is abundant from the neck and fore part of shoulders and chest, forming a frill which extends over the shoulders and chest. The head and leg coat is tightly packed and shorter in length than that of the body. The forequarters are wellfeathered to the hock. The tail is profusely covered with long, harsh, spreading straight hair. Trimming for neatness and a clean outline is permissible. Major Faults: Soft, flat or open coat.

Color:

All colors, patterns, and variations there-of are allowed and must be judged on an equal basis. Patterns: Black and Tan—tan or rust sharply defined, appearing above each eye and on muzzle, throat, and forechest, on all legs and feet and below the tail. The richer the tan the more desirable; Brindle—the base color is gold, red, or orange-brindled with strong black cross stripes; Parti-color—is white with any other color distributed in patches with a white blaze preferred onthe head. Classifications: The Open Classes at specialty shows may be divided by color as follows: Open Red, Orange, Cream, and Sable; Open Black, Brown, and Blue; Open Any Other Color, Pattern, or Variation.

Temperament:

The Pomeranian is an extrovert, exhibiting great intelligence and a vivacious spirit, making him a great companion dog as well as a competitive show dog. Even though a toy dog, the Pomeranian must be subject to the same requirements of soundness and structure prescribed for all breeds, and any deviation from the ideal described in the standard should be penalized to the extent of the deviation. 

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FCI-Standard N° 97 (05.03.1998)

GERMAN SPITZ, INCLUDING KEESHOND AND POMERANIAN

(Deutscher Spitz, inklusive Keeshond und Pomeranian)

 

 TRANSLATION: C.Seidler / Version originale: (DE).  

ORIGIN: Germany.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICIAL STANDARD: 17.01.2013.

UTILIZATION: Watch and Companion Dog.

FCI-CLASSIFICATION: 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 Wolfsspitz 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 wedgeshape 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. In Miniature-and Toy (Pomeranian) Spitz the lack

of a few premolars is tolerated. Pincer-bite is per missible in all varieties of the German 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 sh

oulders, 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 with 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.

Underline and belly: 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 appearance: Straight, rather broad front.

Shoulder: The shoulder-blade is long and well laid back. The shoulder is well muscled and firmly connected to the brisket.

Upperarm: The upper arm, which is approximately the same length as the shoulder-blade, forms an angle of 90 degrees to the shoulder-blade.

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 for earm is well feathered.

Metacarpus (Pastern): The strong, medium length front pastern stands at an angle of 20 degrees from the vertical.

Frontfeet: The frontfeet 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 appearance: 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 (knee): The stifle joint is strong with only moderate angulation and is turned neither in nor out in movement.

Hock / hock joint: 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.