German Spitz
History
In Europe, spitz-type dogs were associated with the hunter
gatherers of the first stone age, going back some 6000
years, but if we want to look for the origin specifically
of the German spitz, we turn to it's immediate forebear,
the Turfspitz (canis familiaris palustris). In the Northern
German plain which stretched from the Rhine to vistula
in the east and covering most of Denmark, was a very swampy
area. People living in this area had to build their houses
on stilts above the swamps and were buried in,what today
has turned into peat-bogs. The remains of people and their
dogs have been excavated from these peat-bogs and the dogs
are believed to be the forerunners of the Wolfspitz.They
were all in a remarkable state of preservation. There is
evidence that people living from Bodensee, in Germany,
to L.Ladoga(east of Leningrad) kept these dogs and , because
house-dogs and herders were of the greatest use to non-nomadic
people, it is believed that they set out to deliberately
breed out the hunting instinct that characterises dogs
of nomads. Any one owning a spitz could argue that they
were only partially successful unless compared to the likes
of the Beagle or Afghan breeds.
It is also believed that dogs with whitest coats were preferred
and were probably the first to be bred from as their colour
enabled the owners to distinguish their dogs from marauding
wolves which scavenged for food around the villages after
dark. The colour preventing them from being killed by the
villagers.
Prior to 1871 Germany did not exist in its present form,
but consisted of small kingdoms, princedoms and dukedoms,
whose boundaries, especially the further east they travelled,
were constantly changing. It is not suprising to find that
different countries developed different spitz to suit their
own needs. All of them came under the general name of 'Mistbeller',
a word which sounds charming to an english ear but which
actually translates to 'dung-hill barker'. They were invariably
dogs which would stand on top of the dung heap and bark.
Not many people have the dung heap but most can boast the
'beller' part of the name.
Goods were often transported via wagons and most coachmen
had a 'coachman's'spitz which would run alongside of the
wagon or ride on the horses back and would warn of strangers
when parked up for the night.There are also many other
types of spitz which popped up all over the various european
landmass. They all varied in colours/heights but were all
used to watch over various buildings or boats/areas of
importance.A good example is the Keeshond used very successfully
on the barges in Holland.
In England the breed became popular in the 18th Century.When
Queen Anne died in 1714, the great grandson of James 1
came to the throne. he was of course the elector of Hannover,
better known as George 1. his wife was German and his descendents
also married german aristocrats bringing german visitors
to the english court to visit. They brought with them the
forerunners of today's German spitz which became very fashionable
and were know as 'Pomeranians' as they were believed to
origionate from a place called Pommern. They did not resemble
the breed known as a pomeranian today however as they were
much larger in size. Queen Victoria was later to be a devotee
to this breed too.She was known to have imported 'kleinspitze'
between 3lb and 7lbs in weight.
The decline of the breed in the UK is believed to have
begun due to the First world war and along with many other
German breeds went rapidly out of favour in the wave of
patriotism which swept the country at this time.
The re-emergence of the breed
The first German spitz ,as we know them today in the UK,
was imported by Mrs. Averil Cawthera (Lireva) who was wanting
to re-introduce the white Pomeranian (not the German spitz).
She imported many white Poms from Holland including Tum-Tum
van het Vlinderhof of Lireva (Tum-Tum) in 1975 followed
by Venestien's Mauricia of Lireva (Velvet) in 1976. This
was followed by Rosemary Bridman importing April Folly
at Tordown in 1977. She was an oversized Pom which Rosemary
hoped to gain KC acceptance for as a larger size in Poms.Rosemary
later in 1977 gained Tum-Tum and Velvet from Averil who
had bred her white Poms. In 1979 Julie Smith and Janet
Edmonds( now known as J. Al-haddad) along with Rosemary,
imported a Dutch bred bitch - Tefanra-Leona's Lady Xabrina
(Minty). She was registered under the Joint affix of Julie
and Jannat of 'Dovetrees'. She was the first to qualify
for Crufts in our breed in the UK in Any variety not separately
classified class at West and East Ladies kennel club championship
show (WELKS). In 1981 Ms. J. Haddad went to Vienna and
brought back Prinz Schneeflocke von cottas (schani). He
was Austrian bred but of czech pedigree and registered
as German Kleinspitze in Austria.
In the meantime the three (Tum-Tum, Velvet, and Folly)
had been mated with the Pomeranian breeds in the UK and
also to each other, due to the KC registering them as Poms.This
caused major problems. It was decided to form a separate
club, after opposition to two sizes of Pomeranian by the
small Pomeranian breeders and a decision was taken to attempt
to get recognition for a breed separate from the pom called
the German Spitz.Despite revelations that some of the above
mentioned dogs had infact been registered in holland as
Dwerg Keeshonden which was infact Pomeranians when translated
and after lots of talks with the KC in the UK they agreed
that there would be two sizes of German spitz to be called
Klein (small) and Mittel (middle) and any progeny from
the 'First four dogs could be added to the German spitz
register. The puppies to be registered as German spitz
who had only one of the four in their breeding would be
put on a development register, whilst puppies with two
of the first four as their sire and dam would be registered
as full German spitz in one of the two sizes. The owner
to decide which size. Once registered there was to be no
inter-breeding of sizes and an agreement was required that
The newly formed German spitz club would agree to no colour/markings
barred.You now have our present day German spitz in two
sizes in the UK. They are gaining popularity due to their
happy diposition and the high placings reached in both
Crufts and championship shows around the country giving
them a higher profile in the media. We gained Challenge
Certificates (C.C.'s) in the breed in 1994 for the first
time and in 1999 the club show in November has it's first
set of CC's to give out.
Acknowledgement
for information in this page must be given to Ms. Jannat
Al-haddad who wrote 'The German Spitz' and
from which I sourced my information. The book (in English)
can be bought by contacting the Secretary of the UK German
Spitz Club, Mrs Val Dyer, at the following address:
Mrs. Val Dyer
Waterend cottage,
Hayes End,
Longney,
Gloucester,
GL2 6SW
England
|
