POMERANIAN

Miniature Spitz

A.K.A.: Victorian Pomeranian, Klein Spitz

Overview:

The German Spitz breeds descend directly from the Nordic herding dogs, like the Samoyed, which were probably taken to Germany and Holland by the Vikings during the Middle ages. These dogs then spread throughout Europe and were crossed with other herding and shepherd breeds, thus making the foundation of the Spitz type.The Spitz were gradually bred smaller and smaller until the toy breed of Pomeranian emerged. The larger sized Spitz died out apart from the odd large Pomeranian puppy cropping up in a litter. The present day German Spitz has two sizes in the UK and breeding between sizes is forbidden. However Kleins will occasionally pop up in Mittel litters and vice versa because of the mixed ancestry. Until 1994 the breed was classified by the Kennel Club as a Rare Breed.