German Spitz breed standards compared

Each column is one club's published standard. An empty cell means the club says nothing on that point in our records.

Clubs compared: FCI, AKC, UKC, KC.

Conformation

Conformation
Form	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC
BiteScissors bite	Standard (“show a complete scissor bite with 42 teeth”)	Standard (“Scissors bite preferred”)	Standard (“teeth meeting in a scissors bite”)	Standard (“A perfect, regular and complete scissor bite”)
BiteLevel bite	Alternate (“Pincer bite is permissible”)	Alternate (“level bite permissible”)	No ruling	No ruling
BiteUndershot	No ruling	Disqualifying (“Disqualification - Overshot, undershot and wry bite”)	Disqualifying (“Disqualifications: Overshot or undershot bite”)	No ruling
BiteOvershot	No ruling	Disqualifying (“Disqualification - Overshot, undershot and wry bite”)	Disqualifying (“Disqualifications: Overshot or undershot bite”)	No ruling
BiteWry mouth	No ruling	Disqualifying (“Disqualification - Overshot, undershot and wry bite”)	No ruling	No ruling
DentitionFull dentition	Standard (“complete scissor bite with 42 teeth”)	Standard (“Complete dentition”)	Standard (“complete set of evenly spaced, white teeth”)	No ruling
DentitionMissing teeth	No ruling	Fault (“Missing teeth is a serious fault”)	No ruling	No ruling
Ear carriageErect (prick)	Standard (“they are always carried upright, stiff at the tips”)	Standard (“always carried upright, stiff at the tips”)	Standard (“the ears are perfectly erect”)	Standard (“Perfectly erect”)
Ear carriageSemi-erect	No ruling	Disqualifying (“Disqualification - Ears not fully erect”)	Disqualifying (“Disqualification: Semi-prick ears”)	No ruling
Ear setHigh	Standard (“The small ears are set high”)	Standard (“small ears are set high”)	Standard (“set rather high”)	Standard (“Small, triangular and set rather high”)
Eye shapeAlmond	Standard (“The eyes are of medium size, almond-shaped”)	Standard (“The eyes are of medium size, almond-shaped”)	No ruling	No ruling
Eye shapeOval	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“Medium sized, oval in shape”)	Standard (“Medium size, oval shaped and obliquely set”)
StopModerate	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“The stop is moderately defined”)	Standard (“Stop moderately defined”)
ToplineLevel	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“The topline is level”)	Standard (“Topline level”)
Tuck-upModerate	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“there is moderate tuck-up”)	Standard (“Moderate tuck-up”)
Tail setHigh	Standard (“The tail is set on high”)	Standard (“The tail is set on high”)	Standard (“The tail is high set”)	Standard (“High set, curled right up from root”)
Tail carriageCurled over the back	Standard (“It lies firmly over the back”)	Standard (“It lies firmly over the back”)	Standard (“lies curled over the back”)	Standard (“lying curled over back”)
Tail carriageDouble curl	Alternate (“A double curl at tip of tail is tolerated”)	Alternate (“A double curl at tip of tail is permissible but not preferred”)	No ruling	No ruling
FeetCat foot	Standard (“round and closed ... so called cat feet”)	Standard (“The forefeet are cat feet”)	Standard (“Small, rounded and cat-like”)	Standard (“Small, rounded, cat-like”)
Neck lengthMedium	Standard (“The medium length neck is set broadly”)	Standard (“The medium length neck is slightly arched”)	No ruling	No ruling
DewlapNone (clean throat)	Standard (“slightly arched without dewlap”)	Standard (“slightly arched without dewlap”)	No ruling	No ruling

Markings

Markings
Marking	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC
Spectacles	Standard (“round the eyes well defined <spectacles> shown as a delicately pencilled black line”)	Standard (“The eyes are well defined with a delicately penciled black line”)	No ruling	No ruling
Star	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	No ruling	No ruling
Socks	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	No ruling	No ruling
White tail tip	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	Alternate (“white spots on the chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are permissible”)	No ruling	No ruling
White markings	Disqualifying (“Definite white markings or spots in all non-white Spitz dogs.”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling

German Spitz colors and patterns

What each club's breed standard says about every German Spitz color and pattern. Point at a ruling to see the club's own wording.

Breed standards describe the German Spitz in Black, White, Gray, Blue, Lilac, Silver, Brown, Seal, Tan, Red, Orange, Gold, and Cream. Standard patterns: Solid, Tricolor, Parti-color, Sable, Agouti, and Tan point.

Coat: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
Black	Standard (“black”)	Standard (“Black”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Black”)	Standard (“black”)
White	Standard (“white”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“including pure white”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“white”)
Gray	Standard (“grey-shaded (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Gray”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“all colour varieties ... acceptable”)	Standard (“grey-shaded”)
Blue	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Blue”)	Disqualifying
Lilac	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Lilac”)	Disqualifying
Silver	Standard (“black-and-silver (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“black and silver”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“all colour varieties ... acceptable”)	Standard (“black-and-silver”)
Brown	Standard (“brown”)	Standard (“Brown”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Brown”)	Standard (“brown”)
Seal	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Seal”)	Disqualifying
Tan	Standard (“black-and-tan, brown-and-tan (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Black & Tan”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Black & Tan”)	Standard (“black and tan”)
Red	Disqualifying	Standard (“Red”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“all colour varieties ... acceptable”)	Disqualifying
Orange	Standard (“orange (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Orange”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Orange”)	Standard (“orange”)
Gold	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Gold”)	Disqualifying
Cream	Standard (“cream (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Cream”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Cream”)	Standard (“cream”)
Albino	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Disqualifying (“albinism”)	No ruling	Disqualifying
Patterns
Solid	Standard (“white, black, brown, orange”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“all colors”)	Standard (“Black”)	Standard (“white, black, brown, orange”)
Tricolor	Standard (“coats with patches ... black-and-tan (Medium, Miniature)”)	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)	Standard (“Black Tricolour”)	Standard (“the patches must be uniformly in one colour ... black-and-tan”)
Parti-color	Standard (“coats with patches (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Parti-Color”)	Standard (“parti-colors”)	Standard (“Black & White Particolour”)	Standard (“parti-colour”)
Sable	Standard (“orange-sable, cream-sable (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Sable”)	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)	Standard (“Sable”)	Standard (“cream-sable, orange-sable”)
Agouti	No ruling	Standard (“Wolfgray”)	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)	Standard (“Wolf Sable”)	No ruling
Tan point	Standard (“black-and-tan, black-and-silver, brown-and-tan (Medium, Miniature)”)	Standard (“Black & Tan”)	Standard (“black and tans”)	Standard (“Black & Tan”)	Standard (“black and tan, black-and-silver, brown-and-tan”)
Merle	No ruling	Disqualifying (“merle”)	No ruling	Not recognized (“with the exception of merle, which is unacceptable”)	No ruling
Double merle	No ruling	Not recognized	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling

Eyes: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
Dark brown	Standard (“dark”)	Standard (“dark brown”)	Standard (“always dark in color”)	Standard (“always dark”)	Standard (“dark”)
Light brown	Fault (“too big and too light eyes”)	Standard (“the brown dog may have a lighter brown eye”)	No ruling	No ruling	Fault (“too big or too light eyes”)

Nose: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
Black	Standard (“pure black”)	Standard (“small and solid black”)	Standard (“black in black, white, black and white parti-colors and black and tan dogs”)	Standard (“nose black in black, white, black/white parti-colours”)	Standard (“pure black”)
Liver	Standard (“the nose of brown Spitz dogs is dark brown”)	Standard (“the nose of brown dogs is dark brown”)	Standard (“in other colors it matches the color of the coat”)	Standard (“in other self colours, nose compatible with coat colour”)	Standard (“the nose of brown Spitz dogs is dark brown”)
Pink	Fault (“flesh-coloured nose”)	Fault (“flesh colored noses are a serious fault”)	No ruling	Fault (“pink nose highly undesirable”)	Fault (“flesh-coloured nose”)
Patterns
Butterfly nose	No ruling	No ruling	Disqualifying (“butterfly nose”)	Fault (“parti-colour ... nose highly undesirable”)	No ruling

Giant

Coat: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC
Black	Standard (“black”)	Standard (“Black”)	Standard (“all colors”)
White	Standard (“white”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“including pure white”)
Gray	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Blue	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Lilac	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Silver	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Brown	Standard (“brown”)	Standard (“Brown”)	Standard (“all colors”)
Seal	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Tan	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Red	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Orange	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Gold	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Cream	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors”)
Albino	Disqualifying	Not recognized	Disqualifying (“albinism”)
Patterns
Solid	Standard (“white, black, brown”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“all colors”)
Tricolor	Disqualifying (“any colour not mentioned in section "Colours"”)	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)
Parti-color	Disqualifying (“any colour not mentioned in section "Colours"”)	Standard (“parti-color of black, brown and sable”)	Standard (“parti-colors”)
Sable	Disqualifying (“any colour not mentioned in section "Colours"”)	Standard (“parti-color of black, brown and sable”)	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)
Agouti	No ruling	Not recognized	Standard (“all colors and markings are acceptable”)
Tan point	Disqualifying (“any colour not mentioned in section "Colours"”)	Not recognized	Standard (“black and tans”)
Merle	No ruling	Disqualifying (“merle”)	No ruling
Double merle	No ruling	Not recognized	No ruling

What the rulings mean

Standard: Described by the club's breed standard.
Fault: Named by the club's breed standard as a fault: the animal can be shown but is penalized.
Disqualifying: The club's breed standard disqualifies an animal of this color or pattern.
Not recognized: The club does not accept this color or pattern for the breed.

Color changes

How a German Spitz's colors can change over its life.

Blackchanges toRust
Coat · With body condition · can change back
Blackchanges toGray
Coat · Progressive
Blackchanges toBrown
Coat · In the sun · can change back
Whitechanges toRoan
Coat · With age · from 2 weeks
Tan pointchanges toSaddle
Coat · With age · from 6 to 156 weeks
Blackchanges toSnow nose
Nose · With the season · can change back
Blackchanges toPink
Nose · With the season · can change back

Sources

Each ruling comes from the club's published breed standard or color list.

Published standards

Back to the German Spitz guide Grooming styles for the German Spitz