History and Origins
The German Spitz breed descends directly from the Nordic herding dogs, like the Samoyed, which were taken to Germany and Holland by the Vikings during the Middle Ages. These dogs then spread throughout Europe and were crossed with other herding/shepherd breeds, making the foundation of the Spitz type. By the 1700s, the Spitz became the fashion of British society and were bred smaller in Victorian times to produce the toy Pomeranian. The present-day German Spitz has two sizes in the UK and breeding between sizes is forbidden by the Kennel Club. However, German Spitz Klein will occasionally pop up in Mittel litters and vice versa because of the mixed ancestry.
