The Japanese Spitz is a small, completely white, breed of dog that is thought to have been bred from the German Spitz for smallness beginning in the late 19th century in Japan. They were introduced to the United States in the 1950s. It is very similar to the American Eskimo Dog, and German Spitz, in size, overall appearance, and temperament.
History
In the late 19th century, Japanese cynologists cross-bred various dog breeds for a small dog breed with pure white coat. These breeds include the German Spitz, Siberian Samoyed, Russian Spitz, and American Eskimo. It was believed that these various dog breeds from different countries were introduced to Japan through Siberia and Manchuria. The end result was the Japanese Spitz. The breed was first exhibited in a dog show in Tokyo in 1921. Subsequently, a unified breed standard was established by the Japan Kennel Club in 1948. It gained much popularity in Japan in the 1950s, and was introduced to Europe and North America around the same period of time.
An adult Japanese Spitz typically weighs 5 to 10 kg, and stands at 32 to 38 cm off of the ground at the withers. Their coats are divided into 2 layers. The outer layer consists of long straight hair standing off from the body, used for insulating against fluctuating temperatures. The under layer consists of short, soft and dense fur that is always a pure white color. The tail is covered with long hair and is carried curled over the back. The coat is short on the bottom half of the legs and has feathering on the forelegs. The dryness of their coat makes it virtually free of odor. The ears are small and pointed upright, and the muzzle tapers slightly. The large oval eyes are dark and slightly slanted, and the nose and lips are black. The face of the Japanese Spitz is wedge-shaped.
why those ears are not pointed and upright in this photo?
ReplyDeleteHey, can you answer this?
ReplyDeletePeople say that my dog, Snow, is a Japanese Spitz.
But she clearly looks like a German Spitz to me.
She is currently 4 months old but she does not look fluffy. Is this normal?
Oh, and one more question, How do you differentiate German Spitz and Japanese Spitz?
Please answer the question about the ears. I've been looking for a purebred Japanese Spitz, but every dog that was offered do not have pointed and upright ears and do not have fluffy coat and looks like the fur is dirty as opposed to the purebred which have a silky coat. The coat is compared to Teflon in which dirt and dust do not stick to the coat.
ReplyDelete@ms elena,.
ReplyDeleteiam no expert but i've been researching and i discovered that puppies usually don't have the upright pointing ears but as they grow up,. they'll eventually develop it,. :)