German Spitz Club of America History

For those who want to know some of our accomplishments – goals – challenges, here is a quick summary:

The White Spitz Association, originally formed in August 2020, was officially organized in December 2020. By March 2021, it had become apparent that the association should represent all sizes and colors of the German Spitz, already recognized under the AKC Foundation Stock Service (“FSS”). Accordingly, the association changed its name to the German Spitz Club of America and sought registration of our imports by AKC as German Spitz. This was readily accomplished through the AKC FSS for the imports.

German Spitz Club of America, Inc is now the official AKC-recognized parent club for the German Spitz! The club was established to encourage members and German Spitz owners to become more active with breeding, showing, and promoting the German Spitz. Bylaws for AKC were revised, and an updated standard based on the FCI standard was submitted to AKC along with a marketing brochure and information on the German Spitz Club of America. Copies can be downloaded from this website

​Members continue to get dogs into the conformation and performance show rings, and we are working to increase membership and registrations. The German Spitz Club of America has now hosted two matches, twelve all breed FSS open shows, two national shows, and has the 2025 annual show and FSS Open Shows in Louisville, Kentucky March 15, 2025! The German Spitz Club of America has a very active agility group that has now hosted multiple agility events, including seminars and matches.

OUR MOST EXCITING NEWS FOR 2024 IS THAT THE GERMAN SPITZ MOVED TO
AKC MISCELLANEOUS STATUS AS OF JUNE 26, 2024!
​We are now working to apply for full recognition by end of 2025-early 2026!

We can help with finding reputable breeders in the US and in Europe, for importation into the US, and registration with AKC.

Membership

The GSCA membership has expanded to 101 households, 114 US members, in all AKC regions except Hawaii and Puerto Rico. We work very hard to bring in new members and new exhibitors. All of the most recent certificates of merit have been earned by first time exhibitors, many of whom said they would never show and now are enthusiastic exhibitors in conformation and performance. Due to the current restrictions on importing puppies from Europe, the GSCA has been unable to meet demand for puppies, although more litters are now being produced as dogs are reaching the age to be health tested and bred. We have active exhibitors and breeders of all three sizes: small, medium and large. New puppy owners are found from the east to the west coasts.

Judges Education

The GSCA has held four Judges’ Education seminars, three of which have been since approval of the GSCA as the parent club, as well as numerous AKC Meet the Breeds and GSCA Meet the German Spitz booths at AKC shows, including at the National Show in Orlando. We have routinely been approached by spectators and judges at AKC shows and asked to meet and examine the German Spitz who are showing. We are always pleased to let them see and handle the dogs and demonstrate and explain the important aspects of the dogs (type, movement, colors, size, gait, and temperament).

The GSCA has developed an extensive power point presentation on the breed, which it uses for the Judges’ Education seminars.

Conformation and Performance Events

The GSCA has hosted AKC FSS Open Shows in GA (April 2023, May 2024), FL (December 2022, November 2023, November 2024), KY (March 2025), MA (October 2025), and is hosting four FSS Open Shows, including the annual show, April 2026 in Alabama.

The GSCA has hosted numerous AKC licensed agility trials, including trials in October 2023, May 2024, August/September 2024, January 2025 (2), June 2025, September 2025, and its most recent trials in October 2025, which had almost 2000 entries.

Titles

German Spitz owners are extremely active in conformation and performance sports, with most of the Certificate of Merit titles earned by first time exhibitors. At least two German Spitz have been invited to the AKC agility invitational in Orlando for the last few years. Many actively participate in sports such as FastCat, Rally, Obedience, Dock Diving, and Barn Hunt, as well as agility, and almost all members have dogs that have CGCs, trick dog titles, farm dog certifications, and other titles such as ATT. We have members with PAL German Spitz who are top ranked in dock diving and rally.

We have many members who were actively showing their dogs before learning about the GSCA, and many more active in sports that have earned titles that are not being considered. We are extremely proud of each of these members and their dogs, and feel that inclusion, not exclusion, is how to promote and grow the German Spitz in the US. This is also why we have a strong mentoring program and just recently contracted for conformation handling videos starring German Spitz and their owners, which we will post on the GSCA website, www.GermanSpitzClub.org. The website showcases the breed, provides information about the club, upcoming events, litter announcement and brags on club members and their dogs.

Litters and Registrations

The German Spitz has been enrolled in FSS since the 1990s. It has shown explosive growth in membership and involvement in AKC events since formation of the GSCA. As of May 1, 2025, 321 German Spitz had been registered. Since May 2025, at least five more litters have been registered by AKC (or are in processing). Additional litters are planned on the west coast, mid-west, and southeast.

How the dogs are exhibited in the show ring:

The German Spitz Club of America Inc. confirms that the German Spitz, which although registered as a single breed, actually has three size divisions (see attached copy of Breed Standard), should be judged in a manner which is most fair to the exhibitor and the dog, not biasing the evaluation of the dog by showing it in a manner that disadvantages either the exhibitor or the dog. This decision is incorporated into our Judges Education Materials (copy sent separately).

The standard provides: “Weight corresponds to size. Height at the withers: Large Spitz: 16-20 inches; Medium Spitz: 12 up to but not including 16 inches; Small Spitz: 8 up to but not including 12 inches.”

The large spitz, which weigh 30-50 lbs and are 16-20 inches at shoulder, are judged on the ground.

The small (10-12 lbs and 8 up to 12 inches) and medium spitz (13-to 25 lbs and 12 up to but not including 16 inches at the shoulder) are judged on the table.

We believe it is readily apparent to the judge how a dog is to be judged, but suggest leaving it to the discretion of the exhibitor if there is any question. We have found the judges prefer having the small dogs on the table and recognize that the large dogs on a table would make perspective more difficult. The differences in presentation has worked well at the shows where small, medium and large sizes are presented together, with the judge typically moving the smaller dogs to the end of the group when they are gaited together.

*Please note that the literature relating to the German Spitz refers to the large as a grossspitz, the medium as a mittelspitz, and the small as a kleinspitz.