Japanese Spitz

About the Japanese Spitz

The Japanese Spitz was developed in Japan between the two world wars from white spitz dogs imported from several countries, and it was fixed as a companion rather than a worker. It arrived in Britain in the 1970s and has kept a reputation as one of the easiest of the small spitz breeds to live with.

The coat is pure white and stands off the body over a dense undercoat, with a full mane, a feathered tail carried over the back, and short hair on the face and the fronts of the legs. Dogs stand 34 to 37 cm. That coat sheds dirt remarkably well and needs brushing rather than trimming. A stud should have small triangular prick ears, a clean black nose and lips, and a confident, outgoing character.

A patella assessment and an eye examination are the two requests that carry most weight in this breed, and progressive retinal atrophy is among the things the eye examination looks for. Runny eyes and tear staining are common and worth asking about, since they can point to a lid or tear duct problem rather than to simple cosmetics. Ask about longevity in the family, and about any history of seizures or slipping kneecaps in previous litters.

Health & breeding

We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.