Our KC breed standard states
"Colour: All colour varieties and markings acceptable, with the exception of merle. Butterfly pigment not permitted with any colour.
Nose: Black in Black, White and Black/white parti-colours. Self colour as compatible with coat colour in other colour varieties. Never parti-colour or pink.
Eyes: Always dark with black rims in blacks, white, black/white parti-colours, black/tan bi-colours. As dark as compatible with coat colour in other colour varieties.
Mouth: Black lips in black, white, black/white parti-colours, black/tan bi-colours. Colour as compatible in other colour varieties."
However, its quite an eye-opener to see just how many different colours are listed for the breed(s).
See for yourself here. Its just a shame there aren't photos for so many of the weird and wonderful colours that are listed so we can see what they actually are.
Note: as of 2010 the KC are restricting which colours can be listed when registering dogs. Despite the breed having all colours allowed except merle, and the clubs providing lists of acceptable colours (shown below), there are still colours missing from the KC list.
There are also occasions where breeders have registered incorrect colours by either registering the puppy too early or just simply not knowing what the correct colour of their puppy is. In a breed that can change colour from its birth-colour, what you see at the beginning may not be the colour it ends up as an adult.
We have therefore made provision in our database for actual colours to be listed alongside the registered colour. This should assist breeders when researching colours in pedigrees.
German Spitz Colours
List of possible colours for German Spitz
White
Black
Brown
Orange
*Gold
Cream
Blue
Lilac
Sable
Wolf Sable
Brown Sable
Orange Sable
Gold Sable
Cream Sable
Blue Sable
Lilac Sable
Black & Tan
Brown & Tan
Blue & Tan
Lilac & Tan
Black & White Particolour
Brown & White Particolour
Orange & White Particolour
Gold & White Particolour
Cream & White Particolour
Blue & White Particolour
Lilac & White Particolour
Sable & White Particolour
Wolf Sable & White Particolour
Brown Sable & White Particolour
Orange Sable & White Particolour
Gold Sable & White Particolour
Cream Sable & White Particolour
Blue Sable & White Particolour
Lilac Sable & White Particolour
Black, Tan & White Particolour (Black Tricolour)
Brown, Tan & White Particolour (Brown Tricolour)
Blue, Tan & White Particolour (Blue Tricolour)
Lilac, Tan & White Particolour (Lilac Tricolour)
Black with white markings
Brown with white markings
Orange with white markings
Gold with white markings
Cream with white markings
Blue with white markings
Lilac with white markings
Sable with white markings
Wolf Sable with white markings
Brown Sable with white markings
Orange Sable with white markings
Gold Sable with white markings
Cream Sable with white markings
Blue Sable with white markings
Lilac Sable with white markings
Black & Tan with white markings
Brown & Tan with white markings
Blue & Tan with white markings
Lilac & Tan with white markings
There is also what has previously been referred to as "Shaded Black" or "Black sable" in the past that is now known as "Seal" in genetic colour terms so should also be added to the list of possibilities (along with it's brown, blue or lilac variations).
*Whilst Gold technically wouldn't be listed in its own right as a separate colour, it is often used to refer to the colour between orange and cream (which may be actually very light orange or very dark cream but isn't always easy to correctly identify in young puppies).
“With white markings” is a dog that has just some white on it e.g. toes, chest, etc as opposed to a parti colour that has a much larger proportion of white.
FCI countries are more strict on colour faults
These colours are classed as faults in German Spitz in Finland.
These are very serious faults and correct place prize is a T:
Chocolate Sable: orange or cream base colour, which may be in addition to chocolate brown the ends of the hair and chocolate brown pigment.
Chocolate and tan: Chocolate brown base colour with tan markings.
Blue and tan: blue base colour, with tan markings
Blue sable: orange or cream base colour with a possible addition to the blue the ends of the hair and the blue pigment
Blue and white parti colour
Blue
Brindle
ELIMINATING colour faults:
Merle
Solid-coloured dog with clear white patches
Useful links for colour research
Dog Coat Colour Genetics Website
Coat color and Genetics Facebook Group
Genetics of Coat Color and Type in Dogs Sheila Schmutz Website
