TRAINING
German Spitz are easily trained, however they can be very stubborn creatures. To get the best out of your relationship, we recommend for you to attend obedience school with your German Spitz to learn some basic manners such as heel, sit and stay. If you start them off from the time of their final vaccination, your pup will have these commands embedded by the age of around 6 months. If you are like us, you may become addicted and may wish to stay on to train for some obedience related titles!
The best results are to train from a young age - we would always recommend Chris Geary (Baybark) for training advice (Victoria), but can give you some personalised advice based on your location and our local contacts.
- Even the most well-trained German Spitz will throw you a curve-ball at the least expected time!
EXERCISE
German Spitz do not require a great deal of exercise and they are quite happily amused in an apartment, house or a Garden, however for the mental health stimulation and continued socialisation of any dog, a short 20 minute walk is recommended each day.
We also recommended that dogs are taken to an off leash dog park from an early age at least once a week. This helps to maintain their social skills as these can be easily forgotten. Due to the stubborn nature of this breed, recalls (even with a titled dog) may not always work, and therefore we encourage owners to only ever use a fenced off dog park where the dog cannot run away.
If you are willing to take long walks, go for a run or a bike ride, a German Spitz will happily come with you. They might be classed as a 'non sporting dog' by the ANKC, but this does not stop them from participating in dog sports such as Endurance, Agility or Flyball! These dogs just want to be with you, so they will follow your lead and will enjoy anything you do together.
It is important that pups under 18 months of age are not over exercised (or encouraged to jump) as their bones are still developing and setting. Most dog clubs will have a rule that dogs must be over 18 months of age before participating in any dog sports.