American Eskimo Dog

Lively with family, quick to raise the alarm at others.
An American Eskimo Dog
Photo: Christmas w/a K
Adult weight
2.7–16 kg
6–35 lb
Lifespan
12–14 yrs
Class · Companion
also Family

What it's like

True to its watchdog ancestry, the breed is alert and quick to raise the alarm, and it tends to be reserved with strangers. With its own household it is friendly, lively and eager to please, and it learns quickly, a trait that suited it to the circus ring.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Keen to work with you
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Size and growth

An American Eskimo Dog is a small dog, about the weight of a grown Pug.

It is a compact, Nordic-type spitz, shown in toy, miniature and standard sizes. The colour is white, or white with biscuit cream, set off by a dark nose, lips and eye rims. A double coat forms a lion-like ruff around the neck and chest, heavier in males, and the plumed tail is carried over the back. The head is wedge-shaped, with erect triangular ears.

Varieties

AKC divides this breed by height at the withers. Pick the variety your dog is for a band that fits.
Variety
Weight
Height
Toy
2.7–4.5 kg (breed club figure)6
22.9–30.5 cm (breed club figure)6
Miniature
4.5–9.1 kg (breed club figure)7
30.5–38.1 cm (breed club figure)7
Standard
11–16 kg (breed club figure)8
38.1–48.3 cm (breed club figure)8

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male American Eskimo Dog puppy is already as heavy as a grown Jack Russell. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight10
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
051015202m4m6m9m12m18m
051015202m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
0.7–4.0 kg 1.5–8.8 lb
0.8–4.5 kg 1.8–9.9 lb
3 months
0.9–5.5 kg 2.0–12.1 lb
1.0–5.8 kg 2.2–12.8 lb
4 months
1.3–7.7 kg 2.9–17.0 lb
1.3–7.8 kg 2.9–17.2 lb
5 months
1.6–9.6 kg 3.5–21.2 lb
1.6–9.4 kg 3.5–20.7 lb
6 months
1.9–11.1 kg 4.2–24.5 lb
1.8–10.7 kg 4.0–23.6 lb
7 months
2.1–12.2 kg 4.6–26.9 lb
2.0–11.7 kg 4.4–25.8 lb
8 months
2.2–13.0 kg 4.9–28.7 lb
2.1–12.5 kg 4.6–27.6 lb
9 months
2.3–13.7 kg 5.1–30.2 lb
2.2–13.1 kg 4.9–28.9 lb
10 months
2.4–14.1 kg 5.3–31.1 lb
2.3–13.6 kg 5.1–30.0 lb
11 months
2.5–14.5 kg 5.5–32.0 lb
2.4–14.0 kg 5.3–30.9 lb
12 months
2.5–14.8 kg 5.5–32.6 lb
2.4–14.4 kg 5.3–31.7 lb
15 months
2.6–15.4 kg 5.7–34.0 lb
2.6–15.2 kg 5.7–33.5 lb
18 months
2.7–16 kg 6–35 lb
2.7–15.7 kg 6.0–34.6 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long American Eskimo Dogs live yet. The 12–14 years shown is a reference range, not a measured one.

Where it comes from

The American Eskimo Dog descends from the German Spitz, a German farm dog that kept predators, animal and human, off its territory and came to the United States with German settlers. According to its parent club, anti-German feeling led the United Kennel Club to rename it in the mid-1920s, first American Spitz and then American Eskimo, after the Halls' American Eskimo Kennels; the breed has no traceable link to Arctic peoples12,13.

The American Eskimo Dog is thought to owe much of its spread across the United States to the travelling circuses of the early twentieth century. Troupes prized the white spitz for its looks, agility and aptitude for tricks, and one dog, Stout's Pal Pierre, is often said to have walked a tightrope. Puppies were reportedly sold to spectators after performances, and many later dogs are said to trace back to circus lines. The United Kennel Club kept the breed's records for decades; the American Kennel Club recognised it only in the mid-nineteen-nineties.

Breed standard

One registry divides it into three varieties by height, each with its own weight range.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured American Eskimo Dog figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a small breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Japanese Spitz
Spitz & primitive · Small
Samoyed
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Shiba Inu
Spitz & primitive · Small
Pomsky
Non-sporting · Small
Or compare the American Eskimo Dog with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·