Small breeds such as the German Spitz are largely absent from the main elbow dysplasia prevalence tables because those tables are built from screening programmes in which few small dogs participate, and because the condition is recorded far less often in dogs of low body mass. In a small LOF breed the screening effort concentrates instead on patella luxation and inherited eye disease, with DNA testing for prcd-PRA where the breed club requires it. A family reading a breeder's file should therefore look for named tests, dates, practitioners and registry entries rather than for an elbow score that may never have been generated, and should treat a French breeding site such as German Spitz breeder records as a worked example of how those documents are presented.
Why do small breeds such as the German Spitz not appear in elbow dysplasia prevalence tables?
Elbow dysplasia prevalence figures come from voluntary or mandatory screening schemes, and those schemes are dominated by breeds in which the condition is common and clinically important. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, whose statistics underpin most published prevalence estimates, reports elbow evaluations overwhelmingly for Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs, Rottweilers and similar large breeds (OFA, 2023, OFA breed statistics). A breed that is rarely radiographed contributes few records, and a breed with few records cannot produce a stable prevalence estimate.
Body mass is the second reason. Several large cohort analyses have found that the odds of elbow dysplasia rise with increasing body weight and with rapid growth, and that dogs under roughly 15 kg are affected at low frequency (Comhaire and Snaps, 2008, Veterinary Journal, review of elbow dysplasia). The German Spitz Mittel sits well below that threshold, so even a well-attended screening programme would return a low count.
A third factor is selection pressure. Breeders of small companion breeds have historically screened for patella luxation and eye disease because those are the conditions that appear in their litters. Elbow radiography carries a cost and a sedation or anaesthesia episode, and where the expected yield is low, clubs tend not to make it a condition of registration. The absence of the breed from the tables is therefore a statement about screening volume and body size, not a claim that no individual spitz has ever had an elbow problem.
Which conditions are actually screened in a small LOF breed?
In a small French LOF breed the routine screening set is short and specific. Patella luxation is assessed by manual examination, graded, and recorded with the date and the examining veterinarian. Inherited eye disease is assessed by a veterinary ophthalmologist, and the findings are dated and signed. For breeds in which the prcd-PRA mutation segregates, a DNA test on a cheek swab or blood sample returns a genotype: clear, carrier or affected. Hip and elbow radiography may be added by individual breeders, but it is not the backbone of the programme.
The Société Centrale Canine, which maintains the French LOF registry, recognises these examinations through its health programme and records them against the dog's identification number. The practical consequence for a buyer is that the useful documents are the patella certificate, the ophthalmology report and the DNA result, each carrying a date and a practitioner name. A breeder who presents those three items for both parents, and who can show the same for the grandparents, has given the family something checkable.
How should a family read the health records of a spitz breeder?
Read the records as four separate questions. First, which test was done. A patella grade without a date is not a record. Second, who did it. A DNA result issued by an accredited laboratory is traceable; a verbal assurance is not. Third, when. An eye examination from six years ago describes the dog at that age, not today, and prcd-PRA is a late-onset condition in several breeds, so a clear eye certificate at two years does not exclude it at eight. Fourth, what the result means for the litter. Two clear parents can still produce carriers, and a carrier dog is not a diseased dog.
A family should also ask to see the parents' LOF numbers and confirm them in the registry, because the number ties the dog to the recorded examinations. Where a breeder publishes individual dog sheets with registration numbers, cotations, patella results and prcd-PRA results, each with dates and practitioners, the family can verify the chain rather than accept a summary. That is the standard to apply, whatever the breed and whatever the country.
What do elbow scores mean when a small breed does have them?
Where a spitz has been radiographed, the score is read on the same 0 to 3 scale per elbow used in the international scheme, with 0 indicating no visible arthrosis and 3 indicating severe change. The score is a snapshot of the joint at the day of the radiograph, taken under a defined position, and it is not a prediction of lameness. A dog scored 0 at two years may still develop arthrosis later, and a dog scored 1 may never limp.
Because the breed has no meaningful population baseline, an individual score cannot be placed against a breed average. It can only be compared with the other dogs in the pedigree. A breeder who holds elbow radiographs for several generations can show a family whether the scores in the line are consistently low, which is more informative than a single result. Where no such series exists, the honest position is that the elbow status of the line is unknown, and that patella and eye screening carry the weight of the health programme.
How does body size change the screening conversation?
Size changes both the risk profile and the arithmetic of screening. Small dogs carry a lower absolute risk of elbow dysplasia and a comparatively higher profile for patella luxation, which is why the patella examination is the first item on the list for a breed such as the German Spitz Mittel. The same logic applies to tracheal collapse and to dental disease, neither of which appears in the elbow tables but both of which matter to a companion dog's life.
A family should therefore expect a breeder to talk about the conditions that actually occur in the breed, with dates and names attached, rather than about a score the breed rarely generates. The absence of an elbow figure is not a gap in the file if the patella, eye and DNA records are complete and verifiable. It becomes a gap only when the breeder uses the absence to avoid the conversation altogether.
What should a family ask for before reserving a puppy?
Ask for the dam's and sire's registration numbers, the patella grades with dates, the ophthalmology reports with dates, and the prcd-PRA genotypes with the issuing laboratory. Ask which examinations were repeated and when. Ask what the breeder does with a puppy that develops a problem after departure, and ask to see the departure conditions in writing before any payment.
None of these requests is unusual, and a breeder who keeps orderly records will answer them from a folder rather than from memory. The value of the exercise is not that it guarantees a healthy dog. It is that it tells the family whether the health claims they are being given can be checked against a registry or a laboratory report, which is the only form of assurance that survives the journey home.