- Permissible: All colours and colour combinations with the exception of pure white, piebald
About the Eurasian
Origin: Germany
- Typical life span
- 12-14 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- Male
- 23-32 kg
- Female
- 18-26 kg
- Height
- Male
- 52-60 cm
- Female
- 48-56 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Spitz and primitive types
- Origin
- Germany
- Also called
- Eurasico
- Known hereditary risks
- 4 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Eurasian?
Medium-sized Spitz-type dog with balanced proportions and thick, plush double coat that comes in a variety of colors. Known for its calm, devoted nature and confident temperament.
Eurasian history and origins
Developed in Germany in the 1960s by Julius Wipfel by crossing Chow Chow, Wolfspitz (Keeshond), and Samoyed to create an ideal Spitz-type family companion dog. Recognized by the FCI.
Eurasian appearance and size
Males typically weigh 23-32 kg and stand 52-60 cm at the shoulder; females 18-26 kg and 48-56 cm.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Companion dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Self-assured, calm, even- tempered with high resistance against any provocation. Watchful and alert without being noisy. Very strongly developed link to his family. Relaxed towards strangers and not obtrusive. For the full development of these qualities, the Eurasian needs constant close domestic contact with his family and understanding, yet consistent training”
Quoted from FCI standard n°291. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Companion dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 4 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 4 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 4 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Eurasian
What you get with the Eurasian
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Companion dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Self-assured, calm, even- tempered with high resistance against any provocation”
What you are taking on
- 2 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints and breathing. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “the tail, the back of front legs (feathers) and hind legs (breeches) are covered with…”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; United States Eurasier Club — Health. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Eurasian
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
All over the body thick undercoat and medium long, straight, loosely lying guard hair
short coat on muzzle, face, ears and front of the limbs
the tail, the back of front legs (feathers) and hind legs (breeches) are covered with longer guard hair on neck only moderately longer than on body, not forming a mane
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°291 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Eurasian down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- Lack of pigmentation.
- Strongly domed forehead, strongly domed skull.
- Straight hindquarters.
- Very weak carpal joints.
- Sway back and carp back.
- Absence of three or four P2.
- Absence of one or more P1 and at the same time absence of two or more P2.
- Tail visibly open and not lying over back.
- Short tail.
- Lack of sexual dimorphism
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Absence of a single or several incisors or canines.
- Absence of a single or several premolars 3 or 4.
- Absence of a single or several molars 1 or 2.
- Anomalies in the bite.
- Ectropion, entropion, eyes set too deep or eyes too small.
- Semi-pricked ears, pendulous ears.
- Kinked tail.
- Tarsal joints knuckling over.
- Pied colouring.
- Pure white
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Eurasian in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Eurasian
Known hereditary risks for the Eurasian breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
4 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Bones & joints
Hip and elbow dysplasia
Serious
Malformation of the hip and/or elbow joints causing pain, lameness and early arthritis; less common in this breed than in many others, but still real.
What to ask for
OFA (or PennHIP) hip evaluation and OFA elbow evaluation, on both parents, under the breed's CHIC programme (participating since November 2022)
Patellar luxation
Monitor
The kneecap slips out of its groove, causing an intermittent skipping gait; per the US breed club's own 2020 figures this is the most common of the skeletal conditions reported in the breed, at 7.6% of dogs evaluated.
What to ask for
OFA patella evaluation, on both parents, from one year old
Breathing
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)
Serious
A defect in the tiny hairs (cilia) that clear the airways, causing recurrent respiratory infections from puppyhood and, in some cases, infertility.
What to ask for
A DNA test became available in 2025 once a causal gene variant was identified in this breed specifically, but the testing laboratory's own note is that some Eurasiers with clinical signs test negative — meaning other, still-undiscovered variants likely also cause it in this breed, so a clear DNA result does not fully rule PCD out. Ask whether a puppy or its littermates have had recurrent chest infections.
Immune system
Autoimmune thyroiditis
Monitor
The immune system attacks the thyroid gland; the US breed club's own figures make this the single most commonly reported condition in the breed (14.4% abnormal, a further 15.6% borderline), though it is manageable with lifelong medication once caught.
What to ask for
Full thyroid panel including TgAA from an OFA-partnered laboratory, on both parents, within one year of breeding
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Eurasian owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Eurasian breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.