The breed's progenitors were German Spitz, but due to anti-German sentiment during the First World War, it was renamed "American Eskimo Dog."

In addition to serving as a watchdog and companion, the American Eskimo Dog also achieved a high degree of popularity in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s as a circus performer.

There are three size varieties of the American Eskimo Dog breed, the toy, the miniature and the standard.

[4] A dog named Stout's Pal Pierre was famous for walking a tightrope with the Barnum and Bailey Circus in the 1930s, and also contributing to their popularity, they sold puppies after the show.

Postwar contact with Japan led to importation into the United States of the Japanese Spitz, which may have been crossed into the breed at this time.