by Mysteryshoppingteacher

Created on: June 06, 2008   Last Updated: April 09, 2009

A brief history of Pomeranians

The Pomeranian originated from the sled dogs of Greenland and Lapland. In the past, Pomeranians were much larger than they are now. They averaged a weight of about 30 pounds. Breeders in Pomerania improved the coat and bred the dogs down into a smaller size, but they were still 20 pounds or more when they reached England.

Queen Charlotte was the first to introduce Pomeranians to the English noble class but her granddaughter Victoria helped to usher in their popularity. She returned from vacation in Florence, Italy with her Pomeranian named Marco. The dogs owned by both of these queens were much larger. They were German Spitz and Volpino Italiano. This is true of other Poms in history before the 19th century.

Today, most Pomeranians weigh between three and seven pounds. Show Pomeranians typically weigh between four and six pounds. There are Pomeranians known as Tiny or Teacup sized, but most breeders will not breed dogs down to this size because of the health risks to the dogs.

Poms in history

Michaelangelo had a Pomeranian who would sit and watch him paint the Sistine Chapel.
Queen Victoria had 2 Pommies.
Isaac Newton had a Pomeranian who once knocked over a candle on his important papers, which was more than 20 years of research.

Relatives
The pomeranian is in the family of the German Spitz. The German Spitz has three classifications which are: Dwarf (pomeranians), Small or Standard (American Eskimo Dog), and the Wolfspitz (Keeshond). Poms may also be related to the Samoyed. If you were to research the other relatives of the pomeranian, you would notice that they have some similar characteristics. The pomeranian is the smalles of the northern breeds.

Appearance:
The pomeranian has two coats. There is an undercoat and a top coat. The coat underneath is really thick and soft. The outside coat is almost coarse,straight, and almost wirey.Pomeranians shed their coats yearly. They can shed because of a change of season, after giving birth, or when they are stressed or nervous about something.

The head of the Pomeranian is triangular or wedge-shaped when viewed from above. They look kind of similar to foxes. They have small ears which are triangular shaped, or slightly rounded at the tips. The ears sit high on their head. The tail is bushy and lays flat on it's back, which is characteristic of the spitz family of dogs. When they are puppies, their tail is not bushy. It takes some time for the tail to fill in.

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