38 Fun Facts About Pomeranian

The Pomeranian is named for Pomerania, a Baltic region now split between which two countries?

Poland and Germany. The region gave the dog its name but not its ancestors: the breed was bred down from the larger German Spitz, and Pomerania is credited only with shaping the early type.

The Pomeranian is a spitz, a dog type whose German name means what?

Pointed. Spitzhund is German for 'pointed dog', a name usually put down to the tapering muzzle that the whole family shares.

The Pomeranian's German name is Zwergspitz; what does 'Zwerg' mean?

Dwarf. In Germany the Pom is simply the tiniest variety of one breed, the German Spitz; the next two up are the Kleinspitz and Mittelspitz, the small and medium spitz.

The Pomeranian is the smallest spitz; which fellow spitz is among the largest?

Alaskan Malamute. It was bred for strength and stamina, yet the tiny Pom is a miniaturised descendant of the same northern stock.

German Spitz dogs, the Pomeranian's ancestors, were originally kept on farms for which roles?

Herding and guarding. Over the centuries some lines were bred ever smaller for the house, and by the time the dog was small enough for a lap its main job was simply company.

What kind of coat gives the Pomeranian its puffball outline?

A double coat. A soft, fluffy underlayer sits beneath long, straight, harsh outer hairs, which is why owners are told to brush the dog two or three times a week.

The long hair around a Pomeranian's neck and chest forms what well-known feature?

A ruff. America's breed standard uses that word and Britain's says 'frill': the hair grows especially thick around the neck, shoulders and chest, framing the head like an Elizabethan collar.

Before red and orange came into fashion, the earliest Pomeranians were usually which colour?

White. Black and brown dogs turned up now and then, but the red and orange coats now thought typical caught on only after Queen Victoria came home from Italy in 1888 with a small red Pom.

Breed standards say a Pomeranian's head should resemble that of which wild animal?

A fox. Britain's standard asks for a head 'foxy in outline', and in the eighteenth century the breed's larger forerunners were commonly known simply as fox dogs.

How does a Pomeranian carry its plumed tail?

Flat over its back. The standard wants the tail set high and lying straight along the spine, so that its long, spreading hair fans forward over the body.

In which Italian city did Queen Victoria fall for the small Pomeranian she took home in 1888?

Florence. The dog she brought back was far smaller than the Poms then usual in Britain, and once breeders began choosing only the smallest specimens to match it, the breed shrank fast.

Which breed belongs, like the Pomeranian, to the spitz family?

Akita. The big Japanese breed and the tiny Pom share the family's pricked ears and thick fur, which is why both are counted as spitz breeds.

Which English painter put a large Pomeranian beside the young couple in The Morning Walk of 1785?

Thomas Gainsborough. His dog is far bigger than a modern Pom, and he also painted a Pomeranian bitch and her puppy on their own, a picture now in the Tate.

Which coat colouring, linked to deafness and eye defects, does Britain's Kennel Club reject in Pomeranians?

Merle. The mottled pattern carries a risk of deafness and eye defects, worst in pups bred from two merle parents, and the British standard singles it out as unacceptable.

At which royal residence did Queen Victoria, owner of the Pomeranian Turi, die in 1901?

Osborne House. The Queen is reported to have asked for Turi, her favourite Pom, to be brought to her bed in her last hours at her seaside home on the Isle of Wight.

Which breed with a misleading name is really a German Spitz, a close cousin of the Pomeranian?

American Eskimo Dog. German immigrants brought their spitz farm dogs to the United States, where the breed took a new name and went on to star as a circus performer.

James Boswell's 1764 Grand Tour diary records a Frenchman's beloved Pom with what name?

Pomer. Boswell rode to Mannheim with the pair and was harder on the owner, a Lyons merchant he called 'a great lubberly dog with a head like a British tar'.

Thomas Pennant's 1769 A Tour in Scotland discusses the offspring of a Pomeranian and which animal, bred by a Londoner?

A wolf. Pennant reported the litter bred by a London animal merchant; a Pomeranian of his day was a sturdy 20 or 30 pounds, so the match was less far-fetched than it sounds now.

Which New York hotel hosted America's first Pomeranian specialty show, in 1911?

The Waldorf-Astoria. Queen Victoria's kennels had made the little dog the rage among the rich, and American high society took it up in the same style.

Two Pomeranians survived the Titanic; what breed was the third surviving dog?

Pekingese. The dog, Sun Yat Sen, left in lifeboat 3 with his owners, the Harpers; a French Bulldog, a Chow Chow and two Airedales were among the dogs that went down with the ship.

What did the Carpathia's crew first do about Elizabeth Rothschild's Pomeranian?

Refused to take the dog aboard. She had kept it hidden all night in lifeboat 6 and would not leave the boat without it, so the crew gave way.

What do vets advise walking a Pomeranian on, to protect its delicate windpipe?

A harness. The breed is prone to a collapsing trachea, in which the windpipe loses its tubular shape, so a harness moves the pull of the lead from the throat to the chest.

In 1988 Great Elms Prince Charming II became the first Pomeranian to win which top prize?

Best in Show at Westminster. The bright orange champion weighed only four and a half pounds, yet judge Michele Billings ranked him above every other group winner in the final.

Which grey spitz, once a rebel party's mascot, shares the Pomeranian's FCI breed standard?

The Keeshond. Its name is usually traced to 'Kees', the Dutch Patriot leader Cornelis de Gyselaer, whose dog became his party's emblem; when the party was crushed in 1787 the breed fell from fashion.

Which much larger breed is crossed with the Pomeranian to make a fashionable designer hybrid?

Siberian Husky. The result, the Pomsky, is not a recognised breed, so no standard fixes its looks: many pups pair a husky's markings with a Pom's fluffy coat, but nothing is guaranteed.

The name Pomerania comes from Slavic roots meaning what?

Along the sea. Dictionaries trace the name to the Slavic po morze, 'by the sea', taken from a tribe who lived on the Baltic shore; it reached English by way of medieval Latin.

The rings that hold a Pomeranian's windpipe open are made of what, which weakens in a collapsing trachea?

Cartilage. When the rings turn too flexible, the windpipe narrows or even closes as the dog breathes in, a problem that mostly strikes small breeds.

Why are Pomeranians especially prone to dental disease?

Crowded teeth in a small mouth. In so small a jaw the teeth overlap or grow in at odd angles and trap food, which builds into tartar, so daily brushing is the standard advice.

Alopecia X, seen in Pomeranians, long went by which nickname?

Black skin disease. As the hair thins over the trunk, the bare skin underneath often darkens; the cause is unknown, which is where the 'X' comes from.

Collapsed trachea, common in Pomeranians, produces what distinctive symptom?

A honking cough. Vets liken the sound to a goose's honk; it tends to flare up when the dog gets excited, which is why owners are told to keep an affected Pom calm.

Pomeranians are prone to luxating patellas; which joint does the condition affect?

The knee. The kneecap slips sideways out of place, so an affected dog may skip or hop for a few strides until it settles back where it belongs.

Which Pomeranian had 16 million Facebook likes and was marketed as 'the world's cutest dog'?

Boo. He died in his sleep in 2019 aged 12; his owners said he had shown heart trouble ever since his companion Buddy died, and believed his heart 'literally broke'.

Jiff the Pomeranian entered the 2015 Guinness World Records book as the fastest dog on what?

Two legs. Jiff was quickest over 10 metres on his hind legs and over 5 metres on his front paws, and he had already appeared in Katy Perry's Dark Horse video.

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, seen in young Pomeranians, starves which bone of blood?

Thigh bone. The ball at the top of the femur loses its blood supply and breaks down while the dog is still young; surgery to remove it lets most dogs get about normally again.

The Spitz family, including the Pomeranian, typically has small upright ears for what practical reason?

To reduce the risk of frostbite. Many spitz breeds were bred for life in Arctic climates, where small ears, like the family's other features, help keep a dog warm.

Kennel clubs say today's Pomeranians shine in the show ring, in dog sports and in which other role?

Therapy dog. The breed's bold, people-loving temperament suits visits to hospitals and nursing homes, the same showmanship that wins it attention in the ring.

In both the American and British kennel clubs, the Pomeranian is shown in which group?

Toy. Its larger German Spitz cousins compete in Britain's Utility Group, while the international FCI ignores size and files the Pom with the spitz and primitive types.

Where had the Titanic's three surviving dogs been kept, against the rules?

Cabins. Small enough to carry, the three were at hand when their owners made for the lifeboats; the bigger dogs in the kennels were let loose on deck, and none is known to have survived.