What Makes A Pomeranian A Pomeranian

Have you ever wondered whether your Pomeranian could be a show dog? Well, here’s your chance. If you want to know what the American Kennel Club considers a good Pomeranian, read on. Get out the bathroom scale so you can find out how your dog measures up to the American Kennel Club standards for Pomeranian dogs. You could have a potential American Kennel Club champion on your hands.

The American Kennel Club establishes standards of the breeds it recognizes for several reasons. First, breed standards document what the breed is supposed to look and act like. Dogs bred for generations to look exactly the same are reliable dogs. If you get a Pomeranian puppy, you know you can count on your full-grown Pomeranian to weigh less than seven pounds. Without standards of the breed, Pomeranians could eventually weigh as much as bulldogs! Pomeranians are also known for their playful, intelligent personalities.
Setting standards for breeds encourages good breeding and helps weed out qualities that might be bad for the dog's health. Take, for instance, the size of the Pomeranian. The Pomeranian is fragile, and its weight should be restricted. Setting a standard for the Pomeranian's weight discourages breeders from breeding heavy dogs.

The standard of the Pomeranian breed is thorough and precise, covering every part of the dog from the nose, which must be dark, to the high, plumed tail, lying straight and flat against the back. The Pomeranian's face has small ears, dark eyes and short muzzles. Proportion is important when judging the standards of a Pomeranian. The height of the dog, from its elbows to its withers, should be roughly equal to the height dog from the ground to the elbows. The dog's shoulder blade and upper arm should also be roughly equal in length. The Pomeranian has a soft undercoat and a long, roughly textured outer coat, which settles in feathers on the backs of the legs and in a frill around the shoulders and chest. A dog can be disqualified from competition if it has a soft, flat, or open coat.

The Pomeranian coat can be virtually any color. All colors, patterns and color combinations are judged the same. The most often seen Pomeranian patterns include black and tan, brindle and parti-color. Black and tan Pomeranians have light patches above the eyes, on the muzzle, throat, chest, legs, feet, and under the tail. Brindle-coated Pomeranians have a gold or red base with black cross stripes. A parti-color Pomeranian is white but has patches of one or more other colors in its coat.

In specialty dog shows, Pomeranians are split into three different groups for judging, according to the color patterns of their coats. Red, orange and sable dogs make up one group, black and brown dogs make up another, and other variations are judged together in a third group.

The American Kennel Club also sets standards for a Pomeranian's temperament, so owners know what to expect from their dog's personality. Pomeranians should be confident, inquisitive, intelligent and pleasant, with a commanding presence. Pomeranian breed information is available to anyone who wants to breed Pomeranians or just wants to know more about the breed.

Rosie Allan has loved Pomeranians since childhood and has just finished a book about Pomeranian breeding. The Pomeranian standard requires that length of the dog's upper legs, for instance, should be approximately equal to the length of the dog's lower legs. The AKC makes Pomeranian information that spells out these breed standards available to virtually anyone, so all breeders can easily become familiar with them.