The Pomeranian

(Breed Standard)

Partha Sekhar Chatterjee

International All Breeds Dog Show Judge

General Appearance:

Compact, short coupled dog, well knit in frame. Exhibiting great intelligence in expression; activity and buoyancy in deportment. 

Characteristics:

They are sound, vivacious and dainty. 

Temperament:

They are extroverts, lively and intelligent.

Head and Skull:  

The head and nose are foxy in outline. The skull is slightly flat, large in proportion to muzzle which finishes finely and free from lippiness. The nose is black in white, orange and shaded sable dogs; brown in chocolate tipped sable dogs, but in other colours, may be ‘self-coloured’ but never parti-coloured or flesh. 

Eye:

They are medium size, slightly oval, not full, or set too wide apart; they are bright, dark and showing great intelligence. In white, orange, shaded sable and cream coloured the dogs, rims are black. 

Ears:

The ears are small, not set too wide apart, nor too low down, but carried perfectly erect. 

Mouth:

The mouth has strong jaws with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. 

Neck:

The neck is rather short and well set into the shoulders. 

Forequarters:

The forequarters have clean shoulders and well laid back. Legs are fine boned, perfectly, straight, of medium length in due proportion to the size of the dog. 

Body:

The body has a short back with compact body, well ribbed up, barrel and well rounded. The chest is fairly-deep, not too wide but in proportion to size of the dog. 

Hindquarters:

The bind quarters are fine boned, legs neither cow-hocked nor wide behind; with medium angulation. 

Feet:

The feet are small, compact and cat-like. 

Tail:

The tail is characteristic of the breed, high set, turned over the back and carried flat and straight. It is profusely covered with long, harsh, spreading hair. 

Gait/ Movement:

The gait/ movement is free moving, brisk and buoyant. 

Coat:

There is an under coat and an outer coat. The former is soft, fluffy, the latter long, perfectly straight, harsh in texture and covering the whole body. It is very abundant round the neck and fore part of shoulders and chest; forming a frill, extending over the shoulders. The forequarters are well feathered, thighs and hind legs well feathered to hocks. 

Colour:

All colours are permissible, bit free from black or white shadings. Whole colours are white, black, brown, light or dark, blue as possible. Beaver, cream dogs have black noses and black eyes rims. Whites must be quite free from lemon or any other colour. A few white hairs, in any of the self-coloured  dogs permissible but undesirable. Dogs (othr than white) with white or tan markings highly undesirable and not considered whole coloured specimens. In parti-coloured dogs, the colours are evenly distributed on the body in patches; a dog with white or tan feet or chest is not a parti-coloured dog. Shaded sables should be shaded throughout with three or more colours, the hair has to be as uniformly shaded as possible, with no patches of self-colour. In mixed classes, where whole coloured and parti-coloured Pomeranians compete together, the preference should, if in all other points they are equal, be given to the whole coloured specimens.

Size:

The ideal weight for dogs is 1.8-2 Kg (4-4 ½ lbs); bitches 2-2.5 Kg (4 ½- 5 ½ lbs). 

Faults:

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree. 

Note:

Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended in to the scrotum.

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