THE POMERANIAN 553 



of head and body, length of back, set-on, carriage, and size of ears 

 and tail, than to mere quantity of coat ; but its texture and character 

 are important, as a soft or silky coat, particularly if lying open, 

 without much promise of undercoat, is a bad fault, and spoils 

 many otherwise valuable specimens. Of course, with this, as with 

 all long-coated dogs, a great deal can be done by careful grooming, 

 for which a small dandy-brush, or a hair-brush with long, stiffish 

 bristles, are better than a comb. Brush the hair from the back 

 of the head straight down the back to the end of the tail, then 

 straight down each side, chest, legs, and feet, taking care that 

 no tangle, or matting, can be found in any part ; then lightly 

 brush the whole of the body coat upwards, the reverse way, when 

 the dog's natural tendency to shake itself after brushing will cause 

 the hair to lie in a natural manner. 



For any one wishing to take up Pomeranian breeding as a matter 

 of business, blacks, browns, and blues are the best to go in for. 

 The aim should be to get them as small as possible, while not 

 losing the characteristics of the breed. There is evidently room 

 for small whites, and great success will attend those who can 

 bring out dogs of that colour of from 4lb. to 5lb. weight. Such 

 would be beautiful little creatures, and much sought after, provided 

 they were well proportioned, and pocket editions of their larger 

 brethren. 



Pomeranians are going on well, and breeders need have no 

 fear about rinding willing purchasers at paying prices for as many 

 first-class specimens as they can produce. They must, however, 

 be of high quality, as the great demand of recent years has 

 brought forward a supply of second and third raters which will 

 not command high figures or reflect much credit on their breeders. 



In general build, and coat more especially, the Pomeranian 

 should somewhat resemble the rough-coated Collie, with the differ- 

 ence that the head, which should have a flat skull, should be 

 shorter, ears smaller and carried perfectly erect, and the tail curled 

 up from the root, tightly over the side, or lying flat on the back, 

 and of course very fully furnished with long, straight hair. He 

 should be a compact, cobby dog, well proportioned in build, with 

 a short back, standing on straight limbs, and possessing a profuse 

 coat of long, perfectly straight, glossy hair all over his body, forming 

 a mane and frill round his neck and chest of longer hair, with 

 fore legs feathered behind, and thighs heavily coated, but hind legs 

 not feathered below the knee joint. He should be bright and 

 intelligent in expression, exhibit much buoyancy and activity in 

 disposition, and should not exceed 25lb. in weight, smaller speci- 

 mens being much more valuable. At the larger shows Pomeranians 

 are generally classified as follow : not exceeding 81b. and over 81b. 

 in weight. 



