THE POMERANIAN 273 



has since been equalled in the case of the now fashionable 

 Pekinese. 



This tendency to advancement in public favour was con- 

 temporaneous with the formation of the Pomeranian Club of 

 England, which was founded in 1891, and through its fostering 

 care the Pomeranian has reached a height of popularity far in 

 advance of that attained by any other breed of toy dog. 

 One of the first acts of the club was to draw up a standard of 

 points as follows : 



Appearance The Pomeranian should be a compact, short coupled 

 dog, well knit in frame. He should exhibit great intelligence in his 

 expression, and activity and buoyancy in his deportment. Head and 

 Nose Should be foxy in outline or wedge-shaped, the skull being 

 slightly flat, large in proportion to the muzzle, which should finish 

 rather fine and free from lippiness. The teeth should be level, and 

 should on no account be undershot. The hair on the head and face 

 should be smooth and short-coated. The nose should be black in 

 white, orange and sable dogs ; but in other colours may be self, but 

 never parti-colour or white. Ears Should be small, not set too far 

 apart, nor too low down, but carried perfectly erect like those of a fox, 

 and, like the head, should be covered with short, soft hair. Eyes 

 Should be medium in size, not full, nor set too wide apart, bright and 

 dark in colour, showing great intelligence ; in white, shaded sable, or 

 orange dogs the rims round the eyes should be black. Neck and Body 

 The neck should be rather short, well set in. The back must be short 

 and the body compact, being well ribbed up and the barrel well rounded. 

 The chest must be fairly deep and not too wide, but in proportion to the 

 size of the dog. Legs The fore-legs must be well feathered, perfectly 

 straight, of medium length, and not such as would be termed " leggy " 

 or " low " on leg, but in due proportion in length and strength to a 

 well-balanced frame. Must be fine in bone and free in action. The 

 hind-legs and thighs must be well feathered, neither contracted nor 

 wide behind ; the feet small and compact in shape. Shoulders should 

 be clean, and well laid back. Tail The tail is one of the characteristics 

 of the breed, and should be turned over the back and carried flat and 

 straight, being profusely covered with long, harsh, spreading hair. 

 Coat There should be two coats, an undercoat and an overcoat ; the 

 one a soft fluffy undercoat, the other a long, perfectly straight coat, 

 harsh in texture, covering the whole of the body, being very abundant 

 round the neck and fore part of the shoulders and chest where it should 

 form a frill of profuse standing off straight hair, extending over the 

 shoulders. The hind-quarters should be clad with long hair or feather- 

 ing, from the top of the rump to the hock. Colour All whole colours 

 are admissible, but they should be free from white or shadings, and the 

 whites must be quite free from lemon or any other colour. A few 

 white hairs in any of the self colours shall not necessarily disqualify. 

 At present the whole coloured dogs are : White, black, brown (light 



