424 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



MRS. ROBINSON ("PERDITA") WITH A POMERANIAN 



FROM THE PAINTING BY T. GAINSBOROUGH, R.A., IN THE WALLACE COLLECTION. 



so little was the breed appreciated that a 

 well-known writer on dogs began an article 

 on the Pomeranian with the words " The 

 Pomeranian is admittedly one of the least 

 interesting dogs in existence, and conse- 

 quently his supporters are few and far 

 between." 



The founders of the Kennel Club held 

 their first dog show in 1870, and in that 

 year only three Pomeranians were exhibited. 

 For the next twenty years little or no per- 

 manent increase occurred in the numbers 

 of Pomeranians entered at the chief dog 

 show in England. The largest entry took 

 place in 1881, when there were fifteen; 



but in 1890 there was not a single 

 Pomeranian shown. From this time, 

 however, the numbers rapidly increased. 

 Commencing in 1891 with fourteen, in- 

 creasing in 1901 to sixty, it culminated in 

 1905 with the record number of one hundred 

 and twenty-five. Such a rapid advance 

 between the years 1890 and 1905 is un- 

 precedented in the history of dog shows, 

 although it is right to add that this 

 extraordinarily rapid rise into popularity 

 has since been equalled in the case of the. 

 now fashionable Pekinese Spaniel. 



This tendency to advancement in public 

 favour was contemporaneous with the 



