34 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Time was when the Pom was a sheep dog, protecting the flock He is a bright, vivacious dog, with the hardihood of many a 
from wolves. Today he has been fined down to a little fellow of larger breed. Quite truly has it been said that he is “the un- 
five or six pounds breakable toy of all dogs” 
THE BIGGEST-LITTLEST DOG. 
A Monograph on the Popular Pom, the 
Erstwhile Spitz Dog and Shepherd’s Ally 
A MONG all dogs the 
Pomeranian has the 
unique and paradoxical dis¬ 
tinction of being the big- 
gest-littlest. In weight he is 
a true toy, small even among 
the small breeds, for the average weight of 
good specimens is not more than six pounds, 
and many dwarfs of the breed are even 
smaller than this. A very small dog has 
always made an almost irresistible appeal 
to the feminine heart, and in this day small 
size is a valuable asset for any house dog. 
The various toy dogs, however, are cer¬ 
tainly less robust than the larger varieties. 
Their frailty has often been grossly exag¬ 
gerated, but there is, of necessity, some 
reasonable foundation of truth for these 
statements. Moreover, the very tiny dogs 
often lack the finer traits of the larger 
dog’s character; some are too self-centered. 
Too much toy and too little 
dog is, in many cases, a very 
valid reason for one who is a 
true dog lover to pass over 
these diminutive pets. The 
Pomeranian, however, rises tri¬ 
umphant over this objection. 
Although little, he has the 
hardihood of many a bigger 
dog. As one of his English 
friends has cleverly and quite 
truly said, “He is the unbreak¬ 
able toy of all dogs.” In his 
disposition, too, there is much 
that we admire in the larger 
varieties. He is a vivacious, 
bright dog, more like a terrier 
than a toy dog in his liveliness 
and sharp intelligence. It is not 
surprising that he should be 
tremendously popular. 
Originally a Sheep Dog 
When one knows the Pom¬ 
eranian’s curious history it 
seems that the breed has de¬ 
lighted to accommodate itself 
to the varying needs of its 
masters under widely different 
conditions of life. But a cen- 
W I L LIAMS HAYNES 
tury ago the delightful little sprite of a dog 
that graces our drawing rooms was a strong, 
courageous sheep herder capable of giving 
a very good account of himself even in an 
encounter with a wolf. In those strenuous 
days of the breed, it was known variously 
as the loup-loup, the wolf dog, the fox dog, 
and no less an authority than the great 
naturalist, Baron Cuvier, says that this dog 
possesses “all the sagacity of the shepherd’s 
dog, accompanied with much greater 
strength, for it is used to guard the Hocks in 
countries pestered with the wolf, which it 
never fails to attack with success.” These 
“countries pestered with wolves” were prin¬ 
cipally the Baltic provinces of 
North Germany, especially 
Pomerania, that rugged dis¬ 
trict from which Frederick 
the Great used to recruit the 
giants for his famous gren¬ 
adier regiment. The local names of this 
Baltic sheep guardian point plainly to a 
wolfish origin, which the appearance of the 
dog certainly bears out. So the dainty Pom 
is probably a kinsman of the German sheep 
dog and other Continental wolf-like breeds. 
A Gradual Change 
Times and manners change. When 
wolves no longer threatened the flocks, the 
Pomeranian sheep dog became less and less 
the shepherd’s assistant and more and more 
the family pet. Gradually they were bred 
smaller and smaller. About 1860 some of 
these dogs, then some twenty or twenty- 
five pounds in weight, found 
their way into England and, in 
spite of a bad reputation for 
short temper and snappishness, 
gained a little popularity. About 
1880 some of the breed were 
brought to America, but to the 
belief in their unreliable dispo¬ 
sition a purely fictitious myth 
that they were peculiarly sus¬ 
ceptible to rabies was added, so 
the spitz dogs, as they were 
called, did not become popular. 
One of the hazy recollections 
of my boyhood is of one of 
these dogs, a handsome snow 
white fellow of perhaps twen¬ 
ty-five pounds. Whence he 
came I do not remember, but 
his breed’s traditional bad name 
must have followed him, for 
my brother and I were forbid¬ 
den to play with him, and he 
was banished to the stables. 
The vogue of the true toy 
Pomeranian, the little dog of 
ten pounds or under, was in¬ 
troduced by Oueen Victoria. 
After a winter spent in Florence 
(Continued on page 56) 
Photos by Levick 
The Pom's outer coat is especially long and thick on the shoulders 
and chest, standing out in a ruff about his fox-like head 
