Pomeranian
Bred down from full sized sled spitz, and Queen Victoria's fondness for the small ones halved the breed within her reign. The coat stands out from the body.
Overview
Pomeranians are what happens when you shrink a sled dog and keep the attitude. They descend from spitz breeds bred down over a couple of centuries, and the modern Pom is a toy dog that has never once been told it is a toy dog. Three to seven pounds, six to seven inches at the shoulder, and completely convinced it can handle whatever just came through the door.
The coat is the headline. It is a double coat, it comes in more colours than almost any other breed, sable, cream, black and tan, merle and lilac among them, and it is a genuine daily commitment. Anyone selling you a Pom as a low maintenance lap dog has not owned one.
Temperament
Confident, vocal, and bonded hard to one or two people. A Pom will pick a favourite and then be politely uninterested in everyone else.
They bark. Not occasionally, as a hobby. It is the single most common reason they get rehomed, and it is trainable, but you have to start early and you have to be boring about it. Shouting at a barking Pom reads to the dog as joining in.
Care and grooming
Brush it properly two or three times a week, and more when it blows coat. The undercoat is what mats, and it mats down at the skin where you cannot see it, so a brush that only touches the top layer is doing nothing.
Do not shave a Pomeranian. The coat can come back patchy or not at all, which is a real risk rather than an old wives' tale. Teeth are the other one: toy breeds lose teeth young and Poms are no exception, so brushing is not optional.
Living and exercise
An apartment suits them fine. Two short walks a day plus some play indoors covers it, and they will happily do more if you are going. Watch the heat, though. That double coat is built for cold, and a Pom in July overheats faster than almost anything else its size.
The trachea is the one to know about: use a harness, never a collar and lead. Collapsing trachea is common in the breed and a lead pulling on the throat makes it worse.
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