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Queen Charlotte, who was the German wife of King George III, brought a pair of Pomeranians to Britain in 1767. Their names were Phoebe (also spelt Phebe) and Mercury. They lived in Kew in

West London, as did the artist Sir Thomas Gainsborough, thus many paintings of these royal dogs are to be found.

In 1870, the English Kennel Club officially recognized the Pomeranian as the “Spitzdog.” The breed was brought to the attention of Britain’s public when Queen Victoria became interested in the Pomeranian. Despite being Queen Charlotte’s granddaughter, she appears to have first discovered the breed in Italy when she traveled there in 1888. She obtained several such dogs in Florence, including Marco, with whom she achieved notable success at Crufts and elsewhere. Incidentally, Marco weighed 12 lb. A great lover of many different kinds of dogs, Queen Victoria owned a kennel of Pomeranians, bred under the prefix Windsor. Charles Henry Lane was invited to inspect Her Majesty’s kennels and, as one might expect, he spoke highly of their circumstances, every care and consideration being shown for the dogs’ happiness. He described the dogs primarily as what he termed “offcolors,” although some were exceedingly pretty. Although some were larger, most were what he called “small-medium.”

THE POMERANIAN IN ART

The British Museum houses an ancient Greek bronze jar from the second century B.C. On it is engraved a group of winged horses and at their feet is a small dog of Pomeranian type. On a famous street in Athens was a representation of a small spitz dog leaping up to the daughter of the family as she was taking her leave. The date of this is 56 B.C.

The famous artist Sir Thomas Gainsborough is one of several who often portrayed Pomeranians in his paintings. In London’s Wallace Collection, there is a particularly famous painting of the actress Mrs. Robinson, who has a large white Pomeranian sitting by her side.

Some of these were exhibited at shows and there is rather an amusing of story of the time when Her Majesty wished to exhibit three Pomeranians of a color not usually shown in England. A special class was provided for her exhibits and two of them were lucky enough to be awarded joint first prize! So much did Queen Victoria love the breed that while she was dying, her Pomeranian, Turi, was always on her bed. Aided in part by Queen Victoria’s prominence, Britain’s interest in the breed grew.

From Vero Shaw’s famous volume The Book of the Dog, this drawing was entitled “A Black Pomeranian.”

Mr. Gladstone was another prominent person who was much taken by the breed and is said to have owned a black Pomeranian. As the 20th century turned, there was a saying, “There’s money in Poms,” for they were selling for up to £250. Ounce for pound, Pomeranians were probably the most expensive breed of dog one could purchase. This said, supply soon overtook demand and the breed dropped rapidly in value. Pomeranians were bred from at a rapid rate, such as would certainly not be permitted by the English Kennel Club today.

A newspaper report gave an example of one bitch that whelped for the third time in May of 1903, when she was still under two years old. In her three litters, she had produced 24 puppies, all within the space of 54 weeks. Poor lady—it doesn’t bear thinking about!

A great deal of inbreeding was going on at that time, and some signs of degeneration were evident, such as a tendency toward apple heads in smaller sized specimens. These smaller Poms possessed heads quite out of keeping with the fox-headed requirement of the breed.

A 1904 account states, “There is no species of ladies’ pet-dog that has achieved such universal popularity in so short a time as the Pomeranian.” Early in the century, several prominent people in dogs expressed their views on the breed. For Miss Hamilton, who regularly took top honors in the breed, her ideal Pomeranian was “a bright little creature, sparkling all over with life and fun, devoted to his master or mistress, and sharing all their joys and sorrows as much as lies in a doggy’s power.” Miss Hamilton said she had come across many that had been almost human in their keenness of perception and expressed the utmost sympathy during times when their owners were distressed. She thought them as clever at tricks as Poodles but, though excitable by nature, they never allowed their anger to get the better of their discretion.

SHARING A CLASS IN THE UK

At Maidstone Show in 1882, Pomeranians and Maltese shared a class together. Then, at York and also at Henley-on-Thames the following year, Pomeranians and Poodles were exhibited alongside each other, a rather absurd arrangement! But to cap it all, at Hull in 1864, Pugs, King Charles or Blenheims and Pomeranians shared their class.

The Pomeranian Club drew up the first English breed standard in 1891, the year in which the club was founded. However, the larger specimens of the breed rather quickly fell out of fashion and, by the early years of the 20th century, breeders were already producing very small Pomeranians, more akin to the breed we recognize today.

In the beginning the breed was shown in two sizes, over and under 8 lb, but the larger size really failed to achieve a great deal of popularity. At Crufts in 1894, a resolution was passed that the weight of Pomeranians was to be divided thus: “Over and under 16 lb; over and under 7 lb. Those below 7 lb to be called Toys.” Today in Britain, the size called for in the breed standard is only 1.8–2 kg (4–4.5 lb) for dogs and 2–2.5 kg (4.5–5.5 lb) for bitches. At most shows, however, division was mainly by color, a system that continued for some years, but as breeders discovered that small whites were difficult to breed, this color lost ground.

This stuffed and mounted Pomeranian, presented to the British Museum of Natural History in 1930, was named Brownie.

Sir Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait of the well-known actress, Mrs. Robinson, with her Pomeranian. Note how much largerthe breed was in days gone by.

Entries at shows rose significantly from the breed’s early years in the show ring. In 1890, not a single Pomeranian was shown, but there were 14 in 1891 and by 1901 the number had risen to 60. Frequently there were over 50 Pomeranian entries at a show, and sometimes a popular judge could command an entry of around 100, making 25 or so entries per class. In 1905, there were 105 Pomeranians entered at a show, confirming the breed’s rapid rise in the popularity stakes.

Gainsborough’s “Pomeranian and Puppy.”

Ch. Eng. Boy Blue, winner of 15 champion prizes, circa 1906.

In 1911, The Kennel Club attempted to stop trimming in all breeds, reasoning that dogs should be shown in a natural condition. As the Pomeranian is a trimmed breed, the coat appearing shaggy when the ears are covered with long hair, this caused uproar within breed circles and absurd proposals were made to circumvent the issue. Thankfully the situation did not last long, for in April 1913, The Kennel Club wrote to the Pomeranian Club asking if it wished the Pomeranian to be scheduled among breeds in which trimming was allowed.

Miss Alice Horsfall and her Poms, circa 1908.

Two years later, The Kennel Club decided that all weights were to be registered together and that at Championship Shows only one set of Challenge Certificates (CCs) could be awarded. It had been suggested that the heavier dogs be registered as “Spitz.” The attempt to form a “Spitz” breed failed even though some registra-tions

Center spread: This lovely photograph depicts a young lady surrounded by her white Pomeranians, circa 1919.

were made at that time. Still, in 1916, Certificates of Merit were offered by the Pomeranian Club for Pomeranians above 7 lb, an idea that was discontinued through lack of interest.

World War I caused great disruption among the world of dogs, and presumably because of the breed’s German connections, the Pomeranian fell out of favor. The breed had previously been the top Toy breed, but this position was taken over by the Pekingese and later, in 1962, by the Yorkshire Terrier. By the 1930s, the size of Pomeranians had dropped markedly, down to 9 lb, and by then the coat had developed its characteristic deep frilling.

Champion Pomeranians owned by Mrs. Hall Walkers. From left to right: Eng. Ch. Dainty Boy, Eng. Ch. Gateacre Bibury Bell and Eng. Ch. Gateacre Dainty Belle. The painting was by famous dog artist Maud Earl, circa 1920. The apple in the foreground effectively gives size perspective to the dogs.

Miss Hamilton’s famous kennel competed with Queen Victoria’s and divided most of the honors with the Royal kennels.

It was Miss Hamilton who won the first championship for a Pom.