1898

Standard, or Scale of Points

Appearance – The Pomeranian in build and appearance should be a compact short-coupled dog, well-knit in frame. His head and face should be fox-like, with small, erect ears that appear sensible to every sound; he should exhibit great intelligence in his expression, docility in his disposition and activity and buoyancy in his deportment.

Head – Somewhat foxy in outline, or wedge-shaped, the skull being slightly flat (although in the Toy varieties the skull may be rather rounded), large in proportion to the muzzle, which should finish rather fine and free from lippiness. The teeth should be level and on no account undershot. The head in its profile may exhibit a little “stop” which, however, must not be too pronounced and the hair on head and face must be smooth or short-coated.

Eyes – Should be medium in size, rather oblique in shape, not set too wide apart, bright and dark in colour, showing great intelligence and docility of temper. In a white dog black rims round the eyes are preferable.

Ears – Should be small and carried perfectly erect, or pricked, like those of a fox and like the head should be covered with short hair. No plucking or trimming allowable.

Nose – In black, black and tan or white dogs the nose should be black, in other coloured Pomeranians it may more often be brown or liver-coloured, but in all cases the nose must be self not parti-coloured and never white.

Neck and shoulders – The neck, if anything, should be rather short, well set in and lion like, covered with a profuse mane and frill of long, straight glossy hair, sweeping from the under jaw and covering the whole of the front part of the shoulders. Shoulders must be tolerably clean and laid well back.

Body – 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.

Legs – The forelegs must be perfectly straight, of medium length, not such as would be termed either “leggy” or “low on leg”, but in due proportion in length and strength to a well-balanced frame and the forelegs and thighs must be well-feathered, the feet small and compact in shape. No trimming is allowable.

Tail – The tail is a characteristic of the breed and should be well twisted right up from the root tightly over the back, or lying flat on the back slightly on either side and profusely covered with long hair, spreading out and flowing over the back.

Coat – Properly speaking, there should be two coats, an under and over coat, the one a soft fluffy under coat and the other a long, perfectly straight and glistening coat, 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 long flowing hair extending over the shoulders as previously described. The hindquarters, like those of the Collie, should be similarly clad with long hair, or feathering from the top of the rump to the hocks. The hair on tail must be, as previously described, profuse and flowing over the back.

Colour – The following colours are admissible – White, black, blue, brown, black and tan, fawn, sable, red and parti-colours. The whites must be quite free from lemon or any colour and the blacks, blues, browns, black and tans and reds free from white. A few white hairs in any of the self-colours shall not absolutely disqualify, but should carry great weight against a dog. In parti-coloured dogs, the colours should be evenly distributed on the body. Whole coloured dogs with a white foot or feet, leg or legs, are decidedly objectionable and should be discouraged and cannot compete as whole coloured specimens.

In mixed classes, i.e. where whole coloured and parti-coloured Pomeranians compete together the preference should, if in other points they are equal, be given to the whole coloured specimen.