About Pomeranian Dogs

The POMERANIAN.

The Pomeranian is a toy dog with a big dog attitude and outlook having been bred down in size over several 100 years.
He will not easily back off from a challenge by a larger dog and this can sometimes get him in trouble.

Your Pomeranian is a very loyal and protective friend and will sometimes growl or snap if he feels you are being threatened. It is important for you to reassure him all is well.
It is very important to socialize your Pomeranian with as many different people as possible while he is still quite young.
You need to remember dogs are pack animals and all dog packs have a hierarchy, your Pomeranian will need to be taught his place in the pack.
The easiest way to do this is to feed yourself and your children first thus showing him he comes after all of you in the pecking order and then when you have finished eating your dog has his turn.

In educating your Pomeranian in this way you should elevate many other problems like snapping at children as he already knows he is of lower ranking in the pack than them.

The way your Pomeranian learns.

This was explained to me many years ago by my brother who is a military police dog trainer with over 25 years experience.
Your dogs’ brain remembers by taking a snap shot of pleasant and not so pleasant experiences and he has a lot of these stacked away.
With this in mind it is easy to see that with a couple of repetitions your Pomeranian can learn something fairly quickly.
You will also need to praise your Pomeranian in a higher than normal voice, (falsetto).
I have watched a class of a dozen six foot plus military policemen praising their dogs in raised falsetto voices, amusing to see but it works.
Your Pomeranian wants to please you and by praising him in this way it is easy for him to see he has done this.
If he does something bad a loud “NO” will do the trick and he will try to avoid doing the same thing again.
DON’T hit your Pomeranian with your hand or with anything else for that matter, a rolled up newspaper banged on the table or bench will show your disapproval and you can throw it to make a noise to dissuade him from something he is doing.

The Pomeranian as a Show Dog

Pomeranians make great show dogs with their easy going friendly disposition and are much easier to transport in a car than bigger animals, a word of caution here , don’t leave your dog unattended in a motor vehicle as it will get too hot for him and heat stress may occur which is very dangerous and could even be life threatening.

A dog crate is also a good idea as it stops him being hurt in the vehicle plus it keeps him from harms way while at the show.
If you are going to show your Pomeranian you need to make sure he is well socialized and not frightened of strangers.
Get him used to standing on a table and being handled by someone he doesn’t know.

One British Pomeranian breeder from the 1950’s used to walk his potential show dogs about the time the local school finished and after a few times of this nothing would faze them.
I used to train my Pomeranian show dogs at a local primary school which my house backed onto and would walk them on the tar seal tennis court walking circles and triangles for ½ an hour per day , as well as being good exercise for me it was good bonding time with the dog talking to him and remembering to praise when good results were achieved.
Repetition is the best way to train your dog but some will be a stubborn on the lead so you may have to resort to a dog chocolate or liver treat.

Breeding your Show Pomeranian

If you are lucky enough to get an exceptional individual you may want to see if you can breed some more like him.
Remember the person that bred your dog has probably been breeding a long time and breeding to a plan that has resulted in the individual you have obtained.
Look at his pedigree and look for any tie ups with the same ancestor on his sire and dams sides of the pedigree. Ask them what they would suggest as a mating as they will have a better idea of what is behind your dog and which individuals should work well together and produce something that you will be proud to show with your own kennel name on it.
To get a result that keeps improving the Pomeranian breed some sort of line breeding will need to used.
Any breed of animal, be they cattle, horses or dogs have line breeding and even inbreeding in their lineage somewhere to get the distinctive traits that make the animal different from another breed.
I have been doing some research on one of the Australian cattle breeds recently and although most of the breeders are horrified of line breeding that was how the traits that make that bred different where achieved.
Don’t breed vastly different types together and try not to double up on a weakness as it will come back to bite you down the track.
Some Pomeranians are dominant and will produce carbon copies of themselves no matter what Pomeranian you mate them to.
I have been lucky enough to have had two such Pomeranians.They are very valuable to your breeding program as you increase your kennel size.

Breeding your Pet Pomeranian.

When you have a pet Pomeranian and are thinking of breeding you need to ask yourself a few questions:-
Why am I breeding?
A. so my pet bitch can have a litter
B. to get a companion for your pet
C. to improve the Pomeranian breed

You also need to consider what you are going to do with the resulting puppies, do you have good homes lined up for them.
Another consideration is “what if the bitch needs a caesarian section” this can be quite expensive and stressful for the bitch and for you as the owner.