Quick Facts
Origin: Germany
Height: 6”-7”
Weight: 3-7 lbs
Color: Black, Black & tan, Blue, Blue & tan, Blue Merle, Chocolate, Chocolate & tan, Cream, Orange, Orange sable, Red, Red sable, White, Wolf sable, Cream sable, Beaver, Tri-colored, Blue sable with the potential for markings including White markings, Merle markings, Tan markings, Tri Color markings, Brindle, Sable, Irish marked, Parti-color or Mask
Lifespan: 12-14 years
Temperament: Daring, Watchful, Energetic, Loving
Overview
1-2-3 all eyes on me! Pomeranians love to be the center of attention. These tiny pups are known to be feisty, bold, bright, and curious. They can trace their lineage back to the spitz of an Arctic region of Iceland. They love the cold but can also live in warmer climates, provided they always have a cool place to return to after being outside. Some owners even give their pup ice pillows to relax on.
Poms are great with families with older children, and they are wonderful companions to other animals in your home, even cats. They require a mild amount of grooming and a medium amount of exercise. They make surprisingly alert watchdogs and will never allow someone to approach your house unannounced.
Celebrity Owners
Paris Hilton, Kelly Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Sylvester Stalone, LeAnne Rimes, Fran Drescher, Lisa Vanderpump, Nicole Richie, David Hasselhoff, Hilary Duff, Gwen Stefani, Jessica Alba, Keanu Reeves, Cindy Williams
Fun Facts
- A Pomeranian watched Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.
Health
Poms are generally healthy dogs. Health issues can include:
- Patella luxation: Luxating simply means out of place or dislocated. Patella is a kneecap. A Luxating patella is a kneecap that chronically moves out of its normal position.
- Hyperthyroidism: The thyroid gland, sitting at the top of the windpipe in the back of the neck, is controlled by the pituitary gland at the base of the brand. Hyperthyroidism would cause the metabolism to speed up.
- Collapsing trachea: This condition occurs when the cartilage rings on the trachea weaken, which causes the windpipe to collapse when they breath in.
- Cataracts: A dog develops a cataract when the lens in its eye clouds. The clouding is caused by changes in the water balance or proteins in the lens.
- Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
- Congestive heart failure: Contrary to the name, heart failure doesn’t necessarily mean that the heart has stopped working, but rather not working as it should. The heart muscle isn’t pumping blood like it should.
- Alopecia X: Sometimes called ‘hair cycle arrest’ or biopsy responsive alopecia, alopecia X is a skin condition of non-inflammatory hair loss.
Always request health screens from your breeder for both parents.
While you always hope your pet will live a long and healthy life, it is always a good idea to invest in pet health insurance.
Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.
Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.
Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.
Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:
- Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
- Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
- Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
- Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
- At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.
Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.
Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.
Grooming
Poms are known for their impressive puffy coat. To keep it free from tangles and matts, a thorough weekly brushing down to the skin is required. This will pull away any loose hair and redistribute naturally occurring oils.
Your pup will go through two heavier seasonal shedding periods. Increase brushing to daily during this time to help contain the hair loss. Bathe your pup every 4-6 weeks. Always keep your pup’s eyes and ears clean and clear of debris. Trim your pup’s nails regularly. Brush their teeth several times per week.
Cost
$1,000
Exercise
Even the tiny need to stretch their legs. Poms love to take a walk or play outside. Be sure to set aside at least 45 minutes a day for this. They will also run around the house which will help.
Poms should not be out in extremely hot weather for extended periods of time. Be sure to supply you pup with plenty of toys to keep mentally stimulated. Puzzle toys are a wonderful solution to stave off boredom.
Nutrition
Your Pom will eat between 1/3 – 1 cup of food per day. The exact requirements for your dog will vary with age and activity level. Be mindful that little dogs that receive lots of treats and or table scraps end up overweight. A little dog that is overweight is significantly more likely to develop other health issues.
We’ve taken a look at some premium dog foods, high in nutrition here.
Training
As with all dogs, early socialization is key. Poms will best respond to consistent and patient training. Always keep your training full of positive reinforcement and leave harsh criticism behind. House-training should begin immediately.
Poms have some difficulty in this area so be patient, it will come. This breed is prone to broken bones and injured joints from jumping on and off furniture. Consider getting puppy stairs to help your dog avoid injury.
Proper training is essential to ensuring the safety of your dog and those around you. Having your dog come when they should, and in general having them listen is something you want to address early in your pup’s life, as it will pay dividends down the line. There are many tried and true training programs to accomplish this training – faster and better than you might think!
Unless you’re living on a farm, or have the space, a yipping dog, or one that barks all day when you are gone could be an issue with the neighbors and/or landlord. Historically, dogs would bark to communicate with the rest of the pack when hunting and bark as a warning shot to predators eyeing up their flock. Barking is deep rooted in dogs and manifests itself in many ways and for a variety of reasons.
Just like any habit or instinct, there are effective ways you can train this issue away.
Supplements
A solid Glucosamine Supplement for hips and joints will go a long way to helping your furry friend.
Other helpful supplements include full-spectrum hemp oil or CBD oil. Fish oil skin and coat supplement.
Ensuring a comprehensive preventative vitamin and mineral plan is essential to keeping your dog healthy. Truth is, there are vitamins and minerals that your dog needs, but doesn’t produce naturally. While many of these vitamins and minerals can be found in your dog’s current diet and dog food, the question becomes, are there enough vitamins to ensure they aren’t deficient.
Poor nutrition can lead to some of the most common health issues, such as weak joints, compromised immunity, increased allergies, and low energy.
Vitamins play a vital role in your pet’s health and overall life expectancy. Here are some multivitamin and joint relief options.
As regulations around marijuana have eased, the emergence of CBD oils for humans and dogs have sprung up.
Just to begin to dispel the negative stigma, CBD extract comes from Hemp, marijuana’s cousin. Unlike its cousin, there are no psychoactive qualities in CBD oil. An emerging number of clinical and institutional studies have shown the wide variety of healing qualities in CBD, including pain management, and the containment of seizures and epileptic episodes.
Explore this remedy further to see all the health benefits that have transformed the lives of so many dogs to date.
The Good
Alert guard dogs
Create strong bond with family
The "Ruff"
Prone to skeletal issues
Sensitive to heat
Difficult to housetrain