All recognized breeds have one or more established standards. These standards define the breed and are used in judging the quality of an individual dog. Pomeranians have several standards, issued by different bodies which vary from country to country, club to club. The one below is that of the Pomeranian Club. It should be pointed out that Pomeranians are not treated as a separate breed in all countries. In Germany they are a sub-group within the Spitz breed. It can be argued that too much emphasis is placed on breed standards - each dog has its own qualities, even if they are not recognized in the official standards
General appearance
Compact, short coupled dog, well knit in frame. Exhibiting great intelligence in expression; activity and buoyancy in
deportment.
Characteristics
Sound, vivacious and dainty.
Temperament
Extrovert, lively and intelligent
Head and skull
Head and nose foxy in outline, skull slightly flat, large in proportion to muzzle which finishes finely and free from
lippiness. Nose black in white, orange and shaded sable dogs; brown in chocolate tipped sable dogs, but in other
colours may be 'self-coloured', never parti-coloured or flesh.
Eyes
Medium size, slightly oval, not full, not set too wide apart; bright, dark and showing great intelligence. In white,
orange, shaded sable and cream dogs, rims black.
Ears
Small, not set too wide apart, not too low down, but carried perfectly erect.
Mouth
Jaws strong, with a perfect regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth
and set square to the jaws.
Neck
Rather short and well set into shoulders.
Forequarters
Shoulders clean and well laid back. Fine boned legs, perfectly straight, or medium length in due proportion to size of
dog.
Body
Back short, body compact, well ribbed up, barrel well rounded. Chest fairly deep, not too wide but in proportion to
size of dog.
Hindquarters
Fine boned, legs neither cow-hocked nor wide behind; medium angulation.
Feet
Small, compact and cat-like.
Tail
Characteristic of breed - high set, turned over back and carried flat and straight, profusely covered with long, harsh,
spreading hair.
Gait/movement
Free moving, brisk and buoyant.
Coat
Two coats, an under coat and an outer coat. Former soft, fluffy, the latter long, perfectly straight, harsh in texture and
covering whole of body; very abundant round neck and fore part of shoulders. Forequarters well feathered, thighs and
hindlegs well feathered to hocks.
Colours
All colours permissible, but free from black or white shadings. Whole colours are: White, black, brown, light, or dark,
blue as pale as possible. Orange which should be self-coloured and as bright as possible. Beaver. Cream dogs should
have black noses and black eye rims round eyes. Whites must be quite free from lemon or any other colour. A few
white hairs, in any of the self-coloured dogs permissible but undesirable. Dogs (other than white) with white or tan
markings highly undesirable and not considered whole-coloured specimens. In parti-coloured dogs, colours evenly
distributed in body in patches; a dog with white or tan feet or chest not a parti-coloured dog. Shaded sable should be
shaded throughout with three or more colours, the hair to be as uniformly shaded as possible and with no patches of
self colour. In mixed classes, where whole coloured and parti-coloured Pomeranians compete together, the preference
should, if all other points they are equal, be given to whole-coloured specimens.
Size
Ideal weight: Dogs 1.8 - 2 kgs.; Bitches 2 - 2.5 kgs.
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should
be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.