The History of the Pomeranian

Long before the Pomeranian dog was common in Great Britain, this breed
was to be met with in many parts of Europe, especially in Germany; and
he was known under different names, according to his size and the
locality in which he flourished. The title of Pomeranian is not
admitted by the Germans at all, who claim this as one of their
national breeds, and give it the general name of the German Spitz.

At Athens, in the Street of Tombs, there is a representation of a
little Spitz leaping up to the daughter of a family as she is taking
leave of them, which bears the date equivalent to 56 B.C., and in the
British Museum there is an ancient bronze jar of Greek workmanship,
upon which is engraved a group of winged horses at whose feet there is
a small dog of undoubted Pomeranian type. The date is the second
century, B.C.

It is now generally accepted that, wherever our Pomeranian originated,
he is a Northern or Arctic breed. Evidence goes to show that his
native land in prehistoric times was the land of the Samoyedes, in the
north of Siberia, along the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The Samoyede
dog is being gradually introduced into England, and good specimens can
be frequently seen at the principal shows. The similarity between our
large white Pomeranian and the Samoyede is too great to be accidental.
And we are drawn to the conclusion that in prehistoric times a
migration of the Samoyedes was made from their native land into
Pomerania, the most eastern province of Prussia bordering on the
Baltic Sea, and that these people took with them their dogs, which
were the progenitors of the present race of Pomeranian or Spitz.

But in any case the Pomeranian dog, so called, has been a native of
various parts of Europe from very early times. His advent into England
has been of comparatively recent date, at least in any great numbers,
so far as can be ascertained, since no ancient records exist on this
question. Gainsborough, however, painted the famous actress, Mrs.
Robinson, with a large white Pomeranian sitting by her side.

In Rees' _Encyclopedia_, published in 1816, a good picture of a white
Pomeranian is given with a fairly truthful description. In this work
he is said to be "larger than the common sheep dog." Rees gives his
name as _Canis Pomeranius_, from Linnaeus, and Chien Loup, from
Buffon. From these examples, therefore, we may infer that the large
Pomeranian, or Wolf Spitz, was already known in England towards the
end of the eighteenth century at least. There are, however, no
systematic registers of Pomeranians prior to the year 1870.

Even ten years later than this last date, so little was the breed
appreciated that a well-known writer on dogs began an article on the
Pomeranian with the words "The Pomeranian is admittedly one of the
least interesting dogs in existence, and consequently his supporters
are few and far between."

The founders of the Kennel Club held their first dog show in 1870, and
in that year only three Pomeranians were exhibited. For the next
twenty years little or no permanent increase occurred in the numbers
of Pomeranians entered at the chief dog show in England. The largest
entry took place in 1881, when there were fifteen; but in 1890 there
was not a single Pomeranian shown. From this time, however, the
numbers rapidly increased. Commencing in 1891 with fourteen,
increasing in 1901 to sixty, it culminated in 1905 with the record
number of one hundred and twenty-five. Such a rapid advance between
the years 1890 and 1905 is unprecedented in the history of dog shows,
although it is right to add that this extraordinarily rapid rise into
popularity has since been equaled in the case of the now fashionable
Pekingese.

This tendency to advancement in public favor was contemporaneous with
the formation of the Pomeranian Club of England, which was founded in
1891, and through its fostering care the Pomeranian has reached a
height of popularity far in advance of that attained by any other
breed of toy dog. One of the first acts of the club was to draw up a
standard of points as follows:--