The Pomeranian can be traced back many centuries where they have been known as Wolf dogs, Volpinos and Spitz.

They have been linked with the ancient dogs of:

•  Egypt - drawings appear in Egyptian tombs, some of these were the tombs of Egyptian Kings

•  Greece- the Pomeranian is portrayed on Greek Pottery dating back to 400BC Greek pottery portrays the Pom romping with Apollo & Aphrodite

•  and China - as evidenced in the many paintings.

The breed is also depicted in stone columns and vases preserved in the British museums (and others). Some of these sculptures are older than the Christian era by several centuries dating back from 600BC to 100BC.

Pomeranians are also featured in paintings by George Stubbs (1793) a well known animal painter of the day,

Fino and Tiny the beloved pets of the Prince of Wales painted by George Stubbs in 1791.

The stamp was issued in 1991.

The image of the queen is in the upper right.

and in Gainsborough works.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1725-87) was a German-born and trained musician and composer, who came to London in 1759 and pursued a successful career in England . For some time he shared a house with Johann Christian Bach, more famous German composer, in 1775 they opened their own concert hall in Hanover Square . Abel was a close friend of Gainsborough. Abel's dog, lying at its owner's feet, was again portrayed by Gainsborough in Pomeranian Bitch and Pup

Thomas Gainsborough. Pomeranian Bitch and Pup

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These vivacious lap dogs get their name from the province "Pomerania", which occupies the southern coast of the Baltic sea (now present day Germany and Poland ), not because it originated there, but because this was most likely where it was bred down to size.

Most historians are of the opinion that the Pomeranian originated in Wurttemberg , the heartland of German dog development is the place where the Spitz was transformed into the Pomeranian weighing in excess of 30 pounds.

Others believe that the Pomeranian was first developed in the Province of Pomerania , where a group of Finns settled in Samogitia with their dogs.

These early spitz type dogs were used to work as guard and sledge animals, however the smallest were kept as companions. At this stage of development, the breed weighed 30 lbs and were coloured white, black or cream.

In the 19th Century there was also a number of dogs developed in Central Europe which are similar in markings and physical appearance to the Pomeranian.

POPULARITY

In 1761 Prince George III brought a large white Pomeranian ( 9 to 13.6 kg) to England for his new bride Queen Charlotte. However, this larger version of the toy dog would not become fashionable until the late 1888 - when Queen Victoria brought home a 12 pound (5.5.kg), Pomeranian from Florence , Italy which became her beloved companion named “Marco”.

Queen Victoria was a much loved monarch and these tiny dogs popularity spread quickly around the European upper class. The Queen is credited for advocating the trend toward the smaller Poms dog.

The Pom was recognized by The Kennel Club in Great Britain in 1870 and recognized in 1900 by the American Kennel Club.

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

According to Australian records the earliest known Pomeranian to be brought to Australia was a chocolate owned by the late Jack Maude's father in 1910.

Early in this century various colours of the breed including, black, white, chocolate and wolf sable were exhibited in the show ring and regular weight checks were conducted for dogs appearing to be in excess of 7lbs.

Mrs Burke, who relocated from Queensland to New South Wales and subsequently joined the R.A.S. as a committee member is credited with changing the weight standards. It was she who instigated the ruling of different classes for the breed, and was of the opinion that all dogs exhibited should average 4-1/2 lbs and bitches 5-1/2lbs. This culminated the weighing of the breed, and any exhibits in excess of the average were no longer shown.

FAMOUS POMS:

Many of the famous favoured the Pomeranian including:

• Queen Victoria having a Pomeranian lay beside her in death,
• Michelangelo whose Pomeranian would sit on a silk pillow while he painted the Sistine chapel,
• Martin Luther who mentioned his toy dog “Belferlein” in his numerous theological works,
• Isaac Newton, had his manuscripts torn up by his Pomeranian “Diamond”,
• Mozart who dedicated and aria to his pet Pomeranian “Pimperl”,
• Chopin who wrote the Valse des Petits Chiens for his girlfriends Pomeranian.
• Chester owned by Fran Drescher was a performing Pomeranian dog born in 1982 in Queens , New York, New York , USA ; he died in 2000 . He played C.C. Babcock's dog on The Nanny , who seemed to like nanny Fran Fine better than he did C.C. He also appeared in the 1990 film Cadillac Man .
  
  When Chester died, Fran had him cremated and placed in a small ceramic box, inscribed, "I just love ya, that's all," which she keeps in her kitchen on her black marble countertop, surrounded by pictures and candles.

FACTS:

Of all the dogs on the Titanic, it is recorded that only three survived.

1. Pomeranian owned by Mrs Margaret Hays of New York , who tucked the tiny dog inside her coat and got into lifeboat number 7.
2. Pekinese known as Sun Yat Sen owned by Henry Sleeper, who boarded lifeboat number 3.

No-one objected to the dogs being aboard as both life boats in which the dogs escaped were nearly empty when being released from the Titanic.

1. Newfoundland owned by the first officer, which swam between another lifeboat and the rescue ship. His persistent barking is credited for guiding the survivors to safety.

Volpino

A watchdog and companion, the Volpino is active, intelligent and intensely loyal, devoted to its family and home. And it has retained the classic good looks of its Spitz ancestors—alert foxy ears, an intently curled tail and a luxurious thick coat.

During the Italian Renaissance this clever little dog decorated the laps of royalty and kept company with Michelangelo, according to its breed club. But to see one today, you may have to hop a plane to Italy . These dogs are rare outside their homeland.

Roots: The Volpino descended from the European Spitz, which inhabited Italy during the Bronze Age (3500 to 1000 B.C.). Nobility and commoners treasured the breed and Renaissance artists often depicted small, furry white dogs as companions to shopkeepers.

POMERANIA

The historical region of Pomerania consisted of the areas at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea between the estuaries of the Oder and Vistula Rivers which was inhabited by Slavonic peoples during the Middle Ages.

Royal Prussia took over the eastern portion of this region resulting in the Pomerania name limitation to the other western and central parts only (except for Poland , where the old usage of the term " Pomerania " has been retained).

The Province of Pomerania , was ruled by native princes prior to the 17th century. Its inhabitants were influenced by the German culture.

Pomerania was annexed by Sweden in the early 1600's when most of Pomerania was incorporated into Brandenburg , becoming part of Prussia during the next century.

Northern portions of historical Brandenburg, so-called Neumark , (marked green on the map above) were added to Pomerania in the early 1800's together with former fiefs (shown in yellow) of the Kingdom of Poland, which were already taken by Brandenburg in the second half of the 17th century (see map below). The majority of the Prussian province of Pomerania were German-speaking and Protestant, except for the easternmost districts where a Polish-speaking, partially Catholic minority remained.

This province remained in Germany after WWI with minor adjustments being made on the Polish border in 1920.

The majority of Pomerania was incorporated into Poland after WWII at which time the German population either escaped or defected, encouraging the Poles from the eastern region to settle in Pomerania . Only the western districts remained part of post-WWII Germany .

The map above depicts the province of Pomerania at the beginning of the 20th century. Polish and German names of cities are provided. The colored regions are explained above. The post-WWII border between Poland and Germany is marked by the pink line.

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