*Pomeranians in the UK*

In 1761, 17-year-old Charlotte from a neighbouring province of Pomerania travelled to England and married Prince George III. She was the first to bring Poms to England. They were mainly white dogs and most weighed over 20 pounds. The granddaughter of Queen Charlotte was Victoria and she was a devoted dog fancier. When her husband (Prince Albert) suddenly sickened and died in 1861 at the age of 42, the saddened Queen grew even fonder of her gentle pets. She raised more than 15 different breeds of canines in her lifetime, and in her later years, her attentions were particularly focused on the Pomeranian breed.
The beloved Queen made a trip to Italy in 1888 and while there she purchased a sable red Pom named Marco and brought him back to England. Marco weighed only 12 pounds and today, many dog historians point to him as being the instigator of the desire to breed smaller Pomeranians. Marco went on to compete under the Queen's name in many dog shows and won many honours. Victoria also bought three other Poms on the same trip to Florence in 1888. The most famous next to Marco was a cute little female named Gina. She also became a champion at London dog shows.
Spurred by the Queen's kennel of Poms, English dog fanciers began breeding even smaller Poms, and when the adult dogs began to hit below eight pounds they were called Toy Pomeranians.
Miss Hamilton's Poms. In nineteenth-century England, Miss Hamilton's famous kennel competed with Queen Victoria's and divided most of the honours with the royal kennels. It was Miss Hamilton who won the first championship for a Pom.

*Is there a Pomeranian Club /s in your country?*

The Pomeranian Club
Honorary Secretary - Mrs Val Christopher - Telephone 01686 670387

South Of England Pomeranian Club

Honorary Secretary - Mrs Gill Taylor - 01189714406

The Scottish Pomeranian Club

Honorary Secretary - Miss C M McDowall - 01698 791467

The Pomeranian Club Of Northern Ireland

Honorary Secretary - Mr Paul Williamson - 028 93322606

The Pomeranian Club Of South Wales

Honorary Secretary - Mrs J Stone - 01267202370

*Can you tell us about the Judging system in your country?

There are three main types of shows, Limit, Open, and Championship.
Limit Shows
Limit shows are run by individual dog clubs, and are restricted to the members of that club. These shows are probably the best place to start your showing career as you will be given a lot of help and advice without the pressures of the larger, more competitive shows. The classes at these shows are quite small making it an ideal place to start.
Open Shows
These shows have a broader range of classes and tend to be more competitive. In some classes you will be up against dogs of other breeds. Open Shows can also be purely for one specific breed. The top prize at this is The Best in Show, which is judged from the Best of Breed. The Best in Breed is the best dog and bitch of that one breed.
Championship Shows
These shows can be breed specific, group specific, for example gundogs, working etc, or for all breeds. These shows offer the widest range of classes and winning at these can gain the ultimate award of qualifying for Crufts, the most prestigious dog show in Britain.
The dogs that win each class compete for Challenge Certificates (C.C.’s), dogs and bitches separately. Once you have three C.C.’s from three separate judges your dog is made up to a Champion. After the C.C’s have been awarded the Best of Breed winners from each group (gundogs, working, hounds etc) are judged to find Best of Group. These are then judged for Best in Show. The dog declared the Best in Show has competed and is unbeaten by any other dog exhibited at the same show.
The results of all these shows are usually available on the day from the show secretary, they are also published in the dog papers such as Dog World and Our Dogs. Some judges will write a critique of the first 2 or 3 placings, this can help you to know what they saw as the good and bad points of the dogs judged on the day. The only drawback on the critique is that sometimes you have to wait quite a few weeks before it is published, if at all.
The other award that can be obtained is a Junior Warrant, which is based on a points system. These points can only be obtained by placings at Open and Championship shows. The points have to add up to 25 and must be collected in the dogs first year of showing, the dog will then be 18 months old.
The larger Open and Championship shows can be benched or unbenched. Benched means that on entering the show the dogs are allocated an open cage where it has to be left when not being shown. Unbenched shows have no facilities for leaving your dog unattended so they can stay with their owner or handler at all times.
The classes that can be entered at dog shows are dependant upon age, number of first places and C.C.’s won.

Each breed of dog falls into a certain category, working, utility, terrier, gundog, hound, toy, pastoral, rare breeds and imported register. To enter a show an entry form has to be filled in giving details of the dog being entered and for which class, the forms can be obtained from your local ringcraft classes, dog shows or directly from the show secretary. The forms have to be filled in and sent off with the entry fee some time before the actual show date. The form will have a closing date on it and any entries received after the closing date will not be allowed. Once the secretary has received the entries, a catalogue of all the dogs entered is compiled. This is made available to everyone on the show day.
Classes
Minor Puppy
For dogs of six and not exceeding nine calendar months of age on the first day of the show.

Puppy
For dogs of six and not exceeding twelve calendar months of age on the first day of the show.
Junior
For dogs of six and not exceeding eighteen calendar months of age on the first day of the show.
Special Yearling
For dogs of six and not exceeding twenty four months of age on the first day of the show.
Maiden
For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate or a first prize at an Open or Championship Show (Minor puppy, Special Minor Puppy, Puppy and Special Puppy classes excepted, whether restricted or not).
Novice
For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate or three or more first prizes at Open and Championship Shows (Minor puppy, Special Minor Puppy, Puppy and Special Puppy classes excepted, whether restricted or not).
Undergraduate
For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate or three or more first prizes at Championship Shows (Minor puppy, Special Minor Puppy, Puppy and Special Puppy classes excepted, whether restricted or not).
Graduate
For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate or four or more first prizes at Championship Shows in Graduate, Post Graduate, Minor Limit, Mid Limit, Limit and Open Classes, whether restricted or not.
Post Graduate
For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate or five or more first prizes at Championship Shows in Post Graduate, Minor Limit, Mid Limit, Limit and Open Classes, whether restricted or not.
Mid Limit
For dogs which have not won three Challenge Certificates or five or more first prizes in all at Championship Shows in Mid Limit, Limit and open classes, confined to the breed, whether restricted or not, at shows where Challenge Certificates were offered for the breed.
Limit
For dogs which have not won three Challenge Certificates under three different judges or seven or more first prizes in all, at Championship Shows in Limit and Open classes, confined to the breed, whether restricted or not, at shows where Challenge Certificates were offered for the breed.
Open
For all dogs of the breed for which the class is provided and eligible for entry at the show.
Veteran
For dogs of seven years of age and over on the first day of the show.
Any Variety Not Separately Classified (AVNSC)
For breeds of dogs for which no separate classes are scheduled
Imported Register
Where an Interim Breed Standard has been approved by the Kennel Club, breeds whose registration is confined to the Imported Register may be exhibited in this class only and are ineligible for any other competition whatsoever.

*Are Pomeranians very popular in your country?*

Yes very. Unfortunately this has spurred on puppy farmers and back yard breeders to deal in puppies they sell as poms and they grow up to be something very different. That’s when they come to people like me asking why there pom looks so different to mine.
How do you tell someone they spent a fortune on a mutt?

*The approximate number of Pomeranians exhibited at most shows.*

I would say the average this year is aprox 70 dogs entered per Champ show and this is quite typical for our breed.

*What colored Pomeranians are most popular?*

This is something which changes every year but the top colour I get requests for is cream or wolf sable. Although in the last year we have started to see more colours in the ring like parti’s which people have started to ask about.
*Photos of some of the winning pomeranians.*

Article written by Zoe Slocombe

Pommania Pomeranians U.K.

Many thanks to Zoe for this insight into Pomeranians in the U.K.