Dogs and All about Them

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 equalled in the case of the now fashionable Pekinese.