A Compact, short coupled dog. He should exhibit great intelligence in his expression, docility in his disposition, and activity & bouyancy in his deportment & be sound in action. The weight of a Pomeranian for exhibition is to be between 3-7 lbs though The ideal show specimen is 4-5lbs. The Pomeranian should have 2 coats, an undercoat & an outer coat. The first should be a soft, fluffy undercoat, and the second to be a long, straight, and glistening coat covering the whole body.
Thirteen colors or color combinations are permissable & recognized by the CKC. They are; black, brown, chocolate, beaver, red, orange, cream, orange sable, wolf sable, blue, white, parti color and black & tan. ( more specific definitions can be found on the CKC website)
All that aside, Poms can be found to weigh anywhere between 3-12 lbs and still be acceptable if correct in proportion. Same idea for the colors. In the AKC, all the above colors are accepted in the show ring as well as Brindles & Merles, those with a black mask and other than standard parti colors allowed by the CKC, making it much easier to find a registered Pomeranian in the US than one that is allowed in the ring here in Canada.
The upshot of all that being the colors of Pomeranians vary greatly with many variations available to you. Depending on what you are looking for in a Pom you are sure to find one. Here, we breed for the more exotic or non-traditional colors though we can get both. Just because the Sire is a Parti color is no guarantee that the pups will be! Same for registered dogs. Just because the puppy CAN be registered, does not mean he/she is show quality or can or should be shown in the ring. Quality of conformation & coat is not dependant on being registered but the quality of the parents overall, and Quality is what we breed for.
Dental Problems: The most commonly occuring problems involve the teeth. If not properly taken care of through frequent cleaning at home as well as regular checkups at the vet, teeth can fall out at a relativly early age leading to many other health problems.
Hypoglygemia: or Low blood sugar is also common problem. Caused by stress, over excitement, not enough rest, and not eating enough quality food, low blood sugar can be a serious problem if not caught early. Easily treatable in the early stages, but fatal if left untreated. Signs include, acting listless or overly tired, then trembling and/or shivering. Convulsions or a coma-like state can follow. Treatment such as making the puppy stays warm & as well as feeding a supplement such as Nutri-cal can make an immediate improvement. As soon as posibble, feed the puppy canned food as well and then make sure you watch the puppy to be sure he/she is doing well. A trip to the vet is important to be sure your puppy is back to normal. Making sure the puppy is treated like a baby with a regular eating, napping and play schedule is an important start to a happy healthy dog.
Luxating Patellas: Not as common but does occur. Sliding of the knee out of the normal position usually to the inside causing the joing to "Lock up" with the foot off the ground. Usually just a temporary situation requiring little or no intervention and reverting to normal within a few minutes. It can however be more pronounced in some dogs, especially as they get older and can but does not always require surgical intervention.
Tracheal Collapse: Common in most all small breeds, tracheal weakness or collapse is when the airway closes either partially or fully and will not stay open enough for normal breathing. This can occurs when the dog is excited, obese, or there is too much pressure on the region. This is the one main reason we use, recommend & provide you with a harness for your Pomeranian, never a traditional collar used for the larger breeds. If you wish to use a collar, a cats style break-away collar is a great alternative for an id tag use.
There are other problems that can occur with Poms, such as heart defects (PDA) , abnormal testical retention in males and so on but they are less common.