“THE PRESENTATION OF THE COAT ALSO GIVES THE BREED-SPECIFIC LOOK THAT WE DESIRE. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH LENGTH TO GIVE THE DOG A ‘ROUND ALL OVER’ SHAPE.”
are set too wide and flare at a slight angle out rather than being set nice and high on the skull, as desired. The eyes are the final head trait that makes or breaks a really beautiful expression. We want an almond-shaped eye, medium-sized and dark in color. Our new standard includes disqualifca- tions for a few eye faults that detract severely from the desired expression, see below for additional details. The combination of these distinctive head traits is what gives the Pom his beautiful “fox-like” expression. Please put sufficient emphasis on the head to ensure you are rewarding a typical The Pomeranian with correct coat has the longest and fullest coat of the Spitz family. Like the rest of the family we want a double coat with a short dense undercoat of rather soft texture, and a long harsh texture outer coat or guard coat. The texture should be harsh enough to provide weather resistantance. example of the breed. THE COAT & ITS PRESENTATION
The presentation of the coat also gives the breed-specific look that we desire. There should be enough length to give the dog a “round all over” shape. With correct natural length and a care- ful and moderate trim, the dog will look round from the side, the front or back, and also from the top. Trimming has gone through many trends over the past few decades, but these days the majori- ty of the dogs you see in the ring will be trimmed rather well. If you have a dog that is overly trimmed it will lose the round look from various angles, and too much of the outer coat will be trimmed off to the point that it is difficult, if not The Pom tail is set very high, and combined with the correct flat croup gives a carriage right on top of the back and as tight to the back as possible. When it is properly set, it will also give you a bit of shelf behind. Combined with the unique long hair forming a plume, this tail and set provides another very significant breed-specific trait. Our standard emphasizes this important impossible, to evaluate texture. THE TAIL & ITS PLUME
characteristic in three different places, so please look for it and reward it when you can. Low tail set is listed as a major fault in our standard. THE 2011 STANDARD & DISQUALIFICATIONS Our new standard went in to effect August 31, 2011. It was primarily undertaken to be clear on the Merle color pattern, which was not specifi- cally addressed previously. The par- ent club’s final decision was to accept the Merle color pattern, but provide DQs for eye characteristics that some- times appear along with this color pattern and detract from breed type and expression. Here is the exact language from the new standard, “Disqualification: Eye(s) light blue, blue-marbled, blue-flecked.” (See Figure 2.) Please note that a cor- rect blue merle dog will probably have a very dark blue eye. This is correct, and provides the expression we desire. JUDGING THE POM I hope this has proved helpful to you in terms of judging the Pom and placing proper emphasis on breed- specific traits. Please remember, the Pom, and all other toy breeds, needs a gentle touch during your table exam. Do not be too heavy-handed. On the same token, please feel free to feel under that heavy coat to see what the actual struc- ture is like. I see far too many judges who give only a cursory exam, which will not provide the full picture. Also, expect to evaluate expression on the ground rather than on the table. Most dogs are not trained to show you full expression on the table, so please wait until the dog has done his out-and-back movement and the handler should alert the dog to show you expression. But, if they don’t, just ask.
Fig. 2: New Disqualifications: eye (eyes) of light blue, blue-marbled and blue-flecked.
Blue-Marbled Eye
Blue-Flecked Eye
Light Blue Eyes
60 • T op N otch T oys , F ebruary 2017
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