Pomeranian
- Thread starter Sapphire-Light
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Pomeranians constantly shed and need lots of grooming. Also, they usually bark a lot and can become aggressive toward strangers if not trained properly. Most owners forget to train them because they think they are small and cute and do not need firm hand. They are good watchdogs and very active indoors. If you have the time to train them properly and groom them, then they are great for apartment living.
I have a German Spitz (mittel), the ancestor breed of the Pom, and I *adore* her. However, she's a LOT of dog in a little package (she's 14 pounds.) and I don't particularly think the Poms are that much less as a rule. A lot of people seem to want them to be little cuddly wind up toys and well, they're not. 
If you want a lapdog, get a Peke. If you want a very small but active, intelligent, creative companion? Poms might suit. Lizzie is one of the best problem-solvers I've ever had OR worked with. She's an absolute joy to train, but sometimes frustrating- it has to be FUN or she's not interested. (CU and "BUilding Blocks for Performance" were my bibles with her as a puppy. She CAN be naughty and doesn't have a whole lot of an attention span, but in general IS pretty sure that people are the source of almost all the good stuff in an environment.)
The breed has a number of health problems, and I'd be very careful who I bought one from if I wanted a puppy.
If you want a lapdog, get a Peke. If you want a very small but active, intelligent, creative companion? Poms might suit. Lizzie is one of the best problem-solvers I've ever had OR worked with. She's an absolute joy to train, but sometimes frustrating- it has to be FUN or she's not interested. (CU and "BUilding Blocks for Performance" were my bibles with her as a puppy. She CAN be naughty and doesn't have a whole lot of an attention span, but in general IS pretty sure that people are the source of almost all the good stuff in an environment.) The breed has a number of health problems, and I'd be very careful who I bought one from if I wanted a puppy.
One of the ladies at the training facility breeds poms and she's always in there socializing puppies and training her older dogs. Hers are a kick in the pants , but then she takes a lot of time to work with them.
She has this one male named Bernie who reminds me of some type of awesome little circus dog. He's very acrobatic and she has him trained to do all kinds of parlor tricks, like standing on his back legs and walking around with a treat balanced on his nose type of thing.
They do strike me as pretty active and into things. They definitely would need (and seem to crave) firm training. Hers are mostly outgoing and giant hams who want everybody to pay attention to how awesome they are and their awesome performances, lol. I don't know if that is really typical of the breed, or just her dogs. She socializes them very well, and has several with their TDIs.
, but then she takes a lot of time to work with them. She has this one male named Bernie who reminds me of some type of awesome little circus dog. He's very acrobatic and she has him trained to do all kinds of parlor tricks, like standing on his back legs and walking around with a treat balanced on his nose type of thing.
They do strike me as pretty active and into things. They definitely would need (and seem to crave) firm training. Hers are mostly outgoing and giant hams who want everybody to pay attention to how awesome they are and their awesome performances, lol. I don't know if that is really typical of the breed, or just her dogs. She socializes them very well, and has several with their TDIs.
Well, the one main difference is grooming. Poms are a lot more grooming than a papillon. Paps are single coated, poms are double coated.
Energy I've heard is fairly similar, though the paps I know seem more energetic to me. I've heard it either way. Everyone seems to agree that paps are easier to train, or at least motivate. As Dogstar said, poms need motivation to do things and hold their attention. Poms seem to be more into their owners than strangers, whereas the paps are all over the new person. That's not to say poms aren't friendly, because it of course has to do with socialization, but they seem more likely to be attached to one person. They're also more independent based on what I see. That's not exactly a bad thing either since paps are really clingy. That stems from their heritage, though. Poms are spitz and paps are spaniels.
If I ever decided to go the spitz route though, I'd have to get a GS because I just like the more foxy look than the show pom look.
Energy I've heard is fairly similar, though the paps I know seem more energetic to me. I've heard it either way. Everyone seems to agree that paps are easier to train, or at least motivate. As Dogstar said, poms need motivation to do things and hold their attention. Poms seem to be more into their owners than strangers, whereas the paps are all over the new person. That's not to say poms aren't friendly, because it of course has to do with socialization, but they seem more likely to be attached to one person. They're also more independent based on what I see. That's not exactly a bad thing either since paps are really clingy. That stems from their heritage, though. Poms are spitz and paps are spaniels.
If I ever decided to go the spitz route though, I'd have to get a GS because I just like the more foxy look than the show pom look.
I had a Pom for 16 years and I adored her. She was well socialized and loved people yet she didn't need to be constantly coddled. She was just as happy to sit in your lap as she was playing with a toy by herself. She was very trainable and I used her as my demonstration dog when I taught dog obedience classes. Grooming wasn't hard and shedding wasn't a problem. I brushed her out 2-3 times per week and with her being so small, it didn't take but a few minutes to do. I bathed her about every 6-8 weeks and the only time she had an odor was when she played in leaves or something. She rarely barked was never hyper. The key to having a good Pom is the same as any other breed, proper socialization and calm, consistent training. I miss Darby and I am seriously considering adding another Pom to my household when the time is right.
That was why I ended up going with Lizzie, actually. My three favorite Poms that I'd met that got me interested in the breed were all rescues and way out of standard. One was a UDX (now deceased) belonging to a lady who judges rally down in south Texas- he was SO awesome, one is working on her UDX and belongs to an obedience instructor up here, and the third was a dog that did agility up in MA.
The UDX dog who is local could just about be Lizzie's twin looking at their faces, but Lizzie has better structure. I wasn't able to find a pom in rescue locally at the time I was looking who was 1, large enough (I wanted 15 pounds or therabouts) AND 2, sound enough (for some reason, every time I went to look at a dog, it had clicky patellas.) But in general, pom rescue is AWESOME.
The UDX dog who is local could just about be Lizzie's twin looking at their faces, but Lizzie has better structure. I wasn't able to find a pom in rescue locally at the time I was looking who was 1, large enough (I wanted 15 pounds or therabouts) AND 2, sound enough (for some reason, every time I went to look at a dog, it had clicky patellas.) But in general, pom rescue is AWESOME.