Toy breeds are cute and the winner of the category might as well be the fluffy, glamorous, and sexy Pomeranian. It is a stunning dog loved by a feminine clientele and has been spotted in handbags, crossed arms, laps, backpacks, and pretty much anywhere another dog wouldn’t enjoy being. Yet, breeding smaller pomeranian dogs is not accepted by many.
Welcome to #BreedersTalk! A series dealing with important dog breeding matters, one article at a time. For each, we handpick a handful of influential dog breeders to share their interesting points of view with you.
Currently, the trend with new dog owners and some new dog breeders is pretty clear: we love smaller dogs and love smaller versions of already small dog breeds. Chihuahuas, Spitz, Pomeranians, French Bulldogs, and other tiny dogs are all bred to be even smaller by some breeders. Supply and demand.
That trend sparks a lot of animosity in the canine world for several reasons: we drift away from the official Pomeranian standard, we put the smaller dogs at risk because of extreme breeding practices aiming for always smaller.
For this reason, I wanted to ask three Pomeranian breeders for their opinion, hoping one would discuss why they want to breed smaller Pomeranians to generate more money. As expected, nobody wanted to defend that point of view, even if they practiced it. I guess it was too risky and could get the breeder’s reputation damaged. I spoke to one of these breeders and promised complete anonymity against a serious and honest comment. I got it, it is the last on this page!
A Smaller Pomeranian? No, Health First!
Macee Whitton, Glitzy Poms
Being a breeder for almost 7 years, I have seen a lot of ads for teacup Pomeranian dogs but the truth is the Pomeranian breed does not have a teacup or toy type since the breed is so small to start with.
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The Pomeranian’s AKC standard size is 3-7lbs, if a breeder says their puppies are teacup or toy they do not know the Pomeranian breed nor its official standard. If a Pomeranian is bigger than 10lbs, they are called throwback Pomeranians. In my experience of almost a decade of breeding Pomeranians, I have noticed my buyers do ask for the tiny Pomeranian sizes between 3-5lbs and that trend strengthens. Don’t get me wrong, there are also some owners who want bigger Poms if they enjoy doing hiking or have small children.
To me, the American Kennel Club’s breeding standard of the Pomeranians is always my end goal so I will not breed any Pom that is larger than 8lbs, or smaller than 3lbs. Being a responsible breeder, I will not breed any female Pomeranian that is smaller than 4lbs as I believe this is when you start dealing with health problems and C-sections. Breeders who breed 2lbs Pomeranians are asking for many complicated health problems and rough C-sections just to get a little extra money in their pocket, which I find wrong and sad! Owners should also be looking for small, quality, and healthy Pomeranian puppies.
When pricing my Pomeranian puppies I do price the smaller Pomeranians at a bigger cost but not only do I look at the size, I also look at their quality. Does the puppy have a short teddy bear face? Does it have a high tail set? Does it have a short structure? Etc.
Being a breeder, you must estimate the puppies’ size and structure at a young age so there is never a 100% guarantee. You never look at what will bring more money in your pocket, you look at what will improve the breed overall. When you are a breeder like me, you don’t make much money because I am always trying to better my program, always doing check-ups on my poms and buying them the best dog breeding supplies.
Why Not? Let’s Be Real About It…
Anonymous Input
Does anyone else find it at all weird that literally every person, professional, or industry that provides a product or service for our dogs is allowed to behave and profit like a business except for the people who actually PRODUCE the dogs? Think about it trainers, groomers, vets, pet food manufacturers, companies that make collars, leashes, and accessories, dog walkers, pet sitters, rescues, and shelters that run for profit as many are.
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All of these people benefit in a direct financial way from us owning dogs yet somehow the people who actually bring those dogs into being don’t even deserve to be compensated for the time, care, and money they put into making the dogs we love….. Odd.
So, my two cents here are simple. As long as the dogs remain healthy, I would happily reduce their body size to generate more revenue. The client is happy, I am happy, the pom is happy. This is a fair situation for the three parts, in my humble opinion.
Just a precision, I wished to remain anonymous for this simply because I know I will receive hate messages for breeding smaller Pomeranians and I don’t want to spend hours over the next weeks to explain myself especially because I just did it in the lines above. I understand why some people wouldn’t do it, try to understand why I would.
Conclusion
Listen to old-school breeders, nobody should breed smaller Pomeranians. Listen to newcomers in the dog breeding industry, follow the trend and do it because if you don’t, someone else will. What I personally believe after reading these stories from established Pomeranian breeders is pretty simple: have your dogs’ health in mind first and foremost.
If you are completely confident in breeding slightly smaller Pomeranians that get through life with no extraordinary health issue, it is fine. If they do not conform to the official standard because of their too-small size, just make it clear and don’t try to be misleading! Chances are someone who wants a tiny Pom will not really care about the official Kennel Club standard.
Breeding smaller Pomeranians are happening, it is reality. Let’s make sure it does not get too out of hand and stays focus on the poms’ health, regardless of the body size.
Want to jump into the conversation? Use the comment box below and tell us what you think!
7 comments on “Breeders Talk: Breeding Smaller Pomeranians For More Money?”
I love my throwback pom at 18 pounds. We can get down on the floor and play and I don’t have to worry about hurting him. When I was working in a pet store as a kid, I had a customer that was looking for a little Maltese to replace the one she had stepped on and killed coming down some stairs. I swore then that I’d never get a dog that tiny, and that was 30 years ago.
Love the standard and I do not breed for tinies but get them and they are just as healthy as their bigger siblings. I like the smaller ones because they are easy to carry, faster to groom, eat less, poop less but by smaller I mean 3 lbs. By big I would mean anything over 6 lbs. I have had 4 lb. bitch deliver 3 pups natural and an 8 lb bitch need a c section. People should comply to the standard. It is the goal. Breed for the qualities in your breed standard. Do not breed 12 lb pomeranians nor 2 lb pomeranians. Do not breed for pets. A breeder breediig for conformation standard and health will not produce all show quality animals so there will still be pets for this segment of the population. No need for a breeder just breeding to make more dogs for pets. In fact I think it should be the law.
Exactly, people try to reinvent the breed just to have a unique-looking Pomeranian. This is not how breeding should be. We’ve wrote and published an excellent article as an introduction to Pomeranian breeding: https://breedingbusiness.com/dog-breeding-pomeranian-introduction/
Wow, I never thought a dog could ever be killed being stepped on!
People like cosmetic dogs such as toy dogs. Personally, I prefer dogs to maintain their natural look, but people now are acting god-like, mostly to produce healthy breeds but these small breeds are more of cosmetic purpose rather than health or purpose-focused.
There are so many health implications when peopl force breed to certain beauty standards – look at the difficulties flat faced dogs are having these days! So glad you take care of your pups health before any monetary incentive.
I have 3 poms. My 15-year-old is 11 pounds (a tad overweight by a pound or two), one 9 pounds and one 7 1/2 pounds. All are just right for me. We raised poms growing up 50+ years ago. Our male stud was almost 4 pounds and our female was 6. Two litters from them had 5-6 pound pups, but one litter had a 6 pound and a 16 pound (Chad and Jeremy.) I loved Jeremy because he was so much easier to play and romp with at 16 pounds. Our big guy was 8 pounds at 2 and he is perfect: sturdy and large enough to see. LOL