| Today's tiny Pomeranian has an unexpected | | | | for breeding to the Pomeranian, at one time |
| canine lineage. This fluffy member of the toy | | | | keeping 35 Pomeranian dogs. The monarch is |
| group has ancestors who were sturdy members | | | | credited with further reducing the size of |
| of the working group - the Spitz sled dogs of | | | | the Pomeranian through her efforts. Her show |
| Lapland and Greenland. Early cousins of the | | | | Pomeranians - Fluffy, Nino, Mino, Beppo, |
| Spitz also worked herding sheep in the early | | | | Gilda and Lulu, competed in many dog shows |
| 19th century. In fact, it's easier to imagine | | | | and won at least two championships. According |
| today's Pomeranian yapping around the edges | | | | to her biographers, in 1901, from her |
| of a herd of sheep than pulling a sled | | | | deathbed, the Queen asked for her pet |
| through snow. Still, traces of the Spitz can | | | | Pomeranian Turi, who was brought to her and |
| be seen in the Pomeranian's colors and | | | | remained at her side until she died. Besides |
| winter-textured coat. | | | | royalty, other famous Pomeranian owners |
| | | | include a wide range of artists and |
| Pomeranians get their name from a region on | | | | celebrities, from Michelangelo, whose dog |
| the southern Baltic coast known as Pomerania, | | | | watched him paint the Sistine Chapel, to |
| where the dogs were imported into Europe and | | | | actress Kate Hudson, who is by now as well |
| bred down to size. It must have taken many | | | | known as her mother, Goldie Hawn. Hudson's |
| generations of breeding to reduce the thirty | | | | Pomeranian is named Pom Clara Bo. |
| pound Spitz to a much-reduced size much | | | | |
| closer to the size of today's Pomeranian. In | | | | According to Sir Isaac Newton's biographers, |
| 1870, the Kennel Club in England recognized | | | | a Pomeranian can drive a person mad. Newton's |
| the Pomeranian breed, calling it the "spitz | | | | Pomeranian, Diamond, once knocked over a |
| dog." One of the best known Pomeranian | | | | candle that burned some of his work papers, |
| owners in history was Queen Victoria of | | | | and the ensuing stress caused Newton to have |
| England, who ruled between 1819 and 1901. | | | | a nervous breakdown. |
| Queen Victoria first saw the dog as a girl, | | | | |
| when her mother, Queen Charlotte kept one as | | | | Pomeranians are inspirational. Mozart |
| a pet. Queen Victoria got Marco, a Pomeranian | | | | dedicated an aria to his Pomeranian, and |
| of her own, in 1888. | | | | Chopin composed music for a Pomeranian |
| | | | belonging to his girlfriend. The name of |
| The English royal family had then, and has | | | | historical church leader Martin Luther's |
| now, a keen interest in breeding horses and | | | | Pomeranian Belferlein pops up here and there |
| dogs. Queen Victoria applied this enthusiasm | | | | in his writings. |