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