Purebred
How to Know if Pomeranian is a Purebred
Proving a Pom is Purebred?
Question:
I rescued my Pom. How do you know if a Pomeranian is full blooded or a mixed Pomeranian? Owner: Leona, Pom: Wiggles
Answer:
Hi Leona. This is a good Pomeranian question. When the Pomeranian breed is mixed, the genes of the Pom may be so strong that one cannot tell by looking that the Pomeranian is not full blooded.
While the breed standard calls out for a dog that is fox faced and between 3 - 7 lbs ( 1.36 - 3.175 kg); the appearance of a Pomeranian can vary greatly. Some will be on the smaller end of the scale and some will be much larger than the top range of 7 lbs.(3.175 kg).
There are Poms that have thinner, sleeker bodies... and Poms that have a more square, solid and full body. While the standard calls for a fox-like face that actually makes a Pomeranian look like a fox, some purebred Poms will have a teddy bear
or baby doll face. And since this breed can be found in just any canine coat color
that is possible, there is really no color that would be 'off' and lead you to believe that the dog was mixed.
So, how do you know if a Pomeranian is a purebred? If a person purchased a Pomeranian from a licensed, professional Pomeranian breeder and is given documentation and papers showing that dog is a purebred you can trust in this 99% of the time (unless in the extremely unlikely event that the breeder has forged papers).
Many Pom owners obtained their dog through other means, such as: adopting a rescued Pom (like you did), a private sale in which there were no papers to be given, taking over a friend or relatives dog, etc.
In this case, you may certainly feel better by reading through the AKC Pomeranian breed standards and carefully looking over each feature of your dog to see if he or she fits the standard; however this, of course, will not give you proof.
While this of course does not apply to rescued dogs, if someone is without papers, they may try to track down the parents of the dog, to see if both of the parents have papers and are registered as purebreds.
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A sleeker purebred Pom
Kayla Marie Diva, 4 years old , Photo courtesy of owner: Jessi B.
A fuller & more squared off purebred Pom
Landon, photo courtesy of owner: Joan Robinson.
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A baby faced purebred Pomeranian
Ralphie, Photo courtesy of owners: Seth & Katie
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A fox faced purebred Pomeranian puppy
Photo courtesy of owners: Jason & Candice
DNA Testing
However, we do understand that you do not have access to Wiggles' parents. The only way to know for sure, if you do not have papers, is DNA testing. DNA testing has come so far and is embedded in main stream society now.
Some dog breed clubs, actually require a DNA test for dogs to be able to enter conformance events. DNA testing for dogs may be less complicate or expensive than one may think.
There are many companies that will test a dog's DNA and more are appearing all of the time. Most often, this testing is done by swabbing the inside of the dog's mouth to pick up saliva which hold DNA.
The sample is then mailed in and results take 2 to 4 weeks. In some cases, blood testing can be done in person by a veterinarian or by certain universities.
Testing will be done to check to see if a particular dog is indeed a purebred and if the dog is an unknown mix, the breeds of the parents (dam and sire) can almost always be identified. We'd suggest researching companies before committing to one; they have varying rates of accuracy. It is easier to identify the breed of a mixed dog if both parents (dam and sire) were purebreds.
The price is relatively not that expensive, prices will generally range from between $50 to $100 USD.
We'd love for you to learn about the most comprehensive, helpful Pom book that exists (NOW IN PRINT!)...Check out our Pomeranian book.
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