Any Pom owners out there?

I'm not in Ohio but I have a 'big pom'- a German Spitz. :) My girl is black, and there's a few photos of her on the breed board if you look for GS. She's a mittel- she'll be about 14" at the shoulder and 16-20 poounds.

Is your boy a true merle? If that's the case, please, please, please neuter him, if he's not already. It's not a native color to the breed and it's crept in due to it's novelty. Whiel they're really striking and merle in itself isn't a harmful gene, the dangers of homozygous merle are very real. Merle does not show up on any of the red/yellow based colors beyond puppy-hood (if you're lucky, you'll get blue eyes to tip you off), so in a breed where so much of  the population is red-based (cream, red/orange, etc) and so many BYBs... merle could be a huge, huge problem in the future.

Hi Pwca, Thanks for the reply.I'm not into breeding or anything like that. My boy has been neutered, but he only had one testicle so it was considered major surgery. I was told he has an overbite so wouldn't be good for breeding. The overbite is obvious! He's such a sweet boy so I really don't mind much. Please try to explain what you say I should look for in him. He is red, tan, black with freckles on his nose. He definitely has brown eyes. He weighs in at about 15 lbs. My female started out white but turned buff. Oh well I love them anyways. Look forward to hearing from you again.

He sounds more like a sable (my favorite color!) than a merle, to be honest-it's one of the 'base' colors in Poms and has a huge variation in the way it can express itself visually. (Pom genetics are really confusing.)

Merle is a gene which basically dilutes random sections of the coat. It only works on black (or liver) pigment and has no effect on red (which is why you get those lovely blue-grey aussies with really rich tan points) pigment. If you google 'sable merle sheltie' youll see what it looks like on a red/yellow (same color as the orange poms) long non-black coat. Although there are now merle poms being registered, the color is NOT native to the breed- it popped up  fairly recently (I believe in the late 90s), apparently, and coicidentally, the breeder who first had them appear breeds for exotic colors. It's striking but it's NOT a correct or true color to the breed and was probably brought in by someone crossing to another breed (I suspect shelties, since it seems to be strongly linked to black/tan, which is not a common pattern in poms)

Hope your move to Ohio went well and you are all enjoying the new year!

I am over in MASSACHUSETTS but if you'd ever like to talk Pom I'd be more than happy to! Take care!
 

I have 5 poms and live not to far from you in West Virginia.  As you can see I love poms.....Mine are a blue merle female, (4 lbs), a blue merle parti female (6 lbs) two tri males (4 and 5 lbs) and a rescued chocolate parti male.

Hi there,  I'm in SW Pa, very close to the Ohio border.  I just got my first Pom.  I was NOT excited about it because I have never heard anything good about Poms.  I only recently encountered a few folks who have Poms that are very enjoyable creatures.  Much to my surprise, the Pom I have has turned out to have a very nice personality and temperament.  I have decided to keep him..... unless I face some other non-Pom related issues. 

I really look forward to chatting with Pom people.  I'm thrilled with this little guy and would like to be active in dispelling some (if not all) of the nasty things that are assumed about Poms.

What's the name of the town in PA that you live?  I use to live in Morgantown, WV, and recently moved to Martinsburg, WV.  Glad you found out how much fun it is to have a pom in your life.

I'm here in Connellsville, Pa.  It is about 45miles north of M'town.  I used to spend a lot of time there.  I was seeing some docs at Ruby.  I went about three times a week for over a year.  I had a lovely surgery and my room had a great view of WVU stadium..... LOL

You might be more familiar with Uniontown.  That is our county seat.  It is about 20some miles north.  I am in Fayette County.  It is almost the the most south western county.  Greene is the one in the very sw corner of Pa.  We are right next to it.

    This is my new buddy, Pippin.  I also have a 12yr old Yorkie, a 5yr old Yorkie and a 10yr old Shih Tzu.  Pippin just turned 4mos old.

I am familiar with the Connellsville area, but more so with Uniontown.  I use to work in an office just a 5 minute walk to WVU Hospital.  Pippin is so cute.  If I knew how to post a photo of mine, I would.    How big is Pippin?

Hey, don't feel bad.  I am so new to computing.  I am still teaching myself on every new site and project.  I just figured out how to post my pix to this site just now.  I was able to post in my profile, but I still don't know to post a pic in the ID box that appears in the corner of each post.  I also can't get a picture to appear as my signature.  I will press on and I will conquer!  Do you have Photobucket?  That seems to be the easiest way for most of these.  Sometimes, the options will take you right to your own photo albums.  It seem like every forum, site, etc I go to take a different process.

Pippin is just now 4 mos old and weighs between 3+ and 4lbs.  He was somewhere around 4lbs two weeks ago when I had him to the vet.  He was just a ride along.  His apt is this week.  I have to re-start his puppy vaccs.   I don't know what he had before he went to the pet store and the people who bought him did not take him to the vet for his check up or health guarantee.... or vaccs.   I will get a current weight this week.

I hope he stays small.   I don't need a micro dog, but someone predicted his weight to be as much as 20 pounds.  That is WAY bigger than I was banking on.  Winston is my Tzu.  He is 14lbs and that is about as much as I can handle on a daily basis.  He DOES look big in the pix, but he is all fuzz.  I don't care about his visual size, I just don't need a 20lb dog.  I haven't heard too many good things about Pom's, but I didn't realize they would get THAT big.  I know all about their heritage, but Pom's have been around long enough that I thought there would be some reasonable size range.  3 - 30lbs sounds a bit out of control.

Oh well, I will ask doc if he has any guesses.  My groomer has some formula she quotes in reguards to predicting her Yorkies adult sizes.  I don't know if that applies to Pom's or not.  This could get interesting.

I posted some photo's of my poms on the photo page here.  I do know that there is a formula for pomes too, but am not sure exactly what it is.  If you would like, after he sees the vet, let me know his weight and I'll see if I can find that chart.  He's really cute no matter how big he gets.

Mdog59

I have to re-start his puppy vaccs.   I don't know what he had before he went to the pet store and the people who bought him did not take him to the vet for his check up or health guarantee.... or vaccs.   I will get a current weight this week.

All though the Vet tells me there is no harm is restarting puppy vaccs when you are not sure of their records if you are saying he came from a Pet Store then he was REQUIRED to be up to date on all shots. Have you tried contacting that pet store?

He is a charmer.  I keep looking for something "wrong" with him.  He has a very nice personality, very affectionate, eager to do what he is asked.....   I not only had reservations about him being a Pom, but I also have had reservations about him being a pet shop pup.  I don't think shops should sell dogs, and these people who bought him no NOTHING about dogs, much less understand the breed or the pit falls of irresponsible breeders.

I am well aware that he may have have some bad breeding issues, like health issues, but I am more concerned about temperament.  I can deal with health care issues, but not if he would be nasty.  I have a friend who bought a Chi from a bad breeder and then they gave him to immature, irresponsible grandchildren.... with an equally guilty mom, this dog has been a miserable nightmare or about 10yrs now.  Very soon after it was obvious that the pup would not be cared for, my friend/ the grandma took the pup back.  She cannot even handle him at all.  She can't transport him to the vet without sedative and crating, she can't cuddle him without fear of unporvoked attack, and she cannot administer any kind of care, bathing, meds.....   I would have probably had him put down.  I can only think of a very few dogs in thirty years of dogs that were that bad.

I'm glad I see what I see in Pippin.

Actually, no.  I pretty much thought it would be too late to pick up where they left off.  I have been on the phone all morning scheduling vet checks for league animals, vet apts with my animals and groomer's apts for my animals.... I guess I could add one more call to the list.  Thanks.  I will do that now.  Pippin goes for his shots on Weds.  I will call today to see what they tell me.  That could save him a shot or two and save me a dollar or two.  Good deal all the way around.