What Is A Teacup Pomeranian?
By: Carol Keen
“Teacup” is a deceptive term in some ways. I think it confuses lots of people.
Pomeranians were bred down over the years from 35 pound dogs. In that respect the entire Pomeranian breed is “teacuped” from what it once was. Today’s Pomeranians have a much smaller size in a pretty wide range of weights.
The current AKC show standard is 3 to 7 pounds. The standard changes as often as every 5 years for Poms. Most Poms you see are still between 5-8 pounds, and the show size is 4-6 pounds right now. In the non-ending quest to have the perfect tiny dog, lots of breeders started getting tiny-tiny dogs. Some were runts, far too small to ever be considered a breedable or showable Pomeranian, but they needed home as well. So in the middle of this new size change the undersized Poms and puppies of other toy breeds started being called “Teacups.” Photos of pups in large cups or next to soft drink cans became an overnight sensation. “Teacup” Poms are not a separate breed of Pomeranian! The breed Pomeranian does not have a toy and a standard size, it is all one toy breed.
I know it gets very frustrating at times because you wind up with a whole range of things out there that are confusing to sort through. We have people who are working to breed Poms who are smaller and smaller. Poms who are the runts of litters are called “teacups” and then there are those who use the name “teacup” just because they see it working for others. There are also places that mix breed the Poms with other breeds to shrink their size to super tiny and then charge exorbitant prices. While many people think that they want a super super small dog that is only 1-2 pounds, a tiny fragile dog is not suited to most homes. Dogs that tiny have extremely demanding and specific needs. Care that must be given on a consistent basis if they are to live a long healthy life. Health issues that can occur in super small dogs must be watched for as well. If you just keep pourpously shrinking a Pom (or any breed of dog) to get them smaller and smaller, you will run into problems in the breeding program and with the pups.
So what do I do with my pups regarding “teacup” Poms? I do, on occasion, have very small Poms. I do try my best to avoid that, but sometimes it happens anyway. If I wind up with a baby that I feel is smaller than they should be, they are going to stay home with me till they are older. Why? They need to be at least 2 pounds to leave us and I do not want to risk them having sugar crashes. I use NuVet faithfully to elminate that issue, and I have them checked for health issues. My goal is to have most of my pups grow up to be about 5 pounds. A few are smaller and sometimes a few are a bit heavier, but typically not by too much. In homes with children I prefer a slightly larger Pom so that everyone is safe and happy.
I sure hope this page has helped!
As ALWAYS with me, Please feel free to ask questions! Carol 🙂