Teacup Pomeranians
I made this section because I am often asked about “teacup pomeranians”. The simple answer is that “teacup pomeranians” don’t exist. There is no official classification or standard for a “teacup pomeranian.” The highest regarded registry in the United States of America is the American Kennel Club (AKC). The AKC classifies the pomeranian breed as a toy class canine. The AKC breed standard for a pomeranian is 3-7 lbs.” That being said, can a pomeranian be larger or smaller than the breed standard? The answer is yes. However, most pomeranians that are called “teacup” by a breeder is actually within the 3-7 lb range. Some breeders use this term as a marketing gimmick to trick buyers into thinking that they somehow purchased a rare or extraordinarily more desirable puppy when the reality is that it is simply a pomeranian that is bred within the standard. You will never see an ethical breeder using the term teacup.
As said above, there are rare cases when pomeranians are smaller than 3 lbs when fully grown. This is usually produced by breeding small pomeranians to small pomeranians or can result from being a runt of a litter. Oftentimes, these smaller than average pomeranians are created from breeding runts to runts, inbreeding, and even limiting nutrition during development to stunt the growth. These are unethical breeding practices and can result in a multitude of health issues.
My final point on the topic of “teacup pomeranians” is that this term is used routinely by scam artists. Puppy scams are at an all-time high. There are many legitimate looking websites that are complete scam sites. Many of these scammers use the classification of “teacup” and photoshop photos of pomeranians to make them appear to be tiny by enlarging and blackening the eyes and reducing the size of the muzzle. Although absolutely adorable, these pomeranians do not exist.
Belle House pomeranians weighs our puppies weekly from birth to chart projected size as an adult. Although this is a great tool it is not foolproof. Like human babies, sometimes puppies do not stay on course of the charting. However, charting weights is a better indicator of adult size than other methods. We post all of our projected adult weights of each puppy individually on our Available Puppies page.