Are Pomeranians Smart Dogs? Pomeranian Intelligence Explained

Last Updated on 16/11/2025 by Denise Leo. Post first published on November 16, 2025.

Pomeranians have always been admired for their bright eyes, alert nature, and expressive personalities — but just how smart are they really? Suppose you’ve ever wondered where Pomeranians sit on the canine intelligence scale, how their abilities compare to other breeds, or how you can measure your own Pom’s cleverness at home. In that case, this updated guide is for you.

Modern canine intelligence research looks far beyond simple obedience. Today, we evaluate multiple forms of intelligence — language comprehension, memory, problem-solving skills, emotional awareness, adaptability, and more. This updated page now includes a detailed Intelligence Components Table, helping you understand each area of cognitive ability and the behaviours to look for in your Pom.

To make this guide even more practical, we’ve also added a brand-new Interactive Pomeranian Intelligence Quiz. You can now assess your Pom’s unique strengths, track learning progress, and discover the types of brain games that best suit their personality.

Rather than offering a single “IQ score,” this page helps you uncover the full picture of Pomeranian intelligence — and shows exactly how you can support your Pom’s mental development, confidence, and lifelong learning.

How Smart are Pomeranians?

Intelligence doesn’t always come with size! The Pomeranian is a small dog that can pack a punch in terms of intelligence. This breed ranks 28th out of all the dog breeds in terms of obedience and working smarts, meaning they learn quickly.

The little guys may be smaller than most, but don’t let their diminutive stature fool you; these clever fellas will never disappoint expectations since both natural abilities require constant focus from trainer and owner alike.

Intelligence Components & What to Watch For

This table summarises key areas of Pomeranian intelligence and the kinds of behaviours you might notice in each.

Component	What That Means in a Pomeranian	Example Behaviours to Look For
Language Comprehension	Ability to understand spoken words, short phrases, tone changes, and object names. Pomeranians often recognise patterns in language quickly.	• Picks up the correct toy when named • Responds to phrases like “go to bed” or “find Dad” • Distinguishes between similar words (e.g., “sit” vs “spin”) • Shows excitement when hearing familiar names or places
Memory & Recall	Strong long-term and short-term memory for people, routines, places, and commands. Pomeranians often remember emotional experiences very clearly.	• Learns behaviours after fewer repetitions • Remembers tricks after weeks without practice • Recognises familiar people even after long absences • Returns to favourite spots or hiding places • Anticipates routines like feeding or walks
Problem-Solving Ability	Capacity to work through puzzles, obstacles, and new situations. Pomeranians are naturally curious and often persistent.	• Finds a treat under one of several cups • Figures out how to move objects to reach a toy • Opens doors, bags, or boxes using paws or nose • Works out interactive puzzle toys • Tries new strategies when the first attempt fails
Social Cognition & Emotional Intelligence	Understanding and responding appropriately to human body language, emotions, voice tone, and subtle cues. Pomeranians excel at social reading.	• Notices when you’re sad, excited, or stressed • Adjusts behaviour to match your mood • Reads gestures such as pointing or nodding • Responds differently to familiar vs unfamiliar people • Offers comfort or seeks closeness when you’re upset
Attention & Focus	Ability to stay engaged with tasks, training sessions, and games. Shows impulse control and ability to concentrate.	• Maintains eye contact during training • Waits patiently for cues • Focuses on solving a toy rather than giving up • Ignores mild distractions when working • Shows strong motivation during learning
Adaptability & Flexibility	Comfort with changes in routine, environment, or task difficulty. Good adaptability is linked to higher confidence.	• Adjusts quickly to new homes or environments • Handles novel situations (new dogs, floor surfaces, visitors) • Accepts changes in daily schedule without stress • Tries alternative solutions when an approach fails
Emotional Self-Regulation	Ability to manage frustration, excitement, or overstimulation during learning or play.	• Remains calm during puzzle challenges • Does not bark or panic when a toy gets stuck • Takes short breaks and returns to tasks • Responds well to positive reinforcement

Tips to Help Your Pom Demonstrate How Smart He Is

Dogs need the opportunity to learn. If you found a neglected dog living in a crate by the side of the road, it wouldn’t have many skills. He could understand, but wasn’t given the chance. If he were taken home by a kind soul and cared for, given the freedom to learn, he would be a much happier and healthier dog and would become much smarter.

These Tips Will Help with Pomeranian Training:

Dogs have the same five senses as humans, but they’re much sharper. Spend time in the garden, the local dog park, in a specific room in your home, or anywhere else you think of where he can do a bit of investigating, using his senses. After a while, hide a treat in your home and see if he can locate it just through smell.
Use other nonverbal cues, such as nodding or shaking your head, as he gets closer or further away. Each time you get him to do these types of things, it helps his mind become sharper.
When a dog is allowed to demonstrate its intelligence, life is more enjoyable for both of you. Keep a list of all his words to see what the result is. You’ll be quite surprised.
Play different educational games that help your dog learn. Fetch is a great game because it’s a good form of exercise and helps strengthen your bond with your pet.
Mind games are as essential as physical ones. Hide one of his treats under one of three upside-down cups and see if he can choose the one it’s under. If he figures it out, shuffle them around to make it harder.

Train your Pomeranian to Understand Words

Commands are helpful, but there are more words to use than “sit” or “heel.” A dog generally understands 165 words, the same amount as a toddler. Your Pomeranian is keen to learn new words, so teach him!

You can start teaching him words by grabbing a few objects and, one by one, holding each item and saying its name. Do it over and over again until he knows what they are.

Once you have accomplished that, put them in a line and tell him to choose one. Did he do that? If so, praise him and give him a treat.

Repetition is the key to learning for dogs, as their long-term memory is much stronger than their short-term memory. Once you have done this enough times with those three items, start again with a different set of three.

An Overall Picture of Dog Intelligence

When trying to determine how intelligent dogs really are, several key elements must be considered:

Language Comprehension

This is a huge part of assessing the intelligence of our canine friends. Most dogs living in a home where there’s lots of interaction will comprehend approximately 165 words. So, your assumption that your Pomeranian dog only knew a few simple commands and greetings is wrong. Some dogs know less, and others know more.

Breeds that are considered to be in the top 20% in terms of intelligence can comprehend up to 250 different words. However, even if they know 165 words, that’s about the same as a two-year-old child.

Memory Capacity

This is much more than just memorizing different words. It also covers how a dog will look at an object, and weeks later, it can still remember the same object.

People do it this way, too. The tales of dogs who get separated from their loving owners for a long time and, when reunited, they’re ecstatic, are all true. The assumption that dogs have a short memory is a myth.

Awareness

This covers how a dog can understand its surroundings and environment. He clearly demonstrates his intelligence when you take him to the dog park or a pet store (both places he visits regularly).

If you grab the brush and he runs off because he doesn’t like it…that’s smart. If he walks to his leash and gets excited, that’s also being smart. These are all clear examples that your Pom is aware of what’s going on around him.

Perception

In some ways, this resembles awareness, but it is significantly more complex because it involves how your dog uses its five senses to perceive its surroundings. Sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste can all help him identify objects.

This (surprisingly to some) actually includes using the Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists have verified that dogs can sense Earth’s magnetic field (known as Magnetoreception. They conducted studies on dogs and their response to this magnetic field. The dogs had to be off-leash and in an open space.

Their studies concluded that the dogs preferred to line their bodies up along a north-south axis and then urinate and/or defecate. However, why they did it this way wasn’t known. They studied 70 dogs from 37 toy breeds (excluding the Pomeranian) over a period of two years.

In every single instance, they were lined up in a north-south direction. While it’s a wise idea to have your Pomeranian on a leash for bathroom breaks, if your yard is fenced off, try not to use the leash and see what he does.

This can be a good way to tell how smart your dog is. It relates to how well your pet interprets certain social cues. One example used in numerous studies involved placing an item under a bucket. There are two buckets, and the dog should be able to tell you which one it’s under.

The idea is not to pat the bucket but to try pointing or looking at it and seeing what the dog does. The study concluded that dogs were smarter than chimps and human babies.

It’s essential to understand that dogs are always learning from the things you do, and they never stop learning. The smallest of gestures or looks can tell them what you’re thinking or about to do.

They can tell him what you feel and what your expectations are of him as well. Recognizing this can help you find the most effective ways to manage your Pomeranian’s separation anxiety.

Problem Solving

You can teach your dog how to solve problems. For example, if he presses a button with his paw to reveal a hidden treat. Some games are useful for the dog and owner to play together as they help sharpen the dog’s skills. More on this subject later in the article.

Emotional Intelligence

To test the intelligence of a Pomeranian or any other dog breed, you need to test the range of its emotions. Testing can help compare the emotional abilities of a Pom with those of a person. People’s abilities to feel and express emotions expand as they grow older. For example, a child can be excited from birth, but generally can’t express contempt until around the age of five.

Studies on Pomeranians have shown that their emotions are comparable to those of a 2 1/2-year-old toddler. Obviously, some will be more and others will be less.

Studies Have Proven the Existence of These Canine Emotions:

Excitement, distress, contentment, disgust, fear, anger, joy, suspicion, shyness, affection, and love. What’s more important to know is that emotions generally develop in this specific order.

By the time your Pom is four months old, he will have developed the ability to express all of them. The same applies to all toy breeds. Larger breeds can take up to six months to mature. Studies further reveal that dogs stop just short of developing guilt, shame, or pride.

However, they can still walk proudly, and a dog obviously feels guilty if it does something wrong. So how does this happen? People develop pride at around the age of three years. Canine overall development stops at “around” the age of 2.5 years, and these are only rough figures.

Dogs have proven they can feel shy, and so, by definition, confidence is the opposite; they should also feel confident. Some people believe pride and confidence are the same, but there’s a clear distinction between them.

A dog can feel confident but not proud. People can feel proud, and that can lead to an inflated ego, which can affect the way the brain functions.

With guilt, if your puppy has chewed up your slippers, can it be possible that he feels no guilt? Emotional intelligence in dogs is a highly controversial topic because most dogs exhibit at least some semblance of emotions, regardless of their environment or treatment.

In one study, dogs were left alone in a room with numerous items they could shred. Later, the owners did the shredding but made the dogs watch, and then the owners looked at their dogs with very unhappy faces. The dogs behaved the same as if they had done the shredding themselves.

It’s believed that dogs sense their owners’ nonverbal cues, which tell them how they should behave, feel, and react when something like this happens. Some scientists claim that, if a dog tucks his tail, lowers his ears, poses in a specific way, and has other indicators of shame, it’s actually because he’s fearful, submissive, or, perhaps, both.

How Do Dogs Learn?

A dog learns in order of rank or priority. If he feels superior to another dog or a person, he generally ignores them. Puppies learn by watching adult dogs. Dogs of all ages learn through commands given by owners.

However, there are occasions when a dog may do something after seeing a subordinate do the same. For example, an adult dog may investigate something a puppy is playing with or examining.

However, most of the time, when a dog is learning something new, it’s generally more readily understood when coming from a higher-ranking dog or person. This is why it’s crucial for owners of Pomeranians to quickly and firmly establish their identities as leaders (also known as Alphas) before attempting to teach or housebreak a Pom. If your dog doesn’t acknowledge that you’re the alpha, you won’t accomplish much.

Pomeranian Intelligence Level?

Two Elements Must Be Considered:

Overall intelligence. We have already explored the various methods for testing the intelligence of dogs. That included: memory, language comprehension, emotional capacity, problem-solving skills, social understanding, awareness, and perception. Consider all these factors, and the result is that dogs are, on average, as smart as toddlers between 2 and 2.5 years of age. Obviously, some Poms will be lower and others will be higher. The bottom line is that your Pom is like your toddler, with similar levels of intelligence. Many people treat their dogs as children, sometimes even better than their own children.
Stanley Coren, a Canadian author and professor of canine psychology, wrote “The Intelligence of Dogs” in 1994 and revised it in 1996. [1]. Because there weren’t other supporting sources to back his claims, his book was highly controversial at the time.

However, it discusses a method of ranking 80 different dog breeds in order of intelligence. A large number of people disagreed with the rankings for numerous reasons, including the following:

He never saw or interacted with dogs.
The dogs involved were only measured in terms of obedience and work.
Judges were all from the US and Canadian Kennel Clubs who assessed dogs during trials in the show rings.
Only 199 people provided information on which to base the assessment and information published in the book. Later, owners of some dogs were asked to assess the canine intelligence of their own dogs. Some breeds matched the other list, and others didn’t. The Pomeranian is number 23 on the intelligence ranking list, which is good. It places them in the “excellent working dog” category. Dogs above them on the ladder were considered the “brightest dogs.” The Pom category included 22 breeds of dog, such as the Cocker Spaniel, Miniature Schnauzer, and Collie. The top dog on the ladder is the Border Collie. The Poodle is Number Two. The bottom rung belongs to the Afghan Hound. However, you must understand that not all dogs in any breed will have the same level of intelligence.

Conclusion

Although scientific research into toy breed intelligence is still evolving, one thing is unmistakably clear: Pomeranians are remarkably bright, intuitive, and emotionally aware little dogs. They may be tiny, but their cognitive abilities — from learning commands and recognising words to problem-solving and reading human emotions — are impressive.

If you’re searching for a small companion with a big brain and an even bigger heart, the Pomeranian is an exceptional choice. Their intelligence shines through in countless ways: clever tricks, quick learning, joyful curiosity, and their uncanny ability to understand your mood without a single word spoken.

Now that you’ve explored the Intelligence Components Table and completed the Interactive Pomeranian Intelligence Quiz, you’ll have a clearer picture of your Pom’s strengths and how to support their ongoing development. Use brain games, positive reinforcement, and daily connection to keep nurturing that wonderful little mind.

Every Pomeranian is unique — and your Pom’s intelligence is only one part of what makes them such a treasured family member. They sense your emotions, respond to your cues, and show love in ways that feel almost human. In return, they deserve patience, guidance, enrichment, and most of all, your companionship.

Do you share your life with a Pomeranian?
What clever tricks or adorable habits show off your Pom’s intelligence?
I’d love to hear about them.

Celebrate your Pom’s brilliance, nurture their abilities, and enjoy every moment with your clever, loyal, and loving little companion.

References and Further Reading: