Pomsky Scams: How to Avoid Them

More and more private buyers are being scammed by unscrupulous breeders when buying a Pomsky. The main scam is ending up with a Pomsky puppy carrying breeds other than the two recognised ones, namely the Pomeranian and the Husky. Or else dogs that depart from the Pomsky in size and build.

But how is that possible?

A non-LOF dog

The Pomsky is a non-LOF cross, and as such breeders are not subject to the same obligations.

It was the Société Centrale Canine that founded the French stud book, known as the LOF, in 1885. Its purpose is to confirm the purity of the breeding stock. The LOF is therefore a guarantee that you are buying a purebred dog from two purebred parents.

A dog entered in the French stud book necessarily has:

• A known parentage
• Parents entered in that same register and “confirmed”. They therefore conform to the breed standard
• A litter that must be registered and declared to the SCC (Société Centrale Canine)

To be confirmed, a dog goes before breed judges during a confirmation session. It must be between 10 and 15 months old, depending on its breed, and must have finished growing. An LOF dog that passes the confirmation examination is then classed as confirmed and may in turn be bred from.

This is why there is a greater risk of being scammed with a non-LOF cross.

The breeder has no way of having their breeding stock confirmed. There is therefore no verification that the parents meet the breed criteria. What is more, it is sometimes difficult to establish the parentage and descent of their dogs.

Pomsky scams involving dubious crosses

The Pomsky must come from a cross between two breeds and two only: the Husky and the Pomeranian. The presence of another breed at more than 10% means your puppy is not a genuine Pomsky, and we can then speak of a scam.

Some breeders, however, have made crosses with other breeds, among which we can mention:

• The Samoyed
• The Alaskan Klee Kai
• The American Eskimo Dog

In most cases, adding a Samoyed or an American Eskimo Dog to the cross produces a denser coat. The Alaskan Klee Kai reduces size while offering a very Husky-like build.

However, most Pomsky clubs in France and internationally will not recognise your puppy as a Pomsky if it carries a percentage of another breed, let alone several.

Pomsky scams around size

There is also a great deal of feedback from adopters about their Pomsky’s size. They are promised a 6 kg Pomsky and it ends up twice that. The adopters then feel they have been the victim of a Pomsky scam.

There can be various reasons for this. The cross is not yet stabilised and often does not go beyond four generations, so achieving stability and consistency across litters is difficult. There can therefore be considerable size variation between littermates.

Based on birth weight and weight at two months, the breeder should be able to give you an approximate adult size for the puppy.

You can read our blog post about Pomsky size to find out more: How big will my Pomsky be?

Health problems

As things stand, there is no obligation regarding which health tests must be carried out, and not every breeder necessarily does them. The breed clubs recommend the Embark or Wisdom test. These tests are used on the breeding stock and give two main pieces of information:

• The percentage and distribution of the breeds present in the DNA
• A screen for more than 180 genetic diseases

The breeder should therefore provide you with the parents’ Embark tests. You will then be assured of having a genuine, healthy Pomsky.

How do you avoid the trap? The scam?

As you will have gathered from this article, Pomsky breeders are for the moment barely regulated at all. Because this cross is new, many people start out without having genuinely done their research. On top of that, there is no constraint or obligation on a breeder. The Pomsky is not a breed but a cross, and as such any build will be accepted. So even if you realise your Pomsky comes from a mix of several breeds, you will have no recourse.

It therefore comes down to each breeder’s seriousness and ethics to offer you:

• Pomskies from a Husky–Pomeranian cross
• Testing of all their breeding stock
• Knowledge of their lines and their puppies

The best approach is to build a relationship of trust with your breeder. You will then feel comfortable asking them any question and seeking whatever advice you need.