Life at Charm City

A look inside the spaces our dogs and puppies call home.

 

Charm City Pomeranians is a home-based breeding program, but over the years our home has grown to include spaces created specifically around the needs of our dogs and puppies.

I believe dogs should live somewhere that is clean, comfortable, safe and very much a part of everyday life. At the same time, breeding and raising puppies well requires considerably more than a spare corner of the house.

So, little by little, I built the spaces I wanted to have.

The Nursery

Our nursery is where puppies enter the world and spend their first weeks with us.

It is intentionally warm and peaceful, with plenty of natural light and enough space for each litter to develop at its own pace. This is where I whelp, monitor newborns, weigh puppies, feed, clean, keep records and spend an unreasonable amount of time sitting on the floor watching tiny dogs do absolutely nothing.

It is also still part of my home.

Puppies hear normal household sounds, see people coming and going and become accustomed to everyday activity long before they leave here. I want their first environment to be safe and carefully managed without feeling isolated from the world around them.

It isn't meant to feel clinical. It is their first home.

As puppies grow, their spaces grow with them.

Whelping areas transition into larger pens with room to sleep, play, eat and begin developing good potty habits. Different surfaces, toys, beds and age-appropriate enrichment are introduced as the puppies become increasingly curious about their surroundings.

The goal is not to overwhelm them with stimulation. It is simply to let their world expand naturally as they are ready for it.

 

Prepared From the Beginning

Most days in the nursery are wonderfully uneventful.

Experience, however, has taught me to prepare for the days that aren't.

Specialized neonatal equipment and supplies are kept immediately available, including an incubator and oxygen support, along with the equipment I routinely use to monitor and care for newborn puppies.

Hopefully much of it sits unused. But when a tiny puppy needs help, minutes matter.

The shelves underneath also hold years of breeding, litter and individual dog records. Raising puppies responsibly involves a tremendous amount of information, and I would much rather write something down than trust myself to remember it at three o'clock in the morning.

 

 

The Everyday Work

There is a much less glamorous side to raising dogs well.

There are scales, cleaning supplies, feeding supplies, medications, puppy equipment, laundry, food, towels, bedding and an impressive number of things that must somehow always be washed, sanitized, restocked or put away.

Detailed records are kept on individual dogs and litters, particularly during those first weeks when small changes can be important. Knowing who ate, who gained, who received what and when should never depend on memory.

Beautiful puppy photographs are the fun part.

This is the infrastructure behind them.

A Space Just for the Dogs

In 2026, I completed one of the largest projects I have undertaken for Charm City: converting our detached garage into a dedicated space designed specifically around the adult dogs.

What began as a fairly ordinary outbuilding became a fully finished, heated and cooled dog room with space for housing, grooming, storage, feeding and everyday care.

I wanted the dogs to have considerably more room without separating them from home.

And, selfishly, I wanted a space that made living with a house full of Pomeranians a little easier too.

 

 

 

Inside the Dog House

The room was designed around how the dogs and I actually live.

Individual crates give each dog a familiar place for meals, rest and quiet time. I still feed in crates because it allows me to put my hands on every dog every day, monitor appetites and know exactly who has eaten.

But crates are not where they spend their lives.

The larger room and exercise areas allow dogs to spend time with compatible companions, move around, play, nap, supervise whatever I am doing and generally behave like Pomeranians.

There is also dedicated space for grooming, food and supply storage, laundry and the endless collection of equipment that accumulates when dogs are a central part of your life.

It is functional because it has to be.

It is pretty because I have to look at it every day.

And it is unmistakably ours.

Room to Be Dogs

Indoor spaces are only part of the picture.

Our dogs also have access to a large, securely fenced yard with plenty of room to run, explore, play and enjoy being outside.

There is open grass for running, mature trees providing shade and enough room for dogs to stretch out and move in a way that simply cannot happen inside a kennel run.

Sometimes they race. Sometimes they dig. Sometimes twelve Pomeranians collectively decide that one particular leaf is a major security threat.

Mostly, they get to be dogs.

Puppies are introduced to the outdoors more gradually.

Once they are old enough, secure exercise pens allow them to experience grass, fresh air, new surfaces, sounds and smells while remaining in a controlled area appropriate for their age and size.

As they become stronger and more confident, their world continues to grow.

That progression is important to me.

From the protected little world of a whelping box, to a puppy pen, to larger spaces, outdoor experiences and eventually life with their own families, I want each step to feel manageable rather than overwhelming.

 

Built Around How We Actually Live

None of these spaces were created simply to photograph well for a website.

They were created because this is what I do every day.

Dogs get dirty. Puppies make spectacular messes. Laundry seems capable of reproducing on its own. Someone inevitably needs something at an inconvenient hour, and every carefully organized shelf will eventually look like a small tornado passed through it.

A breeding program has to function on those days just as well as it does when everything is freshly cleaned and every puppy is peacefully asleep.

Every improvement I have made to Charm City has come from living with my dogs, seeing what works, changing what doesn't and trying to make the next version a little better.

 

 

 

This is where my dogs live. This is where our puppies begin.

And I am very proud to show you around.