During the Great Depression, Ruth Beam, a young, college-educated divorcee emerged from the hills of North Carolina to one day take the Pomeranian breed to a high that no one has since been able to match—a Westminster Best in Show. To say that Ruth Lowery Beam was ahead of her time would be an understatement.
Shortly after her father died, Ruth Beam moved in with her mother and helped to run the family general store. She also began breeding dogs as a hobby. Among her list of breeds were Boston Terriers, Pekingese, and one Cocker Spaniel. But her love for Pomeranians came about after being introduced to the breed through her brother. On a visit to New York, he’d caught sight of one of the original Timstopper dogs. When he returned home, he enlightened Ruth with the story of the beautiful dog he had seen. She had never set eyes on a Pomeranian before. Pomeranians, however, were to become her new hobby breed, and later, her life’s passion.
When Ruth first ventured into breeding, email and cell phones were yet to be invented. Communication was done via letter, magazine ads, and late-night calls. Her typical day was rising at noon and working until 4:00 a.m. in order to make herself available for those telephone calls, which were considered to be quite pricey. The shipping of dogs was limited to train. Via train was the means by which Ruth received her first Pomeranian. It was because of this limited access to non-local dogs that breeders were more inclined to breed to their own dogs. This resulted in leading Ruth down the road that would define her breeding philosophies,
and later, produce a line that would have a strong and lasting impact on the Pomeranian breed.
Though her original preference was the smaller, prettier, four-pound dams, she grew tired of the c-sections and losing mothers during the surgeries. (During those times, there was a high risk of losing girls due to the lack of veterinary knowledge.) Through these experiences, Ruth molded her philosophy that she would later pass down to other breeders, stating to never breed a girl under five pounds. Her ideal was five to six pounds of better quality. Though many of her girls could have become champion bitches, they were never shown because she needed them in her program. Instead, Ruth focused mostly on finishing
her males.
Those who are most familiar with Ruth Beam associate her breeding philosophy with a technique called “stamping.” As a breeder of her own line, Ruth believed in breeding to the sire of a great dog. Her reasons were that the sire was the one who produced the qualities in the winning dog. The stamping technique comes into play when you take a dam of your own line and breed it to that winning dog’s sire. If the qualities you are seeking are produced in the litter, then you take the offspring and bring it back into your line. In order to stamp the dog, you breed back to the sire in the third generation. This will stamp the look of that dog. Stamping is something that some believe to be more challenging today due to the limited number of pure lines and the
many out-crossings.
After the passing of her mother, handling dogs became too much for Ruth. Among those who handled her dogs were Clara Alford and Maynard Wood. Ruth’s highest honor as a breeder would come in 1987 when Am. Ch. Great Elms Prince Charming II would win the elusive Best in Show at The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Ruth Beam continued to breed Pomeranians until she turned 94 years old. Since this article was first written, Ruth has joined her many wonderful Poms across the rainbow bridge at the age of 99 years old, on June 1, 2012. Among her many accomplishments mentioned above, Ruth also battled cancer and won, built her own kennel by hand, and found herself admired by many. Though Ruth never had any children, she was a mother figure to many. Among these is Ken Griffith of Lenette Poms. Ken adopted Ruth as a mother figure after the passing of his own mother. Laura Jennings is another, and is the caretaker of Ruth’s remaining Poms. Last, but certainly not least, is Maynard Wood who attributes his start in handling to Ruth. Among all those you talk to who knew Ruth well, a few things are consistent. She was well-respected, understood to be honest, helpful, and understanding and, most of all, she is well-loved.
Many thanks go to Maynard Wood, Ken Griffith, and Laura Jennings who shared their beautiful memories of Ruth and helped to make this article.
by Christine Crane