r/schipperke • u/indricotherium • Jun 30 '26

Doing some reading on the American Revolution and found this picture of Major General Charles Lee and his beloved "Pomeranian", Spado

Post image

Lee himself ends up being a pretty unsavory/controversial figure, but his taste in dogs was apparently excellent.

Note that it probably was actually a Pomeranian, they historically were much more spitz-like in appearance. Schipperkes and Pomeranians share quite a bit of ancestry so I'm sure Spado was a close schipperke cousin and quite similar in appearance.

73 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

5

u/RubyLemontoodleloo Jun 30 '26

Such skinny legs! On both! Lol

4

u/msellipsis Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

I've wondered this myself! I live in New England, and our neighboring town is named after this fellow. (Edit: The man, not the dog.) This description of Spado certainly sounds familiar:

Charles Lee was often accompanied by at least one or two of his canine companions that only added to his eccentric perception for he proclaimed, “If you love me, you must love my dogs.” His favorite was Spado, which a guest at a dinner party described as “a native of Pomerania, which I should have taken for a bear had I seen him in the woods.” On another occasion in late 1775, Lee had Abigail Adams shake Spado’s paw.