Most pomeranians are very gregarious, they love being around their people and will be your constant companion. They are very loyal to their owners and tend to pick their favorite people, but they can and do make good family pets as well. They have a medium energy level, but being small dogs it is pretty easy to give them adequate exercise even in an apartment with a few brief leash walks daily or playtime in fenced-in back yard.
Some Poms may be protective of their home and people, but aggressiveness towards guests should be discouraged and trained away from.
Barking!
Poms vary individually on how much barking they do. Some are fairly quiet and only bark when someone knocks on the door, the phone rings, they see a squirrel outside the window, etc, but there are some who bark only to hear themselves bark. I would say they’re in the minority though, and most Poms are more like alarm-dogs in terms of when they bark – they bark when something exciting is going on. My experience is they make fine apartment dogs as they usually go to sleep when the house is quiet, and as long as they can’t see/hear distractions to bark at, they won’t bark in your absence enough to bother the neighbors.
Poms have a reputation with many as being nippy dogs. Usually this is a training issue; if a dog (any dog) is spoiled, it might become snappy when someone gets between it and its person. This behavior shouldn’t be tolerated. If you are having a problem with your pom snapping or growling at strangers I recommend consulting a qualified dog trainer ASAP. A well socialized Pom will usually be happy to meet strangers as long as they do not feel cornered or threatened. Every now and then a Pom comes along who is naturally a bit submissive and sometimes these dogs will nip out of fear, but again this is usually something that can be address with training and socialization.