It's All about the Coat
Nature and heredity provide dogs with coats in a kaleidoscope of colors, textures, lengths, and layers. When some people hear the word “grooming,” they visualize poodles being primped and beribboned, but all dogs need to be groomed. Grooming is as much about health and hygiene as it is about beauty. The type of coat your little dog sports and the lifestyle you share will determine how much and how often it needs to be groomed.
Ideally, you familiarized yourself with your dog's grooming requirements before you brought it home. Never choose a canine companion without any idea of how much fur it will sprout or the amount of care and expense involved in keeping it looking spiffy. Most adult dog coats have two layers, an outer coat, made up of glossy guard hairs, and a soft downy undercoat, their built-in insulation against wetness and weather. But double coats don't start out that way.
Most puppies are born with a single layer of soft woolly hair. This puppy coat sometimes bears little resemblance to what it will look like when the pup grows up. Whatever their breed, most puppy coats change texture as they grow, with hair turning coarser and longer by the time the adult coat comes in at around six to eight months. A poodle puppy's cotton-candy fuzz will morph into curly ringlets by the time it's grown.
Some coats change color as well as texture. The black fluffy part of a Yorkie pup's coat will turn silky and silvery as it matures. Each breed, and each individual within that breed, has a different rate of coat growth. Factors such as diet, hormones, the amount of daylight, and the weather all play a part in coat development. Because most small dogs live indoors under artificial lighting, their coats don't take many cues from Mother Nature. Therefore, most dogs tend to shed year-round. (Dogs that are outdoors a lot will shed seasonally, their coats changing to adapt to the weather.) Some indoor dogs leave their telltale fuzz on the floor and furniture, while others retain the shedded hair within the coat itself.
Dog coats come in six main types: long, silky, smooth, nonshedding, curly, and wiry. For the allergy-prone, the nonshedding coat of the poodle, bichon frise, Maltese, Coton de Tulear, and Havanese are a big plus, but those little beauties require frequent grooming. The flowing coats of the Lhasa apso and shih tzu and the Yorkshire, silky, and Skye terriers form mats easily. Groomers can lessen your homework by performing short pet trims called puppy cuts or teddy bear trims on just about any long or full-coated breed, which look adorable and greatly reduce coat maintenance between salon visits.
Some wiry coats, such as those of the West Highland white, Scottish, cairn and wire fox terriers as well as the wirehaired dachshund, may be hand-stripped every eight to twelve weeks to preserve the coarse texture of their outer coat.
In their days of charging through the brush and digging into burrows in pursuit of prey, wire-coated dogs needed that harsh body armor to protect them. Purists still consider it a hallmark of their beauty.
Today, clippered cuts for pet dogs (rather than show prospects) of these terrier breeds are quite popular. After they get haircuts, their coats do tend to grow back with a softer texture. Clippered terriers usually need grooming every six to eight weeks.
Smooth-coated breeds like the min-pin, toy fox terrier, smooth fox terrier, Italian greyhound, Boston terrier, smooth dachshund, Manchester terrier, and short-haired version of the Chihuahua are wash-and-wear dogs, a snap to groom with a rubber curry. The bottom line on your dog's grooming needs is this: The more hair it has, the more brushing and combing it will require.
Some high-maintenance dandies of the small dog world should be brushed and combed several times a week, if not daily. These include the Lhasa apso, Maltese, shih tzu, Pekingese, Havanese, Coton de Tulear, Bolognese, the powderpuff Chinese crested, and the Yorkshire, silky, Skye, and Australian terriers. Most owners have them professionally groomed every four to six weeks. Breeds that require brushing about three times a week are the Pomeranian, bichon frise, Japanese Chin, wire fox and Lakeland terriers, American Eskimo, schipperke, and poodle (along with the doodle dog breeds) if they are kept in full coated styles. Breeds in this group that need haircuts — the bichon, wire fox terrier, Lakeland terrier, and doodle dogs — should see the groomer every four to six weeks, while schedules for the others vary widely according to your home care.
A thorough brushing twice a week will suffice for most small dogs, including the affenpinscher, Brussels griffon, English toy spaniel, cavalier King Charles spaniel, Tibetan spaniel, papillon, West Highland white, Scottish terrier, cairn terrier, Dandie Dinmont terrier, Sealyham terrier, Norfolk terrier, Norwich terrier, Welsh terrier, miniature schnauzer, longhaired dachshund, longhaired Chihuahua, and the pug, which sheds profusely despite its short coat. Their grooming visits will depend upon whether they get trimmed and how much brushing you do in between visits.
The lowest-maintenance small dogs need home grooming only once a week. These include the Border terrier, Parson Russell terrier, Boston terrier, Manchester terrier, smooth and toy fox terrier, miniature pinscher, short-haired Chihuahua, smooth and wirehaired dachshund, Italian greyhound, and the hairless Chinese crested. All these breeds benefit from a professional grooming now and then, but the frequency is up to you.
