ThePomeranianSite.Com
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ThePomeranianSite.Com
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Grooming At least once a month your Pomeranian should have grooming. This may or may not include a bath and flea dip or a medicinal treatment. The condition of the dog will indicate what is needed and your judgement will determine what will be done. There has always been controversy concerning the bath itself. Some exhibitors contend that a bath softens coat, making it lie down, while others believe that coat cannot glisten and every hair stand off when covered with dirt and everyday grime. Personally, I like to have my dog as clean as possible, so if a water bath is not possible a commercial foam or dry shampoo may used. Old-time breeders used cedar sawdust, corn meal, or cornstarch. The substance they preferred was rubbed into the coat thoroughly and then brushed out completely.
The dog must be taught from puppy hood that a grooming session is a time for business and not play. However, he should be handled as gently as possible. Talking to him in a calm way will do a lot to allay his fears. He might even enjoy some of the various procedures eventually, for he will have your undivided attention. A light, airy, pleasant place in which to work is desirable, and it is important that neither dog nor groomer be distracted by other animals or people during the first few sessions. Subsequently, a gradual introduction of noise and diversions will help to accustom your future show dog to the wild confusion that is found in the grooming sections at any show.
A sturdy grooming table is desirable and serves as a means of getting the Pom used to standing on a table. An adjustable arm may be attached to the grooming table and the dog’s collar fastened to the arm by the leash. This is a good safety measure. Many people hold Toy dogs and small puppies on their laps for grooming, but that is an individual preference. Tools required vary with the condition of the coat, but the bare essentials include brushes, combs, nail clippers, scissors, cleansing tissue, cotton balls, baby oil, and a bath towel.
Pomeranians are groomed in specific ways, in-as-much as the coat, although similar to that of a few other larger breeds, is unique. We could liken it to a tumbleweed. Breeders are striving for more and more coat each year, and are grooming the coat so that it stands off all over. We are even seeing what is called “head coat” and indeed it does make the ears look much smaller. (The Standard calls for tiny ears placed high on the top of the head.)
The American Pomeranian Club has specifically identified the areas where trimming is permitted and also ruled that whiskers NOT be cut. You will notice variation in the finish and grooming of show Pomeranians. Even though given the same directions, no two people will groom in the same way. Each owner strives to make his dog come a bit closer to the Standard, as he sees it, than any other. That is winning!
Starting with the head, I will try to instruct the beginner on the way that a Pom can be made ready for a show. There are other acceptable ways, but I find this adequate. Changes in instructions need to be made in regard to the individual conformation of a specific dog. For example: the Standard calls for tiny ears, and if they are already tiny in relation to the size of your Pomeranian, you would not want to trim them so they seem even smaller. The tip of the ear can be found by using your thumb and forefinger. Cut a horizontal line just above the tip of it, parallel to the ground. You now know you will not cut the leather as long as you stay above that point. Then cut down on each side, not more than a half inch. Do not follow the leather down but cut out more on a horizontal plane, finishing at about a 180 degree angle. Some exhibitors like the cut to be rather circular, but I like it somewhat pointed. Study your dog to see how he looks best. Then bevel, thin, and feather the unruly hairs to the level of the tip of the ears so that the whole blends in nicely. (If you are preparing for a show, do the trimming at least five days before so the raw edges will not detract from the finish.)
All excess hair must be removed from the foot pads and toes so that the foot resembles a cat’s paw, but is not bare or scraggly. I squeeze the paw and make my first cut above the nails at the point where the nails join the flesh that forms the paw. I round the hair nicely, then trim the hair up to the first joint on the front legs, making a nice smooth line, again not scraggly. This takes practice. The nails are not considered in making the cat paw outline.
Trim the hair on the back feet and legs in much the same manner, cutting scraggly hair on the back of the legs up to the hocks. The line should be smooth and the length of the hair left should be in due proportion to the rest of the dog. I find this part easiest to cut if I stand the Pom so that I have a side view. I cut and feather so the profile matches the side view photo of one of our top winning Poms. I feather any abrupt angles with fine thinning shears. If you keep the nails short from the first week on, the quick will tend to recede. If you are careful, you can cut the nails without any bleeding.
The ideal Porn floats and walks on his tiptoes, but he will quickly go down in the pasterns if he has only long clicky nails in place of pads. The gait is of the utmost importance to any judge, but the nails do not show as a part of our beautiful cat paw. Several kinds of nail clippers are available, so pick a kind that is easy for you to use. The bath softens the toenails so the best time to clip them is just after the bath. The cut is made just outside the pink bloodline that can be seen on white nails. On pigmented nails the bloodline cannot be seen, but the cut can be made just outside the hook-like projection on the underside of the nail, hoping not to make it bleed. There are powders and solutions that kennels and grooming parlors keep on hand to stop the bleeding. There is seldom any serious injury involved but it does make the dog object and squirm at future clippings.
The third area where trimming is allowed by the American Pomeranian Club is the anal region, and that trimming is for cleanliness. Trimming here must in no way resemble the trim of Poodles. No bare skin should show. Look at the pictures of top winners and you will see how the area is to be trimmed. Have the dog standing sideways and directly in front of you on the grooming table. Then, using the anus as the center of an imaginary circle, cut the hair in a fan hape (a half circle) above the anus. The hair should be clipped from an eighth inch at the anus, graduated to normal untrimmed length at the farthest point of the outer thighs. Keep the scissors steady. The thinning shears add a more finished trim for show, but need not be used for pets. Now all there is left to do is brush and then brush again, always lifting up, and against the lay of the hair. I do not advocate roughness, merely brushing down to the skin all over constantly looking for problems. On the head, a fine tooth comb or a strong toothbrush will do a better job than the brush you use on the body coat. A black coat is very hard to groom. Nothing can be used to enhance it except water (I have been told). A certain exhibitor had a lovely black and couldn’t win. He had been told never to bathe a Porn, so he tried everything else; and the dog got more ragged each show. Finally, in desperation, he gave the dog a terrific bath and believe it or not, finished the dog in just a few shows.
Three more items should be on your monthly grooming list: checking ears, teeth, and anal glands. The ears may be checked carefully with a Q-tip dipped in baby oil, peroxide, or alcohol. A brown or black residue in the ear canal indicates the possibility of ear mites. They seemingly can come from nowhere. The easiest way to eliminate the problem is to fill the ear with baby oil, massage, and wipe dry. Repeat the procedure until the ears seem clean. This will need to be done for several days in order to eliminate the larvae as they hatch, and to give the skin a chance to heal. Our Poms like to have their ears worked on unless they are sore, so do not hesitate to follow the foregoing procedure for as long as necessary. There is a new kind of toothpaste available that is formulated especially for dogs. It helps remove the tartar that forms on our dog’s teeth, in spite of feeding hard biscuits (which our Poms will not chew once their teeth loosen). Probably the teeth and gums will stay healthy a lot longer if the owner will use the toothpaste on a regular basis. This product is said to be pleasing to the dog once he gets used to it. A baby toothbrush is ideal for our Poms. In my own experience, plaque will come off more easily with a dental tool if I have first used the paste. A mixture of bicarbonate of soda and salt may be used instead of the toothpaste, but one hesitates to use too much of it. A complete cleaning of the teeth by a veterinarian should be scheduled when needed, probably once a year after the age of two years. A tranquilizer should be all that is needed. I cannot recommend a general anesthesia because it seems to be fatal to many Poms when used in connection with tooth scaling. I have known personally of several top Pomeranians that died on the table when merely having their teeth cleaned in preparation for a show.
Infected anal glands must be taken care of also. It is true that some dogs have gone through life without having the contents of these glands expelled, but I feel safer with it done. The anal glands, located on either side of the anus, secrete a substance that enables the dog to expel the contents of the rectum. If you ever see a dog with what appears to be a boil near its anus, that is an infected anal gland. It often needs to be lanced and then it seeps for a week or more. After lancing, the incision must be cleaned out daily, and medicated so that it can heal from the inside out. It is very painful for the dog. If the glands merely need the contents expelled, they may protrude a bit or the dog may drag himself along on his rear because it itches. This is often said to be caused by worms, which is possible, of course. To expel the contents of the glands, I stand my Pom with his rear over the tub in which I bathe him. Holding his tail taut with my left hand, I place my thumb on one side of the rectum and my first finger on the other side, about a half inch back and an inch apart, and squeeze the glands as I would a pimple. (The exude is smelly.) I then wash the area, rinse, dry, and apply a little A&D ointment. If this is done about once a month the dog doesn’t mind. In fact he is much happier. Checking the glands and following this procedure, if it is necessary, should always be a part of a bath.
complete Bath I repeat: When you check your Pomeranian before bathing, you may find an accumulation of a dark substance around the nipples, vulva or penis, and anal area of the dog. It will not come off with soap and water, but if you use a cotton ball dipped in baby oil or cleansing cream to loosen it, it will then come off in the bath. All dead hair should be combed out before starting the bath. If the dog is shedding, this hair will form a sort of wool blanket which clings to the skin and is almost impossible to remove without clipping. The more the dog is dropping coat the more that matting will form and the harder it will be to remove it. I am sure almost every Pom owner has had the problem at least once and has learned it takes forever to cut out and forever to grow a good coat back in. This is very important: do not rub back and forth with your fingers when you lather the coat. Rubbing back and forth will cause at least some degree of matting. Rub only from the skin out, with the hair between your thumb and fingers, or brush first with the lay of the coat, and then use plenty of lather. It is important to protect the dog’s eyes against any splashing during the bath, so before starting the bath, put a drop of sterile castor oil in each eye (or use a mild ophthalmic ointment). The head should be soaped first to eliminate any fleas from that area. Use the mildest shampoo available. A soft toothbrush is handy for scrubbing the head, including the ears and down to the neck. I use my thumb or finger as a cork to prevent the suds from entering the ear canal, because cotton in the ear does not work well with a Porn. Be sure to rinse well. Have a tub full of suds deep enough to submerge all of the Pom except the head. Keep him submerged for a minimum of five minutes. Then drain off all or part of the suds and proceed with the lather. This is the time to use the flea shampoo or a medicinal one if needed. For either, you may need a prescription from your vet. Always rinse the coat thoroughly, unless directed otherwise. If you have used oil on the skin for cleansing before starting the bath, you may need to lather several times to make the coat fluffy again. For the next to last rinse I dip the Pom up to his head in a three gallon bucket filled with a mild soda solution. I use about a heaping tablespoon of baking soda, and I swish the Pom around in the solution to cut the soap. It tends to soothe any itching of the skin. Then I rinse most of it out. A specially formulated creme rinse may be used instead of the soda solution, but be sure to follow instructions precisely. Towel dry the Porn, but again do not rub back and forth. Just pat and squeeze. Let him shake, and then dry the inside of the ears first. Use a Q-tip gently while putting your thumb outside the base of the ear to push out any moisture that could have seeped in. You can then brush the coat dry in the sun or under a dryer. In hot weather set the dog’s pen in the sun with a towel for him to roll on and some shade in one corner. Nature will soon dry him for you. A brushing then will make him GLORIOUS. As a last step, rinse the dog’s eyes with a mild, warm, salt solution. Sometimes those tiny Porn hairs can get in the eyes and cause irritation or tearing. (They are hard to detect.) Last, dry the eye area with a tissue.
Half-bath, or Quickie If for some reason it is impractical to give your Porn a complete bath, then the next best procedure is a half-bath. It will do when you are in a hurry. It will take little time if you need to get your male clean before a stud service. It is less stressful for a pregnant bitch and a bit easier if the weather is chilly. A laundry tub works well for this. Stand the Pom on its hind feet with its back to you. Hold the dog securely with your left hand with your palm on the chest and a finger between the two front legs for better control. Direct the water to the stomach and lather profusely, rubbing lightly. Be sure to include the anal area and the vulva or penis area. Rinse and repeat. Then rinse thoroughly, pouring some of the soda solution on the area for the next to last rinse. Talking to the dog in a conversational manner during any bath or grooming session makes the procedure more endurable. Your Pom might even learn to enjoy it if you are gentle though firm.
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