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Hair Cuts, Lion Cuts

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Pomeranian Hair Cuts / Pomeranian Lion Cut

Important Facts Regarding Pomeranian Grooming Styles

We must strongly advise against cutting your Pomeranian's coat. The Pomeranian is known as the "ball of fluff". This is because this breed has a truly amazing and unique double coat of fur, that when correctly groomed and kept free of tangles, forms a wonderful puff of fur surrounding the dog and giving it its unique appearance.
two Poms sitting
There are some breeds that do just fine with haircuts, for example, Poodles have long been known for their difference hair cuts...But the Pom is not one of them. This is an arctic Spritz breed, famous for his double, dense coat with long guard hairs. 

Somewhere along the line, someone decided that due to the large amount of fur on the Pomeranian that it would be a good idea to give the dog a hair cut... And this, unfortunately has caught on with some owners. We hope that it is just a fad...a trend that will soon stop. Cuts have even been given names (unofficial names) with the Pomeranian Lion Cut being one of the most popular.
Why Deep Pomeranian Hair Cuts are NOT a Good Idea

Aside from taking away the wonderful fur that the Pomeranian is famous for....when you cut the fur off of a Pom to a deep enough level that the inner layer is cut, the fur will NEVER grow back to the way that it was.... and if you do this at an early age the Pom pup will never have the adult coat that they would otherwise have.

You may hear "pro Pom cut people" tell you that it does not affect the coat. This is not true. It very much affects the coat. Think about how many people that you know...or perhaps it was yourself....who had long hair, cut it....and it never grew back the way that it was ever again.

If a Pom receives a Lion Cut, in which the fur is shaved down almost to the skin, an owner will also find that the fur will grow back in odd "patches"....and this can become quite a problem. Just like many other Spitz dogs that look similar to a Pomeranian, the inner coat should not be cut into.

We do have a page that offers some help for Pomeranian Fur Growth.

Lastly, a negative physical condition that can occur is that when a Pom is shaved. the elbows and other areas that are usually covered, are now exposed. This can cause sores when the dog lays down and does not have the extra "cushion" between him/her and the floor. Some dogs find that carpeting is irritating to the skin...(some are actually allergic to carpet or carpet cleaner) and this can cause allergies to develop since the dog is now exposing skin to the irritant. 

The Emotional Impact

We are eye witnesses to Pomeranians that have been shaved down almost to the skin and then have behavioral issues. The Pom's fur is its coat...It can be a source of comfort for many Poms...When this is taken away it can be akin to a baby having their blanket taken away. The dog can become anxious, nervous and/or uncomfortable.     

Shaving for Breeding

Some breeders will shave down their Pomeranians' coats. This normally occurs when a breeder has 10 or more adult dogs in their breeding program. Since the breeder is very busy taking care of puppies and all the needs of the Poms, they will shave down the adults....as time for grooming a large number of dogs is limited. There are pros and cons in this case...     
Pomeranian fur cut too short
This is Harley, 4 years old. Photo courtesy of Patty Long. Patty brought him to a groomer & asked her to do a bit of a trim. However, as you can see the groomer got a bit carried away and cut so much fur on the face and chest, that this is like a '1/2 teddy bear cut'. Luckily, the inner layer was not cut into, so this Pom's fur will grow back. We estimate it will take about 6 months. 
When a breeder is busy taking care of all of the puppies' needs and the needs of the grownups....there is often not enough time for proper grooming to be done for all. 

This means that if the adult coats are left long, there is a very good chance that those Poms will develop tangles in the fur. Tangles, when not taken care of right away, will grow and grow. 

Therefore, in this instance, the adult Poms that will be forever staying with the breeder may be shaved....DO keep in mind that these dogs may experience emotional issues at first, but when shaved on a regular basis many will become accustomed. 

On the flip side of the coin, when potential puppy buyers come to look at puppies, they will want to see the parents (dam and sire) and it is not a great idea to show 2 dogs that are shaved. 

The potential puppy buyers will want to see the full coats of the parents to get a good idea of what their new pup will look like as an adult.
Therefore, we personally take the side of the "con" and do not suggest shaving down a Pomeranian even if you are a breeder. 
The Only Type of Shaving/ Clipping/Trimming/Plucking That is Necessary and Recommended

In order to keep your Pom properly groomed, there are some areas on the dog that should be shaved/ clipped for hygiene and health reasons:

Fur around the anus - For hygiene reasons, one should carefully shave this area....not down to the skin, but to a length of approximately 1/2 inch.

When done, any feces will not stick to the fur and will allow your Pom to stay clean, smell good and not bring feces into the home.

The ears - This is not technically shaving or clipping, however any long hairs that are found growing inside of the ears should be plucked out. This is for health reasons, so that the ears dry out faster after bath time and so that the inside of the ear is not appealing to mites and/or fleas. Keeping long hairs out of the ears will also help prevent ear infections.
Pomeranians with trimmed coats
A nice trim and a bit of layering can give a Pom this awesome rounded look. 
Timon (orange sable parti) and Pumba (tri merle)
Photo courtesy of Laura Montanez
The paws - Any hairs that are growing UNDER the paws should be clipped. Fur should not hang down below the paw pads....This is a health issue and an appearance issue. When a dog has to walk on fur that is under the paw / growing out from the bottom of the paw pads, it can be very irritating and the long hairs can become caught on different elements.

Stray hairs/ rounding things off - The coat can be rounded off, with longer, stray hairs carefully cut so that the coat doesn't have long, heavier hairs weighing it down. Fur that grows too long will make the coat lay flat, so by allowing for a slight trim where needed, the coat can have that "ball" appearance and attain the fluffy look that this breed is known for. Some layering on the ruff and trimming on the legs and keep a Pomeranian looking neat & tidy, with the coat looking full and thick.
New Paragraph
Let's Take a Look at Some Photos
Pomeranian with full thick coat
A Pomeranian in his prime. The coat will not naturally look like this; this is due to careful grooming and trimming to round things off. As you can see, there is some trimming around the lower legs and fur on the ruff has been layered to give it a nice rounded shape. 

This sort of hair cut will not damage the coat and is perfectly fine to do. In fact, a trimming such as this will help keep tangles away. 
Pomeranian with thin coat
This Pomeranian's coat is laying much flatter than the 1st Pom. There are several factors that can make this happen:
1) Age - When a Pom grows older, the coat will lie flatter
2) Too much product -The right product does not need to be layered on.  Quality spritzes will be light.
3) A trim is needed - Longer hairs are putting weight on the coat. A nice trim to tidy things up will add volume. 
Pomeranian Lion Cut
This is a Pomeranian Lion Cut...As you can see most of the fur has been shaved down almost to the skin. .Long fur remains on the neck and chest creating the "lion's mane"....and a bit of fur remains on the tail. While some may think that the dog looks "cool" or "interesting" like this, please remember the above information regarding why this is not a good idea. 

In addition, a hair cut like the Lion cut will need to be touched up every 2 to 3 weeks or it will lose its shape. 
Pomeranian hair cut
This is one of the "Pomeranian hair cuts" that some owners opt for (though we do not recommend). This is a "shave down' on the entire dog to a length of approximately 1/2 to 1 inch. As we discussed above, this is the look that some breeders will have for their adult Poms due to the limited time that they have to properly groom all of their dogs and puppies. While this Pom does look cute, one does not immediately recognize this dog as a Pom, since the famous "ball of fluff" is now shaved down to the length of a Lab.
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