Overview
Summertime brings lots of great weather, time spent outside with family and friends, trips to the beach, barbecues and all sorts of other summer fun. However, there are certain care elements to follow for your Pomeranian to have a safe, happy, and comfortable summer season.
Here, we'll cover the most important summertime care tips for Pomeranian puppies and adults:
- Do not shave your Pom's coat in the summer. But do use the right tools to properly pull out dead hairs from the thick undercoat.
- Give your Pom a cooling mat that draws excess heat from the body.
- Keep your Pom hydrated.
- Implement summertime exercise precautions.
- Use canine sunscreen, as needed.
- Protect the paws.
- Guard your Pom against summertime insects.
- Allow for water fun and follow water safety.
- Know the signs of heat stress and how to react.
Let's dive into the details so that your Pom can have the best summer yet.
Summer Tip #1:
Don't shave your Pom,
but do brush out the undercoat.
What to know:
It's common to at least think about
shaving a Pomeranian
in the summer; after all, if you had to wear a thick fur coat all season, you'd be terribly hot and uncomfortable. But, it's different for dogs like the Pom that have two layers of fur: a short undercoat and a longer layer of guard hairs.
Ideally, this is what you want to happen with your Pom in the summer:
The longer guard hairs prevent the sun's rays from reaching the Pomeranian's skin. The short undercoat is freed from dead hairs; air can circulate down near the skin and that cooler air becomes trapped there to a certain extent.
So, you definitely want to avoid this scenario:
If guard hairs are shaved down, there is nothing to prevent the sun's rays from easily reaching a Pom's skin. This can increase the risk of sunburn and overheating. And there's nothing to trap any circulated air that may be a bit cooler near skin level.
And if you don't properly brush the coat, you end up with this issue:
The long guard hairs do work to help block the sun's rays but the compacted undercoat blocks air from circulating. This can cause a Pomeranian to get very hot and overheat.
What to do:
While 'tidy trims' can be done to even out the guard hairs and give some shape to the coat, never have your Pom shaved down in the summer or any other time. Instead, brush out the coat at least once a week and preferably every 3 days.
For this, first you'll want to go over the coat with a two-level steel comb. Then, using a leave-in spray to prevent static and split ends, use a slicker brush to reach down deep to pull out dead hairs from the undercoat. During the heavy spring/summer shed, you can also use a non-rotating fixed undercoat rake.
Summer Tip #2:
Give your Pom a cooling mat.
These two beautiful Poms are chilling out on a cooling mat.
Photo courtesy of Magix'z Pomeranians
What to know: If
you've heard of canine cooling mats but never had your dog try one, you may be thinking that this is akin to having your dog rest on an ice pack. But, it's not the same thing at all.
There are self-cooling mats that do NOT send out cold but rather they absorb excess body heat. So, if you place your hand down on one of these, you won't feel anything. But, when your Pom lies down, a special gel inside the mat is activated and will absorb heat from any part of the body that is touching the mat.
These are commonly used outside (porch, grassy area in the backyard, etc.) but are portable and easy to use indoors as well. And, these can be an absolute life-saver in the event of a blackout during the summer.
One of the cooling mats we recommend is the
The Green Pet Shop Cooling Mat. The size small works for pups and adult Poms up to 10 to 15 lbs. The size medium is good if you have a Pom on the large side or more than one Pom that will be sharing the mat.
Summer Tip #3:
Keep your Pom hydrated.