-submitted by Beverly Wilson, professional handler & breeder
Begin basic training regarding grooming as early as possible. Make it fun for the puppy and a positive experience. Setting good grooming training habits at an early age will make it easier for both of you when your PON is older with significantly more coat. With a litter, I begin trimming toe nails as early as 2 to 4 weeks with a human nail trimmer first, progressing to a cat nail trimmer and then finally a dog nail trimmer. Take care to never quick a young puppy; it’s better to take less nail than to quick a young dog causing it pain and make it a bad experience. Always be positive giving either a treat or play with a toy immediately afterwards. Touching both toenails and under the ear flaps at a early age makes trimming nails and cleaning ears much easier as the puppy matures. If you plan to keep your PON in full coat I begin at a young age training them to lay on their side to be brushed usually around 10 to 12 weeks of age. You’ll discover at an older age it’s much easier to groom a PON in full coat if the dog will lay down and sleep while you work on each side of the dog. I begin by sitting on the floor with the puppy in my lap with a soft brush. Only spend a few minutes making it a game for the puppy. I use a verbal command when wanting a dog to lay on their side, such as “lay down”, “go flat”, etc.- whatever word works best for you. If you plan to do obedience use a different command so as not to confuse the dog.
By 4 months of age I have moved up to a grooming table, asking the puppy to just lay quietly on the table while being brushed, and only expecting the puppy to lay on each side for a minute or two. At this time I also introduce a small hand dryer or quiet stand dryer, to get them used to both the sound and air flow of the dryer. Setting good, happy, rewarding grooming training at a young age will ensure that once the puppy becomes a teenager, getting more coat and starting to get tangles, grooming will be much more enjoyable for both of you. If you plan to keep your PON’s coat scissored or clipped down, then there’s not as much need to teach them to lay quietly to be groomed. But I would teach them to stand nicely on a table without fear or being nervous. I advise using a grooming arm to help secure them from the chance of falling from the table. This also gives you an extra free hand for holding scissors or clippers. Basic tools are: a good pin brush, a slicker brush and a comb. There are many brands and types on the market. Find one that fits comfortably in your hand. Use blunt nosed scissors for trimming the bottom of their feet, and to pull the hair out of ears. For any PON a big rule to follow is just not allowing them to ever become matted. Mats are painful to a dog, pulling and tugging at the skin. You also can’t see what is going on under the mats on the skin... staff infections, lesions, fleas, ticks… At certain times PONs do mat up more than other times. The evolution of puppy coat to adult coat, and females during their seasons are the two most common times. Changing from one food to another can also cause the coat to blow or shed out. When this is occurring they need to be brushed out much more frequently.
Every PON’s coat is slightly different. Some need brushing out every 5 to 7 days, and others can go up to 2 weeks. NEVER bathe a matted dog. It will make the mats get tighter, plus you also won’t be able to rinse out all the shampoo. Shampoo or conditioner being left in can cause skin irritation or rashes, leading into hot spots. There is no “trick” to dematting a dog. It takes time and patience with lots of finger work. If you are wanting your PON to have a full show coat, gently use your fingers to split and pull the mats apart, working carefully without pulling on the skin. Work small sections at a time. Then, use either a comb or slicker brush to comb it all the way through. If you want to get the job done faster and it doesn’t matter if the dog loses coat, then you can use scissors or thinning shears to split the mats before working them out. Use your fingers to open up the mats and then cut the mats lengthwise, scissors pointing toward the dog. Take great care not to cut the skin. Put your finger between the mat and the skin before cutting. When dematting or line brushing a dog (pulling down a horizontal section at a time,) I always use water to help keep moisture in the coat and thus prevent breakage. If I’m in an extremely dry climate I add a tablespoon of my favorite conditioner to the spray bottle to help add additional moisture. Be sure to shake the bottle while using it to keep it mixed. Once a dog is completely dematted, then it’s time for a bath. Be sure to use a good shampoo and conditioner, making sure both are thoroughly rinsed out. I then normally put the dog into a crate with warm towels for anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the length and thickness of their coat -just until they are damp. Then every dog is hand blown dry. This takes time and patience, but the finished look is so much nicer than crate drying a dog. You also find small mats or skin lesions that have sometimes been missed when taking the time to brush them out dry. Show dogs are always hand blown dry. Start to finish this takes about 3 to 3.5 hours. This is when you are trying to save every hair for the show ring. If your PON is not going to be shown, I personally think they look their cutest in a puppy trim 2 to 3 inches all over.