Your Japanese chin, with his big, brown eyes and v-shaped ears melts any chin owner's heart. Since the chin's coat has natural oils, keeping his coat shiny and healthy generally requires little grooming. Just like you, sometimes your pup needs a hair trim to remove dead ends. With the right tools, trimming is a quick, easy job you shouldn't dread.
Step 1
Brush your Japanese chin with a pin brush. Comb your fluffy pup with a fine-tooth comb. Remove any mats by holding the hair out from the skin and combing it from the end. Work back towards the skin gently removing the mat.
Step 2
Wash your Japanese chin with a protein-enriched shampoo formulated for long-haired dogs. Generally, this type of shampoo contains a detangler that helps remove any mats or tangles.
Step 3
Dry your pup with a clean towel. Finish drying your chin with a hairdryer on medium setting. Hold the dryer about 12 inches from his skin and continue until your pup us completely dry.
Step 4
Trim the chin's hair with your shears starting at the nape of his neck and working towards the lower back and tail. Hold the hair straight up and trim about 1/4 inch from the ends. Often the chin has longer hair around the neck creating the appearance of a mane. This is optional, but achieve this look by leaving the hair around the neck longer than the body hair. Trim the tail and backside down his hocks the same way.
Step 5
Move to the chest and trim the ends in the direction of the hair growth. Trim the hair down the front and back legs keeping it uniform with the body hair.
Step 6
Hold the Japanese chin's ear out and trim the ends. Take off about 1/8 inch to start with and allow the ears to blend with the neck hair. The chin has a full mane and the ears should blend in.
Step 7
Fold the ears back one at a time and trim the inside with blunt-end scissors. Also, use your blunt-end scissors and trim the hair around his eyes and on his belly.
Step 8
Hold your baby's paw and trim the hair on top of it even with the leg hair. Flip it over to trim the underside. Clean the hair from between his pads with your blunt-end scissors. Repeat this for each foot.
References
Resources
Tips
- Some owners prefer to clip their chin shorter than others. In this case, adjust the amount of hair you remove to meet your specific needs.
Warnings
- Have someone help hold your pup if he doesn't stand for grooming. This helps keep you and your fluffy pup safe.
Writer Bio
Amanda Maddox began writing professionally in 2007. Her work appears on various websites focusing on topics about medical billing, coding, real estate, insurance, accounting and business. Maddox has her insurance and real estate licenses and holds an Associate of Applied Science in accounting and business administration from Wallace State Community College.