7 month ugly Pom

Kelspea · New member Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

I purchased my loveable pom at 10 weeks. I got papers and all. He's a great dog. Now I know that pom's go through an ugly stage and I am not sure if he's still in it or not. He went through a gangly stage where it seemed his body was growing to fast for him. I guess he's more of a "fox" type. My problem is that his coat is long till about mid way through the back and it stops then gets short. It's kind of funny looking. It's a heavy coat so it lays flat and doesn't stand up at all. i don't know what to do to get it to stand up. Full puffy tail though...so I want him to look like the puff poms. Can this be done? It also seems that the hair around the head isn't growning. Is this normal at 7 months? Should I go and get it trimmed?

DeLaUK · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:26 pm Post subject:

Dont know if this has any relevance to your Poms coat but something came up today at work about a JRT who has an 'odd' looking coat, a guy I know that breeds rabbits was saying that you can get bad pelts on rabbits if the parents were too young when bred, trying to find out if it happens in dogs also.

Maybe Shine can spread some light on this.

gypsy · Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:54 am Post subject:

Couple of questions. Have you ever raised a pom puppy before? And did you see the pups parents. Papers are great, papers are wonderful, BUT, and it is a very big BUT, they are no guarantee other than your dog is purebred. If the parents were the fully fluffy type, the pup most likely will become that. Males tend to come into their coat a little later than females.....my stud got his full coat at 1 1/2 years. The bitches are usually fully coated by a year.
How often do you brush him? Regular (daily) brushing will pull out the undercoat, and make the guard coat lay flat. Might want to lay off a little on brushing, or have the guard coat trimmed. Don't go too easy on the brushing, or you will wind up with dreadlocks. For that full fluff around the face that you see in shows, that is the result of a groomer.
At seven months, your boy is an adolescent. Look at him that way, he's not ugly, just growing up. And, go back to the breeder, they will definitely have words of wisdom, and relative timelines for you.