Important Points on Grooming a Pekingese

How Often Should You Bathe a Pekingese?

The good news is you need not bathe your Pekingese too frequently. In fact, it may not be wise to. Too much bathing can ruin the coat and possibly cause your dog to have irritating dry skin if low quality shampoo is used. If your dog lives in a clean environment, bathing once or twice a month or just several times a year is generally enough. If your dog does get soiled often, more bathing may certainly be necessary. But consider that in many cases, your dog can be properly cleaned with brushing and a simple dry wipe.

Bathing Your Pekingese

When bathing, it's important to use a good quality shampoo that will not damage the dog's fur or skin. There are certain products that contain harmful drying chemicals, or are plain too harsh for dogs. Various generic dog shampoos, like the ubiquitous "oatmeal" ones, are not really that great. Also try not to use shampoo made for people!

Among the quality dog shampoos there are, the two that are most recommended are Buddy Wash by Cloud Star and Earthbath. They run about $7 to $10 a bottle, but they are quite concentrated so they'll last a long time. They're also natural, and wont harm the dog's skin or coat.

Since your dog shouldn't get water in his ears during the bath, you may wish to gently plug each ear with a regular cotton ball. Then get your sink or tub water to run warm and place your dog in it, proceeding to wet him thoroughly. Be sure the water is luke, as cold water can make the dog sick and hot water can be dangerous as Pekes are not adapted to take heat well.

Lather his entire coat with a moderate amount of shampoo, and work it throughout. Pay extra attention to his feet, underside, and hindquarters as these areas are prone to debris. Carefully clean his face with your fingers, being sure not to get water in his eyes, mouth (if soapy), and ears. Then rinse the shampoo thoroughly out of his coat.

If you're washing your dog in your sink or just pouring bowls of water on his head, you might want to get a Rinse Ace pet sprayer. This is a hose that attaches to your existing shower head and extends down to the floor of the bathtub so you can properly bathe your little Pekingese. It has a nice water pressure, which gets the soap out easily. There's also a handy feature that pauses waterflow so you can resoap your dog without losing the temperature.

How To Dry Your Pekingese Properly

Unless the air is very warm, you shouldn't let your Peke run around to dry himself over the course of a few hours because he might catch a cold. Also, you should not towel dry Pekingeses, since this can easily cause the fur to tangle and break. Instead, you want to just pat him with a dry towel to soak up most of the surface moisture, and then finish him off with an air dryer.

When airdrying, don't swing the dryer back and forth rapidly as this can really tangle up the fur -- unless of course you've given him a puppy cut. The best way to dry a Pekingese is to go slowly, keeping the dryer at a distance from the body, while using a brush to gently separate and straighten the fur. It is not a task to be finished in the matter of a minute, so do not rush through it! A few minutes doing this properly will avoid unnecessary tangling of fur, which later can become problematic mats.

If you're using a regular blowdryer, that is fine, but be careful not to hold it too close to the body or else the heat can quickly burn the skin and coat. Also keep in mind that your Peke will get very warm under the hot air, so give him periodic moments to cool down.

Brush Your Peke Once a Week

The goal of brushing Pekes is to separate and straighten the hairs, and to brush out loose debris. It is not to forcibly shed them! Unless winter is approaching and your dog is beginning to shed naturally, getting an awful lot of fur on your brush might mean you're brushing too hard. Normally, there should only be a very small amount of fur coming off the dog when brushing.

Peke's shouldn't be dry brushed. A wet or moist coat will take the brush without damaging much better than a dry coat. Whenever brushing, you want to lubricate the coat by sprinkling or spraying some water on it. A grooming powder will also help to get the bristles through the coat with the least amount of resistance. Simple baby powder or corn starch will do; dust it lightly on the dog's fur as you brush through it, and then allow the dog outside to shake it off when you're finished grooming him.

Brushing is done in small sections. Generally, you want to pull a handful of fur away and against the grain, and gently brush small layers of it back towards the direction of the grain. This will ensure you get all the hair underneath the surface and all the way down to the skin level. Do not be too rigorous! Slight tangles should easily straighten by the brushing alone. Severe tangling and mats can come out with a rake; these mats are usually found where the fur is soft, predominantly around the ears.

Because they are very frizzy, the skirt and tail are the most difficult areas to straighten out. The same principle applies, but you must work slower so as not to hurt the dog, and in smaller sections since the hairs will be more resistant to the bristles. You may also need to use a little more water and powder. If you don't mind trimming these areas, it can make this task much easier.

Face / Head

Admittedly, a face is not something a Pekingese has much of. But the fact that it's smushed is quite problematic because it makes it very easy for dirt and tears to accumulate. This can cause all kinds of infections and irritations, making cleaning the face a necessary daily task. You just want to clean out any dirt and tears, particularly in the fold and around the eyes, by gently wiping with a damp cloth or cotton ball. Don't use any cleaning agents on the face! Just plain water.

Also clean the ears once a week with an ear cleaning product. Squeeze a couple of drops onto a cotton ball and rub gently along the inside of the ear. Be careful not to let any of the solution get into his ear canal. Generally, the bottle will give you any other instructions needed for the particular product.

Pet groomers may also recommend pulling out the little hairs inside the ears. Personally I don't like doing this because when they grow back in a few months, they do so in all directions and can well tickle the dog to insanity. It's up to you whether to pluck them or not, but I warn that your dog may not able to stop scratching his ears when the tiny new ones grow back in.

Finally, clean your dog's teeth. You can clean his teeth with some dog toothpaste (dogs don't spit, so human toothpaste isn't a good idea) and a piece of regular gauze. How often depends on what your dog eats. Kibble, bones, and other hard edible products will keep the teeth relatively clean, so once a week. If these aren't a part of the dog's regular diet, you may need to do it daily. If you get any buildup that wont rub off, take the dog to a vet for a good tooth cleaning.

Paws

First be sure to trim down all the hair between the toes, as these can mat easily and possibly cause pain. Then trim the nails.

Dog's nails can be self-trimming to different degrees depending on the type of surface they walk on and how rigorously they do so. If they spend much time on rough concrete, such as taking frequent brisk walks around the block, then the need to trim the nails will be minimal, as the ground will wear the nails down. If they hardly get to walk on a rough surface, and spend all their time on carpet or wood, then nail trimming will certainly need to be more frequent.

Ideally, nails should be trimmed as far back as possible because short nails are the most comfortable for your Peke to walk on. Understandably, however, many owners will be afraid to cut into the "quick," which is the vein that runs through each nail; cutting into this can be quite painful to the dog.

When in doubt, trim a little at a time. If you feel the veins in your dog's nails extend too closely to the tips, trimming in small amounts will encourage them to retreat and gradually become shorter.

There is a great article on nail trimming that has already been done so I'll just point you to that right now: Clipping a Dog's Claws.

Underside

By "underside," I am primarily meaning the "special" area, which should be trimmed for obvious hygenic reasons -- those nifty yellow accents.

Lay your dog down, roll him onto his back, and carefully proceed to trim away all that messy hair surrounding the genital area. This will minimize the dog soiling himself and it will also help to keep him cool on warmer days.

If your confidence allows, try as best as you can to cut down the hairs extending from the tip of his little willy. Otherwise, don't bother, as you may well circumsize him. Just let that be a semi-annual groomer's task.

Return to: Pekingese Information