I re-posted the following post a few years ago.
The Paps you see here are all older now, or no longer living with us.
Some Papillons have a shorter hair coat, others have a longer coat.
There are several factors involved, such as why, and how short/long the hair is on a full grown Papillon, or Phalene.
- Genetics; have a look at your Papillons Pedigree, and photos of his parents, grandparents, and down the line.
- Climate: if you live in the tropics with him, do not expect the same hair length, or hair volume, as the dog of your friend in Alaska.
- Diet: a poor-quality diet produces a poor hair coat.
- Maintenance: regular brushing and bathing helps to a shiny coat on your dog, regardless of length, and will support hair growth/length of a longer coat.
- Neutered vs not- neutered: a neutered dog grows much nicer hair, he/she does not have to go through the constant hormone changes, whelping, litter, and stress from heat cycles.
- Play-time: especially here with a look at his ear fringes and culottes (hair on his hind legs). The more your Papillon gets to play with other dogs, the more fringes, and other hair will get ripped out, or damaged, broken.
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| Praline, with all her hair & fringes requires daily brushing. Praline is spayed and is not very interested in playing with other dogs. |
Pros and Cons: more brushing to do on a long hair coated papi, more maintenance overall.
The original Papillon was meant to be a wash and go dog. Next to no maintenance.
Do you want to deprive your dog of play, so just that he will grow longer hair?
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| Matti is a low maintenance dog, only her fringes need attention more often. |
My Road's End Papi Story:
I have Papillons with long and shorter hair coats. The long hair dogs are high maintenance, I love their coats, but I pay for it. There is always a chance, as my Praline did, that they choke on their own fringes, or their chest hair gets caught in their teeth.
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| Our tiger Man wears a bandanna, he gets his chest hair frequently tangled in his teeth. Tiger is a high maintenance dog; he has a lot of hair (dense). Needs frequent baths with brushing. |
All my dogs get to play, so that in the beginning they do not show too much fringe. When they get older, they play less, and everything starts to grow better on them.
Some of my dogs wear little bandannas, which keep their chest hair cleaner and more away from their mouth. I tried snoods for their ear fringes before, but again, you will have to restrict your dog pretty much from playing with other dogs. In our case, the snoot was removed right away by other dogs while at play.
(A snood is nothing but a tube with elastic band on both ends. The tube goes over his head. (A snoot is a different thing))
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| Phalene Blitz has nice long hair, but it is very silky and not so dense. He requires some brushing and bathing. Very little sticks to his fur. |
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| Brolle is a high maintenance dog. Everything sticks to his dense hair coat. His groin area needs to be bathed frequently and brushed; his fringes need to be addressed daily. |