# growing out the coat



## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Hi everyone, I have a few questions about growing out the coat. Jonas is a year old now and I want to stop clipping him and try growing out his coat. I am wondering if you all could give me any tips. His mother has a nice silky coat but his father has a cotton coat. He seems to be somewhere in the middle. The hair on his body is about one and a half inches long now. If I don't use conditioner on him he looks like a fluff ball after his bath. I have read something about trimming the ends with scissors not sure when or how to do that any suggestions would be appreciated. Also I have read something about flat ironing now sure if I should try it or not. Here are a couple of pics of him, one is fluff ball Jonas and the last one his hair is more manageable. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks everyone
Debbie


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

He looks really good to me. I have grown out Lucky's coat. My groomer take a bit off the ends every 6 weeks to keep him looking even. I do know every dog is different and success will be made or broken by the shampoo and conditioner. I have tried so many and they work for others but not Luck. I am sure the one I use on Luck won't work for others.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you! I love your pic! Do you know if your groomer cut the ends when the coat was as short as Jonas has now?
Debbie


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

I think she does but more so to straighten things out. I also have her clip the belly and chest and clip short the feet and muzzle area - it is just easier to maintain.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks, I think I will try and trim up the damaged ends a little and see how it looks. I think that I damaged the ends from clipping him when he was younger. Do you keep the face shorter. I am wanting to keep his face round kind of like when he was a puppy but with a top knot but I am not sure what it will look like with a longer coat.


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

I have clip the nose and chin, straighten the ears. I look at it this way, it is only hair, if I don't like it, I can clip it back or can let it grow out. He is just too messy an eater to have a lot of facial hair.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Honestly, I think Jonas looks great in both pictures. He is adorable. That said, I wouldn't trim unless you think his ends look frayed, split, damaged or wispy. As for the flat iron, when SUKI was longer I would flat iron her occasainally. Jonas hair looks way too short to iron. You are more likely to burn him from the heat so close to his skin. I bet his coat would lay down flat once he got some length to him. The weight of his hair will pull down some and not look so fluffy. Unless of course, he has the never ending hair and dense like Suki. 
I don't groom my dogs but I did use to shave out panels on Suki to reduce volume. It's a technique we use on humans and the hair lays down sooo much flatter :thumbsup:


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Well today was bath day so I decided to try trimming the ends a little and I also used the flat iron on his body a little. It looked good on the table and he didn't get burned or anything, thank goodness. I didn't see the last couple of posts before I started. His ends are really damaged looking so I think the trim helped a little, I only did a tiny bit. But the flat iron was probably a waste of time. The minute I let him down he decided he wanted to restyle himself. haha


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

He looks GORGEOUS!


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you so much Walter and Joanne. 
Now I have to go and bath Jonas's little sister Ruby.
Thanks so much for the advice.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

I almost forgot to ask about the color of his nose. When he was younger his nose was so black but now it has faded so much the top is almost pink in one spot. Its not from sunburn, we live on a ranch in the Peruvian Andes and I am afraid something might happen to him outside so he is indoors most of the time.


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Look at Jonas:wub: he's grown into a beautiful boy:wub: he looks like he has a nice coat to me.
I am learning about growing a coat, Maddie's hair is about 3 1/2 inches now, her coat is totally straight, I took her to the groomer a couple weeks ago and had her belly and lower chest shaved, had them round out her feet and cut toe nails. At the time the groomer kept telling me that Maddie had a beautiful coat, easy to maintain. I do think next time I will have them trim her ends.
Your doing a fabulous job on your handsome little man


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

djackson59 said:


> I almost forgot to ask about the color of his nose. When he was younger his nose was so black but now it has faded so much the top is almost pink in one spot. Its not from sunburn, we live on a ranch in the Peruvian Andes and I am afraid something might happen to him outside so he is indoors most of the time.


hmm - typically they get pink nose over the winter, but you are in fall now. Typically it is the result of a lack of sun.


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## djackson59 (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you Paula, maybe he looks so puffy because he is fat and his coat isn't that long yet. I think I really damaged it by clipping it when he was little. But it is looking better I think. Maddie's hair is just beautiful, I hope that Jonas's turns out half as nice as her hair.
Walter, you are right. Most of Peru is just getting into winter but here in the mountains we are just going out of our rainy season and into dry season, so the dogs have been inside most of the time for the last 8 months. I guess I will try letting him sun bathe. He likes being outside but I worry about him so much. Maybe I will have to get a playpen set up outside.


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## Pooh's mommy (Aug 31, 2014)

djackson59 said:


> Well today was bath day so I decided to try trimming the ends a little and I also used the flat iron on his body a little. It looked good on the table and he didn't get burned or anything, thank goodness. I didn't see the last couple of posts before I started. His ends are really damaged looking so I think the trim helped a little, I only did a tiny bit. But the flat iron was probably a waste of time. The minute I let him down he decided he wanted to restyle himself. haha


Jonas is adorable :wub: His coat looks so soft and cuddly :wub:
I had to laugh when you put him down and he restyled ..........
:HistericalSmiley:Gotta love "Em... Wanting to have a style all their own:HistericalSmiley:


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