Affenpinscher Grooming

About the Affenpinscher

The Brussels Griffon page describes a small harsh coated toy with a short face and a beard, hand stripped, and the Affenpinscher is its close relative and near neighbor in every respect. The Griffon was developed partly from Affenpinscher stock.

The coat is harsh, dense and about an inch long over the body, longer and shaggier around the neck, shoulders, head, chest and legs, forming a mane and a full beard with bushy eyebrows.

The look is meant to be rough and slightly disheveled, which is where the name comes from: Affenpinscher means monkey terrier, and the whole point of the face is that it is comically unkempt.

So this is a stripped coat that must not be tidied into an outline, on a dog small enough to do on your lap.

Stripping a dog this size

Hand stripping pulls the dead jacket hairs out at the root, and on a seven pound dog it is one of the easiest breeds to learn on: the dog sits on your lap, the tools cost very little, and the test is simple. A dead hair comes away easily between finger and thumb; a live one resists and should be left.

Rolling is the usual approach, taking a little every few weeks so the coat stays somewhere in the middle of its cycle.

A stripped Affenpinscher keeps a hard, dense, weatherproof jacket with the correct rough outline.

Clipping softens and thins it in the usual way, and on a coat this short the loss of texture shows quickly, with the black going dusty. For a companion dog it is a reasonable trade made knowingly, and plenty of pet Affens are clipped.

What is not a good outcome is neither. An unstripped, unclipped jacket holds dead hair, the furnishings felt, and the dog ends up shaved.

Brush weekly with a slicker, and comb the mane, beard, eyebrows and leg furnishings, which are the parts that mat.

Bathe every eight weeks or so. Over-bathing softens a harsh coat.

It is meant to look untidy

This is the instruction most likely to be ignored, because every instinct in a salon is to neaten a dog up.

The Affenpinscher standard asks for a rough, shaggy appearance, with the head furnishings standing out to give the monkey like expression. It should not be scissored into a smooth outline, the beard should not be squared off, and the eyebrows should not be trimmed back to tidy the face.

A neatly barbered Affenpinscher looks wrong to anyone who knows the breed, and the texture takes months to recover if the jacket has been clipped to achieve it.

Say it at the booking and bring a photograph. This is an uncommon breed and the default will be to make it look smart.

The words that help: harsh, shaggy, stripped, rough outline, not scissored, not neatened.

What should be trimmed is functional only: the hair between the pads, the sanitary area, and enough around the eyes that hair is not resting on the eye surface.

The face, the eyes and the beard

The Affenpinscher has a short muzzle and prominent, round, dark eyes set in a flat face, which brings the same cautions as any short faced toy.

It is less severely brachycephalic than a Pug or a Bulldog, but the rules still apply: no cage dryer, short cool sessions, and stop if the breathing turns noisy or laboured.

The eyes have very little bone in front of them, so nothing is sprayed toward the face, they are wiped outward with a damp cloth, and the dog is never scruffed or gripped around the neck and head, since pressure there can displace an eye.

Keep the eyebrow hair clear of the eye surface rather than cutting it off, which preserves both the look and the cornea.

The beard goes into the water bowl at every drink and the food at every meal. Comb it daily, wipe and dry after meals, and wash it more often than the rest of the dog. A shallow wide bowl helps.

Squinting, pawing at an eye, cloudiness or a visible mark on the surface needs a veterinarian the same day.

A small dog with a large opinion

Affenpinschers are bold, busy, confident and quite convinced of their own size, which is charming and does mean they do not naturally hold still.

Start handling in puppyhood and keep sessions short and matter of fact. A dog this size that objects cannot be reasoned with, and forcing it is how a lifetime of difficult appointments starts.

Teeth matter as they do on every toy breed: full sized teeth in a small crowded jaw, food packing between them, disease starting early. Brush daily and expect professional cleanings.

Luxating patellas are common in small breeds, so a dog that skips a step and carries on needs assessing.

Keep the hair between the pads cleared, since a small dog skidding on hard floors is a real factor in joint injuries.

Nails every three to four weeks.

Never leave a dog this size unattended on a grooming table, and lift it rather than letting it jump.

What to tell your groomer

Say the coat is stripped and meant to look rough, and must not be scissored into a neat outline.

Bring a photograph, since most groomers will not have met the breed.

Ask for the eyebrows kept but clear of the eye surface, and the beard washed and dried.

Say no cage dryer and no spray near the face, and that the dog is never scruffed.

Ask for pads cleared and sanitary trimmed, and nothing else cut.

Say the dog must not be left unattended on the table.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Affenpinscher