Grooming Toy Group Dogs: Small Dogs, Detailed Work

A Pomeranian, a Yorkshire Terrier, a Maltese and a Chihuahua, all under about fifteen pounds

What these breeds have in common

The Toy Group holds the companion breeds, most of them under about fifteen pounds. Pomeranians, Yorkshire Terriers, Maltese, Chihuahuas, Papillons, Pugs, Shih Tzus, Havanese, Toy Poodles, Pekingese and Italian Greyhounds.

These dogs were bred to be company rather than to work, which means the coat was selected for how it looks rather than for what it had to survive. The result is a group where high maintenance coats are the norm and where almost every breed needs a full haircut on a schedule.

It is also the group where owners are most often surprised by the bill, because a small dog looks like a small job and the appointment is mostly detail work that does not scale down.

What this group means for grooming

Small dogs with grown-out coats and thin skin. Face, feet and sanitary work matter more than body clipping.

What actually decides the grooming

The coat type, not the group. It sets the tools, the interval and the price, and two dogs in this group can need completely different appointments.

Small dog, full appointment

Bathing a five pound dog takes a few minutes and drying it takes a few more. Everything after that takes as long as it would on a larger dog and sometimes longer, because the tolerances are tighter.

A face trim on a Pomeranian means scissoring around eyes that are millimeters from the blade. Feet the size of a walnut still need the pads cleared, the hair between the toes removed and the outline scissored round. Nails are tiny and the quick sits proportionally close to the tip.

On top of that, most of these breeds carry coats that need real work. A Maltese and a Shih Tzu are silky coats, a Toy Poodle is curly, a Pomeranian is a double coat, a Havanese is somewhere between. Each of those is a full appointment before size is considered at all.

The toy size page goes into what fills the time and why weight is the wrong thing to price from.

Handling a fragile dog

Toy breeds carry structural fragilities that shape how any competent groomer works, and that are worth knowing at home too.

Patellar luxation, where the kneecap slips out of its groove, is common across the group and particularly in Pomeranians, Yorkshire Terriers and Toy Poodles. A dog with a loose patella should be lifted down rather than allowed to jump, from a table or from furniture.

Collapsing trachea is the other, and it is why nobody experienced puts steady pressure on a toy breed's throat. Yorkshire Terriers, Chihuahuas and Pomeranians are all prone. It is also the strongest argument for walking these dogs on a harness rather than a collar, and any pressure at the throat that produces a honking cough is a signal to stop immediately.

Their bones are genuinely light, so a fall from table height is a serious injury in a way it is not for a larger dog. A grooming loop and a hand stay on the dog continuously, and the table is never left unattended.

They also lose heat quickly once wet, so drying happens promptly and the room stays warm.

Flat faces, big eyes and tear staining

Several breeds in this group are brachycephalic, meaning the muzzle is short and the face is flat: Pugs, Shih Tzus, Pekingese, Japanese Chin and Brussels Griffons. That changes the grooming appointment in three ways.

The eyes sit prominently and are less protected than a longer muzzle would allow, so hair growing into them is a genuine welfare problem rather than a styling question. Something has to be done about the face furnishings whichever look you choose, whether that is a topknot or a short face trim.

The nose fold on a Pug or a Pekingese is a skin fold in the middle of the face, and it behaves like any other: wipe it out and dry it, or yeast follows. Smell arrives before there is anything to see.

Tear staining is the third. Discharge runs down the face, oxidizes and turns light colored hair reddish brown. It is far easier to keep on top of daily with a damp cloth than to remove later, and it is worse on breeds where the tear duct is compressed by the skull shape.

Flat faced dogs also struggle with heat and with restraint on the neck, so a good salon works in shorter bursts and keeps the dryer off the face.

Breeds in the Toy Group

19 breeds in this group

Affenpinscher

A harsh shaggy jacket meant to look untidy, on a dog that fits in one hand

Affenpinscher

Bolognese

An open flocked coat that is combed out and left standing, never brushed flat

Bolognese

Brussels Griffon

Rough and smooth in the same litter, one hand stripped and one needing almost nothing

Brussels Griffon

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

A tidy rather than a haircut, and a set of ears that need watching

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Chihuahua

Two coats in one breed, and a dog small enough that the handling matters more than either

Chihuahua

Chinese Crested

Two varieties out of one litter, one with no coat at all and one with a full silky one

Chinese Crested

Havanese

A long soft wavy coat that mats quietly, and a puppy coat change that catches everyone

Havanese

Italian Greyhound

Five minutes of coat on one of the most fragile frames in dogs

Italian Greyhound

Japanese Chin

A long silky single coat that is far less work than it looks, over a very flat face

Japanese Chin

Maltese

Pure white, floor length, and a full time job if you keep it that way

Maltese

Miniature Pinscher

No relation to the Doberman it resembles, and older than it by centuries

Miniature Pinscher

Papillon

A long silky coat that almost never needs cutting, which is rare enough to be worth explaining

Papillon

Pekingese

A flat face under one of the heaviest coats in the toy group, so both daily jobs apply in full

Pekingese

Pomeranian

A northern double coat on a five pound dog, and the breed shave downs ruin most often

Pomeranian

A Pug, a short double coat that sheds hard and a face fold that needs daily work

Pug

A small dog that sheds like a much larger one, and a face fold that is the actual appointment

Pug

Shih Tzu

A floor length coat on a dog that would rather be on your lap

Shih Tzu

Silky Terrier

A Yorkie sized coat on a bigger leggier dog, and rather less work than it looks

Silky Terrier

Toy Fox Terrier

The Smooth's coat on a five pound frame, where the handling matters more than the coat

Toy Fox Terrier

Yorkshire Terrier

Hair rather than fur, on a dog small enough to sit in one hand

Yorkshire Terrier

The other dog groups

A Golden Retriever, a Springer Spaniel and an Irish Setter, all carrying the feathering that mats first

Sporting Group

Retrievers, spaniels, setters and pointers bred to work with a gun.

Sporting

A Beagle, an Afghan Hound and a Dachshund, a group that splits between almost no grooming and the most of any breed

Hound Group

Scent and sight hounds bred to track and chase.

Hounds

A Newfoundland, a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Husky, heavy double coats on large frames

Working Group

Guardians, haulers and rescue dogs bred for size and strength.

Working

A Schnauzer, a Westie and an Airedale, the home of the hand stripped wire coat

Terrier Group

Earth dogs bred to go to ground after vermin.

Terriers

A Bichon, a Poodle, a Bulldog and a Dalmatian, the group with no single coat type

Non-Sporting Group

The group that holds everything the other six do not.

Non-Sporting

A Border Collie, an Australian Shepherd, a Rough Collie and a Corgi, weather-resistant coats built to sit outdoors

Herding Group

Breeds that move livestock.

Herding

A Goldendoodle, a Cockapoo and a Bernedoodle, the highest maintenance coats in grooming

Crossbreeds and Designer Dogs

Deliberate crosses such as the Goldendoodle, Cockapoo and Puggle.

Crossbreeds

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