Japanese Chin Grooming

About the Japanese Chin

The Pekingese page describes a flat faced toy dog carrying an enormous double coat with a thick undercoat, which is one of the heaviest grooming commitments in a small dog.

A Japanese Chin looks like a lighter version of the same thing and is not. The coat is long and silky but it is a single coat with little or no undercoat, and the undercoat is the part that mats. So a Chin in full coat is a genuinely moderate job: brushing every couple of days keeps it, and most owners never need a professional groom at all.

What the two breeds do share is the face. Both are brachycephalic with large, prominent, wide set eyes, and the eyes are where the real risk sits.

A single coat, and why that changes everything

A Chin carries a long, straight, silky coat that stands away a little from the body, with a full ruff at the neck, feathering on the ears, the backs of the legs and the tail, and a plumed tail carried over the back.

The important part is what is missing. There is little or no undercoat, and undercoat is what felts. On a double coated toy dog the dead undercoat is trapped by the outer coat and turns into a mat against the skin; on a Chin there is very little to trap.

The practical consequence is that this is a much lighter job than the coat suggests. A brush every two or three days with a pin brush, followed by a comb through the feathering, keeps a Chin in full coat. The coat is also fine enough that it tangles rather than pelts, and tangles come out.

Where mats do form is the feathering: behind and under the ears first, then the armpits, the trousers on the back legs, and around the ruff where a collar or harness sits.

Bathe roughly every six weeks. The coat has a natural resistance to dirt and much of what a Chin picks up brushes out once dry. Dry it properly, and brush while drying rather than after, since a silky coat dried in a heap sets into the shape it dried in.

The eyes, which are the real risk

A Chin has large, round, prominent eyes set wide in a very flat face, and they are its main vulnerability. There is very little bone or muzzle in front of the eye to protect it.

Corneal injury is common and easy to cause. A grooming spray, a stray brush end, a face washed carelessly, or the dog rubbing at its own face on carpet will all do it, and a scratched cornea is painful and can scar.

So: nothing is ever sprayed toward the face, the eyes are cleaned with a damp cloth wiped outward and away, and the hair on the muzzle and around the eyes is kept short enough that it does not touch the eye surface.

The wide set means the inner corners tend to collect discharge, which then dries into the hair and stains. Wipe daily and dry after.

Chin also often have a slight visible white at the inner corner, which is normal for the breed rather than a sign of anything.

What needs a veterinarian the same day: squinting, holding an eye closed, pawing at the face, cloudiness, a visible mark on the surface of the eye, or any sudden change. Because the eyes sit so proud, a Chin is also at risk of proptosis, where the eyeball is displaced from the socket by trauma or even by rough restraint around the neck, exactly as described on the Pekingese page. Never scruff or grip a Chin by the neck and head.

The flat face, breathing and heat

A Chin is brachycephalic. It has a shortened muzzle, and like every flat faced breed it moves air less efficiently, cools itself less well, and tires faster than its size suggests.

A Chin is generally less severely affected than a Pug or a Bulldog, and many are comfortable, but the rules at a grooming table are the same for all of them.

No cage dryer, ever. A hot enclosed box in front of a dog that cannot cool itself by panting properly is how brachycephalic dogs die at groomers, and it is the single most important thing an owner can say out loud at drop off.

Keep appointments short and cool, with breaks. A Chin does not need a long groom anyway.

Watch the breathing during handling: noisy effortful breathing, blue or gray gums, or a dog that will not settle is a stop signal, not something to work through.

Wipe and dry any facial folds the dog has. A Chin's face is flatter than it is wrinkled, so this is usually less of a job than on a Pug, but the crease across the muzzle still traps moisture.

Heat generally is a risk. A Chin should not be left in a warm car or a sunny room, and summer walks belong at the ends of the day.

Shedding, the coat drop, and trimming

A Chin sheds moderately year round and then has a heavier seasonal shed, usually once or twice a year.

Females in particular can drop a startling amount of coat after a season, an illness, a surgery or a litter, sometimes losing most of the ruff and feathering and looking like a different dog for months. It regrows. Owners who have not seen it before reasonably assume something is badly wrong, and it is worth knowing that a Chin blowing its coat after a stress is normal.

If the loss is patchy, symmetrical on both sides, or comes with itching, scaling or a smell, that is a veterinary question rather than a coat cycle.

A Chin is normally kept in full coat and needs no haircut. What it does need is functional trimming: the hair between the paw pads, the sanitary area, and a tidy of the feathering if it drags.

Clipping the body coat is best avoided. A single silky coat does not always come back with the same texture after clipping, and there is no practical reason to do it on a healthy Chin.

The feet are worth a mention: a Chin has a hare shaped foot with tufts of hair growing between the toes, which is characteristic and looks untidy to a groomer who does not know the breed. Trim level with the pad rather than shaving between the toes.

What to tell your groomer

Say no cage dryer, and say it at drop off rather than assuming it is on file.

Say nothing is sprayed toward the face, and that the eyes are cleaned with a damp cloth only.

Say the dog is never to be scruffed or restrained by the neck and head, because the eyes can be displaced by pressure.

Explain that the coat is single and not double, so it needs brushing and combing rather than deshedding tools.

Ask for pads, sanitary and a tidy only. No body clip, and leave the foot tufts, trimmed level with the pad.

Mention if the dog is between coats after a season or an illness, so the thin coat is not mistaken for a skin problem.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Japanese Chin