# Papillon Owners, Ear Fringe care???



## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Nia is developing some nice fringes but there are 2 maltese puppies that we play with (3 months/4 months old) that LOVES to pull and tug Nia's fringes! 

It's gotten so bad recently that they bite Nia and HANG off her fringe or the coat around her neck! It really destroys her fringes and I was hoping that she could grow them out and not get it all tugged off by badly behaved little puppies. Those puppies won't listen to anything their owner says and always barks, growls and immediately plays very roughly with Nia. They actually draw blood on each other sometimes and thankfully because of Nia's coat, Nia hasn't experienced any bites that will draw blood. I can't even avoid the dogs because they always insist on walking with us and playing with us....

How do you Pap owners care for and wash the fringes? I use Vellus shampoo and no conditioner because it always seems sort of oily and clumpy.

Nia's fringes will go in clumps or strands within a day after bathing. Is there anything I can do to stop it from doing that? Even if I comb, after about 5 minutes, it returns to this kind of strandy clumpy hair...


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Here is a good site for Pap-specific grooming tips. =)


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks. I do all of that but can't seem to get the effect that those Paps have. I even use the same products, not sure why...


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Well, the red Paps tend to have more fragile fringe. The webpage mentions:



> Black and White, Black, White and Tan and Dark Sables with black to tan banded fringes are much easier to grow fringe on than Red and White Papillons. Red and White Papillons who carry little or no sable hair can be difficult to achieve nice length of fringe and sometimes the fringes may never grow at all. A Papillon's red fringes are a very fine soft coat which can break easily and once the fringe breaks, on some dogs, these fringes may never grow back.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Red coated dogs have a lot of this problem, which is why my Beau is fringeless in my signature. It's hard to grow show fringe on many dogs. When Beau was showing we used a snood and watched play time. Nard has chewed off all his fringe these days. Don't touch it if you can't help it, your finger oils will break down the hair.

This is why most specials are tri or black and white with some banded sables. The darker dogs just grow more fringe and there's not much you can do about it, really.

Mine all get greasy eared after a couple weeks so I re-bathe them frequently.

ETA: Nia is also very very young. You don't get mature fringe like that until the dog is 2-4. It took 4 years to grow Rose's. (And less than a year to lose all of Beau's!) My Nard has ridiculous fringing for his age and color. Most don't get that kind of fringe for years.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Laurelin said:


> ETA: Nia is also very very young. You don't get mature fringe like that until the dog is 2-4. It took 4 years to grow Rose's. (And less than a year to lose all of Beau's!) My Nard has ridiculous fringing for his age and color. Most don't get that kind of fringe for years.


I'm aware of that but I'm just very mad that the Maltese puppies keeps tugging it off! It's like Nia's poor bit of fringe is their target and they can't rest until it's been pulled off!

By the way, Rose has a TON of fringe! Funny Nard didn't chew off hers or Summer's but only Beau's.



Pai said:


> Well, the red Paps tend to have more fragile fringe. The webpage mentions:


I didn't think fringe growing would be a problem with Nia because she's a dark red sable, her face is actually mostly sable. It's definitely growing, I can see it but it keeps getting broken off. It's like one week it's a little longer, then the next week it's all been ripped off. Quite frustrating really.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Michiyo-Fir said:


> I'm aware of that but I'm just very mad that the Maltese puppies keeps tugging it off! It's like Nia's poor bit of fringe is their target and they can't rest until it's been pulled off!
> 
> By the way, Rose has a TON of fringe! Funny Nard didn't chew off hers or Summer's but only Beau's.
> 
> ...


Do you have a front shot of her fringe? Just curious. 

I think Nard's fringe will end up as long or longer than Rose's. We got Rose when she was 2 and her fringe was similar in length to Nard's (15 months)

Yeah Beau is the one that ALWAYS gets his fringe pulled off. Rose doesn't really do much of the playing thing with new pups (she's far to good for that) and Summer is usually avoiding the newbie. Beau and Nard are best buds and wrestle literally 24 hours a day. The funny thing is Beau never pulls on Nard's fringe, but Nard would hang onto Beau's.


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## luvntzus (Mar 16, 2007)

Just wanted to post a picture of my dog's ear fringe from the back:











And from the front:









Most people we meet think that he's a Papillon. I guess I can see it; from the back he really does look like a Papillon to me. Okay, back to business everybody. lol


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