Pomeranian teddy bear cut: who suits it and the black skin risk

If you want to give your Pomeranian a teddy bear face, wait until your dog is fully grown and already has a bear-like face. You also have to accept that fur clipped close may never grow back. At our kennel, we only trim the coat short on females that are shedding or have just had a litter. Our males keep their full coat.

The bear-face cut (also called the Boo style or the teddy bear cut) is so cute that almost every owner wants to try it. Bánh Bò Pomeranian is a Pom kennel in Ho Chi Minh City. We have bred to the FCI standard since 2012, belong to the Vietnam Kennel Association (VKA), and export puppies to the USA and Canada. Our breeder is also a veterinarian. We have seen plenty go wrong after a single close clip. Please think hard before you choose this cut.

Which Poms look good with a teddy bear cut?

Your Pom needs a bear-like face and full, round cheeks to begin with. This cut is very picky about faces. On a Pom with a slightly long face or thin cheeks, it tends to expose less flattering features and looks clearly worse than the natural coat.

Age matters a lot too. In our experience, the teddy bear look works best from age 2 onward, once the facial fur has fully come in. Cut it earlier, and the face fur is too thin to form a round shape. The result looks flat and patchy, nothing like the little bear you had in mind.

A Pom puppy who has just come home is still trading the puppy coat for the adult coat. At this stage, stick to bathing, blow-drying and brushing.

Why can a teddy bear cut stop a Pom’s coat from growing back?

A Pom’s coat has two layers, and a teddy bear cut usually reaches the inner one. The outer layer is made of long, slightly coarse guard hairs that block sun and dust. Underneath sits a soft, dense undercoat lying right against the skin. To make the face match the body, groomers usually cut the whole dog short. When scissors or clippers go that close, the undercoat gets cut too.

After a close clip, many Poms regrow their coat very slowly. Some only get a ragged layer of fuzz with no guard hairs. In others, the skin stays bare for months. Veterinary literature calls this post-clipping alopecia, and it is common in double-coated breeds such as the Pomeranian, Samoyed and Husky. Vets still don’t fully understand why it happens. The hair follicles aren’t necessarily destroyed. They may simply stay stuck in the resting phase for an unusually long time.

What is black skin disease, and when should your Pom see a vet?

Black skin is what Pom owners often call Alopecia X, a hair loss condition in which the coat thins, falls out and leaves darkened skin behind. The hair loss is usually symmetrical and affects the body, neck, tail and backs of the thighs, while the head and legs keep their fur. The cause is unknown. Pomeranians belong to the Spitz group of breeds, which are prone to it. During an exam, your vet will often ask whether the coat grew back normally after the last haircut. For a Pom, one close clip can be the moment the problem shows up. No one can predict which dog carries this tendency.

According to Pomeranian care material by author Denise Leo, if the coat hasn’t started to regrow about 3–4 months after a clip, it may be post-clipping alopecia. At that point, take your Pom to the vet. A bald patch that is red, itchy, scaly, smelly or covered in sores could be something else, such as a fungal infection, parasites, allergies or a hormonal disorder. In that case, have your Pom examined promptly. Don’t buy a cream and treat it yourself.

Does shaving a Pom keep it cooler in hot weather?

No. Dogs don’t release heat by sweating through their skin the way people do. They cool down mainly by panting, so shaving the body won’t cool your Pom the way taking off a jacket cools you.

The double coat works as insulation and keeps direct sun off the skin. Here in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the tropical sun is harsh all year, so a shaved Pom also ends up with bare skin that darkens and burns more easily. To keep your Pom cool, give it shade, good airflow and fresh water at all times. Skip midday walks on hot concrete. Brush out dead hair so air can move between the coat layers.

If your Pom lies panting hard with its tongue hanging far out, seems sluggish or vomits after time in the sun, it may have heatstroke: take it to a veterinarian right away. On the way, lay cool, wet towels (not ice) on its belly and armpits and keep it in front of a fan. This only helps your dog during the trip. It does not replace a vet visit.

How do we groom our own Poms?

At our kennel, only females get a short trim, and only at two points: while they are shedding, or right after giving birth when the coat is about to drop. The old coat is coming out anyway. A short trim keeps it from matting and makes brushing easier. New fur then grows back on the dog’s natural cycle.

Most of our males keep their natural coat. They just get baths and brushing.

Many owners keep their Poms trimmed year-round for convenience, or shave them in the hot season. We keep the coat. The reason is simple. A teddy bear cut buys you a few weeks of a novel look, and the price can be months without a coat.

What is a safe way to tidy up your Pom’s coat?

Choose a rounded trim instead. The groomer takes just a little off the tips of the outer guard hairs, enough to give the head, body and legs a round outline. This keeps the full, fluffy look Poms have naturally and barely touches the undercoat. When you take your Pom to a grooming salon, tell the groomer the following:

• Use scissors only to trim the tips. No clippers close to the body.
• Cut as little as possible. If too little comes off, you can trim more next time. If too much comes off, you have to wait for it to grow back.
• Blow-dry and brush the coat out before trimming so you can see your Pom’s true shape.

At home, a beautiful coat comes from regular bathing, blow-drying and brushing. You don’t need scissors. Saigon’s climate is humid, so dry the coat all the way down to the undercoat next to the skin. A damp undercoat mats and keeps the skin from breathing.

Was your Pom already clipped close, and the coat is slow to come back? Or are you unsure whether your Pom suits a teddy bear cut? Send us current photos of your Pom’s face and body and chat with us on WhatsApp. We’ll take a look and give you specific advice.

Medical information in this article was reviewed by veterinarians at Home Pet Veterinary Clinic on October 4, 2026.