Thinking of buying a Chinese crested dog? Want to know how to care for it? Read on for advice, tips & info on Chinese crested puppy care.
Caring for the Chinese crested dog can be challenging task. Although this particular breed of toy dog has a stronger immune system than most other dogs of its size it is still a sensitive creature that requires utmost care.
Skin Care & Grooming
The hairless version of the Chinese crested dog with its bare humanlike skin is far more susceptible to develop different kinds of skin problems. Owners of this particular breed of dog are required to take utmost care of their skin in order to prevent the skin problems from escalating.
The fact that the hairless dog has a single and scarce fur coating makes it highly vulnerable to the heat of the sun as well as excessive cold weather. They can easily get sunburned if they stay out in the sun for too long. However the intelligent dog seems to instinctively avoid standing in direct sunlight. Applying sun screen is one way of preventing this problem but your Chinese crested dog may very well lick it off.
When it comes to this particular breed of dog you have to be spot on with the routine cleaning. This is one thing that can help prevent many diseases. The humanlike skin needs to be treated quite in the same manner as the human skin. Hence you will have to exfoliate the dog’s skin in order to rid it of black heads.
One thing that you need to make sure of is that you need to keep the skin of your crested dog oil free. So if you will be making use of a moisturizing cream then make sure it is oil free. The best time to apply a moisturizing cream is after giving the dog a bath. This will keep the skin healthy and clean while maintaining that soft touch.
The hairless Chinese crested dog varies with regards to its hairlessness. There are hairy hairless and true hairless crested dogs. The true hairless requires minimal grooming. On the other hand if you have a relatively hairy hairless then you will have to put in a lot more effort into clipping. You will require a comb to straighten out the fine hairs of the dog. If you have the Powder puff as a pet then you will have to put in ten to fifteen minutes of grooming every other day in order to prevent the coat hair from tangling and matting.
Dental Care
Dental care is another major health concern with the Chinese crested dog. The dog is naturally endowed with prehistoric molars which means that it has a set of pointy canine like teeth. The root system of the dog’s set of teeth is rather weak which is why it is vulnerable to lose teeth even at a premature age.
One way to strengthen the dog’s teeth is to feed him a lot of dog food such as TD and raw bones. This helps to keep the teeth clean. Concurrently you will have to keep up the routine dental cleaning. The Powder puff generally has better teeth than the hairless. This is why you will find breeders to be keeping the powder puff in the pool so as to improve the dentition of the litter over time.
