Best Brush for a Pomeranian
For a Pomeranian, use a slicker brush, use it lightly, and use it often. That combination does everything a Pom coat needs. Light, frequent strokes lift the undercoat so it stands off the body instead of flattening, catch tangles while they're still small, and never ask you to lean into a dog that weighs less than a bag of flour. The one thing not to do is shave — on this coat that's the decision you can't take back.
What the coat is, and what that means for the tool
| Tool | Contact area | Reach into coat | What it does on a Pom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slicker brush | 4 × 2.6 in (10 × 6.5 cm) pin plate, 220 pins | 0.5 in (1.3 cm) pin length | Lifts undercoat, separates tangles, restores stand-off | The daily tool |
| Wide undercoat rake | 2.8 in (7 cm) head, 9 + 17 teeth | Full coat depth | Built for 85 lb dogs; too wide and too coarse here | Skip it |
| Fine-tooth comb | Narrow bar | Skin to tip | Checks whether you actually finished | Worth owning |
Source: pin count, plate size and pin length are the specifications of our own Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush. Rake dimensions from our Double-Sided Undercoat Rake, listed here as the tool to rule out, not to buy.
A Pomeranian weighs under 7 lb (3.2 kg) but carries an arctic triple coat. Brush it with a slicker; never shave it.
A very large coat on a very small dog
The AKC puts the Pomeranian at "between 6 and 7 inches tall," weighing "no more than 7 pounds," with "lush, double coats" that "come in almost two dozen colors." On coat structure it goes further: in the AKC's own grouping of double coats, the Pom sits in the arctic category — "Triple-coated, or arctic-coated, breeds have some of the thickest coats of any dogs. Examples include the Pomeranian, Samoyed, American Eskimo Dog, and Alaskan Malamute."
That's the whole tension of grooming a Pom. The coat belongs to the same family as a Samoyed's. The dog underneath is the size of a cat.
Everything follows from that. There's nothing to push against, so pressure is out. There's nowhere to put a wide tool, so that's out too. And skipping sessions for a month and catching up later doesn't work either — the AKC's guidance is that "the Pomeranian's profuse double coat requires somewhat diligent grooming" and "a Pom's coat should be brushed frequently to keep the hair healthy."
Frequently is doing real work in that sentence. On a coat this dense, a tangle that was thirty seconds of work on Monday is a felted lump by the following weekend.
The slicker, and why it's the right shape
A slicker is a flat bed of fine bent pins. On a stand-off coat it does something no other tool does: it goes in among the undercoat and lifts it, which is what gives a Pom that round silhouette instead of a flat one. The AKC's brush guide backs the category for this kind of coat — "use them on medium-coated, long-coated, wire-coated, and curly-coated dogs to remove mats."
The self-cleaning slicker carries 220 stainless pins with rounded tips across a 4 × 2.6 in (10 × 6.5 cm) plate, with the pins standing 0.5 in (1.3 cm) proud. Three of those specs matter on a Pom:
The rounded tips are the first thing that matters — you'll be working close to skin on a dog with very little padding, around the ruff and behind the ears, and sharp pin tips are how you teach a dog to run when the brush comes out. Pin length matters too: at 0.5 in (1.3 cm), it's roughly the working depth of the coat on most of the body, long enough to get under the guard hairs without dragging through skin at the shoulder.
Then there's the one-click release, which counts for more here than on almost any other breed. A Pom's fine undercoat packs a slicker solid faster than a coarse coat does — press the button, the pin plate retracts into the shell, and the trapped fur lifts off in a sheet. On a coat that fills the brush three or four times a session, picking hair out by hand is most of why people quit halfway.
The brush weighs 4.4 oz (125 g) in an ABS body with a non-slip TPR grip — light enough that your wrist is doing the steering rather than the lifting.
How to use it: short strokes, with the lie of the coat, and start at the tips of the hair rather than driving down to the skin on the first pass. When you hit a tangle, work it from the outside in — tip, then middle, then root — instead of pulling the brush through it. And go gently over the ruff, the chest and the back of the thighs, which is where the coat is densest and where mats show up first.
The tool not to buy
Extra-wide undercoat rakes get recommended for "double-coated dogs" as a blanket category, and a Pomeranian is technically in that category. It's still the wrong buy.
The rake in the table above has a 2.8 in (7 cm) head — that is 2.8 in of working width on a dog the AKC puts at 6 to 7 inches tall. Its 9-tooth face is built to open felted clumps in a coat several inches deep. Neither of those is a problem a 7 lb dog has, and a coarse rake dragged through a fine arctic undercoat pulls more than it lifts.
If you want a second tool, buy a fine-tooth comb instead. It costs less, it tells you whether you actually finished, and on a Pom it's the thing that finds the tangle behind the ear you missed.
Why shaving is the one irreversible mistake
Owners reach for the clippers in summer, or after a mat gets away from them. Both are understandable. Here's what the AKC says happens:
"Shaving doesn't eliminate shedding, but it does damage the topcoat and can increase the chances of skin issues or sunburn. It also damages the undercoat that insulates the dog in winter, keeps their skin dry, and allows room for air to reach the skin."
And on regrowth specifically: "Shaving a double coat removes both the undercoat and topcoat. Because the two layers grow back at different rates, the undercoat may outpace the topcoat as it regrows, creating an uneven coat that no longer functions properly."
There's a second reason to be cautious with this breed in particular. The AKC names the Pomeranian as "the poster child" for alopecia X, a non-inflammatory hair loss condition, alongside Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian Huskies, Keeshonds, Chow Chows and Samoyeds. The AKC doesn't say clipping causes it — and neither do we. What it does mean is that a Pom whose coat thins, goes patchy, or doesn't come back is a veterinary question, not a grooming one. Don't spend six months buying brushes for something a vet should look at.
The practical version: brush it more often, don't shave it, and if a mat is genuinely felted to the skin, book a groomer who can take that one patch out rather than the whole coat.
Quick decision
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Routine coat care | Slicker, short light strokes, several times a week |
| Coat looks flat instead of round | Slicker, lifting from underneath |
| Small tangle | Work it tip-first with the slicker, don't pull through |
| Mat felted flat to skin | Groomer — not clippers, not harder brushing |
| "It's hot, should I shave?" | No. See above |
| Coat thinning or patchy | Vet |
More options in dog and cat brushes and deshedding tools — for a Pom, look at the slicker end of that range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How often does a Pomeranian need brushing?
A: The AKC's phrasing is that the coat "should be brushed frequently," without fixing a number. In practice, several short sessions a week beats one long one — the coat's density means tangles compound quickly, and a Pom tolerates five minutes far better than thirty.
Q: Do Pomeranians shed a lot for their size?
A: Yes. The AKC's shedding guide groups Pomeranians with Collies and Pembroke Welsh Corgis as breeds needing tools "that reach the undercoat where loose hair collects." The volume is modest in absolute terms because the dog is small — the density is not.
Q: Can I use a deshedding blade on a Pomeranian?
A: It's more tool than the coat needs, and blade-style tools are designed around coarse guard hairs over a heavy undercoat. On a fine arctic coat at this scale, a slicker plus a comb covers it.
Q: My Pom's coat stays flat after a bath. What went wrong?
A: Usually it's drying. A Pom coat left to air-dry compacts, and compacted undercoat doesn't stand off. Brushing while the coat dries, rather than after, is what restores the shape. Note that the AKC's cited master groomer advises against drying arctic coats all the way down to the skin.
Sources
- American Kennel Club — Is the Pomeranian a Good Fit for You? (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/pomeranian-right-for-you/)
- American Kennel Club — What Is a Double-Coated Dog? Coat Types, Grooming, and Care (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/double-coated-dog-breeds/)
- American Kennel Club — How to Groom a Double-Coated Dog (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/how-to-groom-a-double-coated-dog/)
- American Kennel Club — How to Choose the Right Dog Brushes (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/types-dog-brushes-shedding/)
- American Kennel Club — Dog Shedding: What to Expect and How to Manage It (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/dog-shedding-what-to-expect-and-how-to-manage-it/)
- American Kennel Club — Alopecia X in Dogs: Signs, Symptoms, Treatment (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/alopecia-x-in-dogs/)