Brushing your Morkie brings lots of benefits. Besides looking better, brushing can improve your dog’s coat AND boost the skin and the supply of nutrients to it by encouraging the flow of blood underneath the skin.
Your reaction and enthusiasm to brushing may be along the lines of “Great! I’ll go and grab the brush right now!” However, your Morkie won’t see it that way, especially if he’s tangled and knotted.
It takes time and patience to get your Morkie to accept and eventually like, grooming. Step one is the right equipment.
The best brushes for a Morkie
Brushes like the Furminator and the slicker brush, on left, are great for double coated dogs with fur, but not for Morkies.
There are lots of brushes on the market but you need to pick one for dogs with HAIR, not fur. Most dogs have fur – two coats including that fluffy undercoat that’s always shedding. Morkies, like their Yorkshire Terrier and Maltese parents, have a single layer of hair. They don’t shed like double-coated dogs. (Hair WILL come out when your Morkie is combed and he will drop the occasional hair, but it’s not the mountains of fluff a double coated dog sheds.)
The worst brush for a Morkie is a Furminator, or a brush like it. Wonderful brush for a Golden Retriever – it’s meant to pull out the underneath fluff. But for a Morkie it will just break his coat off and leave it all split ends.
Wire pin brushes are not that great for a Morkie either because their coat is relatively thin, compared to many other breeds. Same with a Slicker brush – it also has wire pins and can break off the hair and even damage the delicate skin underneath.
Top picks for grooming Morkies
- Bristle Brush – The most common of brush types, natural bristles are designed to work in harmony with the skin and the coat in order to get the best possible results. Pick a good quality brush, fairly small, with a comfortable handle.
- Coat Rake – You might think this is a funny choice for a single-coated Morkie, since it’s usually recommended for dogs like Huskies, but it comes in very handy when your dog is quite matted.
- Steel Comb – You need a quality steel comb with teeth that are not too close together, and a comfortable handle. Choose a fairly small one, so you can comb your Morkie’s face too.
- The lifesaver – the De-matting Comb. Again, this might seem an odd choice since it’s often used to cut through matted undercoats, but it’s also ideal for a Morkie. It has blade-like teeth which gently cut through mats. Be very careful and use it slowly.
Closer look at the de-matting comb. It has blade-like edges on one side of each “tooth” and is smooth on the other. Gently pull the de-matting comb down, through tangles and mats, to cut through them. Repeat as needed… then they are much easier to remove.
Want to groom your Morkie at home?
Then check out my ebook Groom your Morkie at Home at amazon.com. You’ll learn how to keep your Morkie’s coat long and luxurious in just minutes a day – yourself! No costly groomers, or inconvenient drop offs.
Read more or get a sample here at Amazon.