Besides Morkies, there are a number of dog breeds that are billed as non-shedding including the President’s dog “Bo,” a Portuguese Water Dog. But is the non-shedding dog fact or fiction?

Fiction: all dogs and cats shed. We do too! Shedding is part of the natural process of hair growth – each hair starts from a follicle, which grows, dies and is then replaced by another follicle. When the follicle dies, the hair drops or “moults.” The length of time of the growing and shedding cycle is different by breed, age of the dog and whether he lives inside or outside. However all dogs do shed – although some breeds shed significantly less than others.

To say that these “non-shedding” or low-shedding breeds are hypo-allergenic is another myth since hair or fur isn’t the only trigger for allergies. People can also be allergic to the dog’s dander, saliva and even its urine!

Havanese are double-coated, non shedding dogs.

Yorkies are single coated, non shedding dogs.

That said, there are breeds that are easier on allergies and housework. These include both single-coated (“hair”) and double-coated (“fur”) breeds.

 It’s complicated!

There are single coated dogs — one coat of hair that’s more like ours – that shed and those that don’t shed.

Then there are double-coated dogs – larger, coarse guard hairs over soft fluffly undercoat – that do NOT shed.

Here’s a quick run down of the low-shedding or hypoallergenic breeds in both categories.

Single-coated, low-shedding dog breeds

• Maltese
• Poodle
• Yorkshire Terrier
• Coton De Tulear
• Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier
• Kerry Blue Terrier
• Portuguese Water Dog

Double-coated low-shedding dog breeds

• Shih Tzu
• Lhasa Apso
• Bichon Frise
• Schnauzer
• Havanese
• West Highland White Terrier

So that means the MORKIE is a very ‘low shedding’ or no-shedding dog, since both the Maltese and Yorkie are.

There’s always the hairless dog!

The Chinese Crested is mostly hairless.

These exotic breeds have very little or no hair at all. In fact  just  its feet, head and tail have hair. That means they’re always clean and don’t attract fleas. However they can be fragile to care for, since fur is natural protection against the environment.

The best-known hairless breed is probably the Hairless Chinese Crested, an odd little dog with a single tuft of hair on its head.

There’s another version of Chinese Crested called the Powderpuff.  It has a full coat of hair, along with the crest on its head. Both are recognized by Kennel Clubs.

And, the BEST low-shedding dog….

Next: best combs and brushes for your Morkie