Papillon : Types of Ear Fringes

I want to get on this post into the different types of Papillon ear fringes, not into their care, or ability to grow them. Those are different subjects.
Here a link to my previous written article in how to grow long ear fringes:
http://www.roadsend-papillons-phalenes.com/2010/08/you-ask-how-to-grow-long-earfringes-on.html

Ear fringes on Papillon dogs come in different styles.
Please note that there is , what we call "Curtain Fringe" (Snickers, Mattie, Brolle Zanzibar, Tiger Man, Praline, Ore'O) Some people think that their ears are folded down, but these are merely fringes which droop over the ear, and grow out from the inside of ear. All dogs here have their ears up, some ears bigger, some ears a little smaller.
It is your taste to decide whether you like this kind of ear fringe or not.
In general it is a desired trade, and I personally like it a lot. (as you can tell).
When you acquire about a young Pap, ask to see the parents, (at least on photos) and  grandparents to see what kind of fringing they provide.
Here a gallery of my own dogs where you can see the different kinds:

The ability of red- coated Paps to have fringes is mostly limited, as the structure of red hair is more fragile than  dark colored hair on Papillons.  It takes a strong gene pool, and a longer history of ancestors to have such fringing you see here above on Snickers. she also carries a good amount of dark/sable hair on the rim of her ears. That also helps in growing fringes.

 Mattie , above,  took several years to grow her curtain fringes.

Above: Zanzibar's fringes are still in the makes. He is only 1+1/2 year, and it takes longer than that to fully grow fringes on most Paps. But, as you can tell, he has a lot of fringe to grow.

Above and below: Duke and Gina show a reasonable good amount of fringes, as both dog are red/sable.

 Above: Praline was a surprise. She showed no particular signs in her early months, that she would grow such abundant amount of beautiful fringes. It also took several years.

Above: Puppie is the mother of Duke. Look closely, the fringing is quite similar, just some fine, silky threads are going out to the sides. Both dogs have very fine, fragile, but most silky hair.

Papillon Ear-Fringe Development

With the following images of our Matti, you can see that the ear- fringe development can take a long time.
Mathilda (Matti) was born in February of 2007.

This first image show her already at the age of  14 months!! I even thought: that's it. Nice big ears, but fair fringing.

So, here is one photo of August 2009. that makes here 2.5 years old. Much nicer fringes!!

This one , above was done last year, August 2011. Can you see the change to the "more"?

The last one here was done in October of this year.
Matti is now 4+3/4 years old.
The message here:
Never give up hope, be patient, they will come!!

You also have to take in consideration, that if you have more than one dog, if they are young, they tear each other those developing fringes out more often, than an older dog, which most likely will play less.

I am sooooo disappointed: my Praline just ate something; her left, so wonderful long, fringe got caught in her food-mouth, and she chewed the whole fringe off; about 1/2 through; almost chocked on it, in fact. Thant's a first one.....

Give me your opinion: will it grow back? She is almost 4 years old. And she is my main "photo model".
Here are some "opinions" copied from my face book page.

1.  It will grow back...believe me...Puzzel was doing this often....he did it one week before the WW-show in Stockholm....:(

1. I have a male that had Beautiful long fringe, and the puppies chewed it off and it never grew back ;-( that was about 1 1/2 years ago

1. LOVELY female!!! Cross fingers for the fringe-growing again !!

1.  It may or may not Antje :( I know that's not what you wanna hear but some dogs will grow it back and others will not! I have the same problem with the puppies chewing the fringes on the adults while playing. JP's fringes are half the length they used to be.They still get full but no longer really get the length. Now Simon on the other hand has grown his back. Depends on the papi :)

The "New" Praline

You ask: Papillon puppies-how long to hair fully grown

One of the most popular questions is about the hair growth in Papillons.
Here is a link again to one of my earlier posts about  Hair Growth in Papillons.
It can take 2 years, or more,  to fully grow your Papis coat, pending on his genes. And it may take even longer for his ear fringes to fully develop.

http://www.roadsendpapillonsblog.com/2009/09/hair-growth-in-papillons.html

Eenie @ 5 Weeks

Eenie @ 13 Months

Eenie @ 2 Years

Papillon gets Toe Nail entangled in Ear Fringes.

Sometimes a  Papillons may get his toe nail  entangled in his ear fringes. This can be a panicky situation. You will see him laying on his side, or trying to limp on 3 legs, and sometimes it takes a while to get the toe out of the entangled fringe.

Here are the preventative measures to take:

• Brush, brush, brush. Keep those ears free of any mats to begin with.
• Keep the fringes soft by spritzing water mixed with a tiny bit of hair conditioner, and then comb/brush through those fringes.
• Giving your Papi a regular bath: it will keep his coat soft.
• No ear mites!! Check for ear mites.
• No fleas!! Those 2 bugs makes your dog itching a lot behind the ears.
• Keep those toe nails short. (brrrrrr, I hate clipping toenails)

You Ask: how to grow long earfringes on a papillon dog Papillon Dog Ear Fringing)

 How to grow long fringes on a Papillon (+ Phalene:)
If your Papillon has the genetic make up for growing long ear fringes, than the rest is up to you:

You got to keep your

• Papi brushed on those ears regularly.
• A weekly bath is recommended for the overall coat. Keeps the hair in better condition, easier to brush, therefor less breakage.
• For long fringes, it is best that your dog does not get to play so much with other dogs, because they pull on each others ears and legs. they favorite!! So, you have to make that choice: long fringes, no play, a little less fringes more play, more happy dog; and so forth.
• If you intend to show your dog, or have already a show dog,  you can put a sock/tube/snood  over his head while playing. Anything which holds their ears/fringes under the hood. Be creative.

Brolle has a fair amount of fringe for a red/white Papillon, and he is still growing hair and fringe. He is only 1+1/2 half year old, and it can take several years to grow fringes to its completion.

That is because , if you see his parents here, they have abundant fringe development, as well ,that goes on with his grand parents.

The dark colored Papillons grow a better fringe . 

White + Black

Tri Color

White + Tan, or Sable colored Papis with black rimmed ear fringes are still OK .

White + Red only  dog; it is very difficult to grow fringe, due to their super fine hair texture, which breaks easier. Again, here you can research the pedigree of your dog, looking at photos of the parents, grand parents.

You may have gotten an off- spring from a line with a lot of red dogs, but with a strong fringe grow.....all genetics. 

Tiger Mans fringes are great.

His moms are "so so"

But look at his dad!!

If you look below at Cowboys father and grand father, you now can guess what he will most likely develop. He is only 8 months old on this photo.

You Ask: When does a Papillon reaches his adult size.

When does a Papillon reaches his adult size:
Your Papillon will quit growing in heights at 7-8 months.
But that does not mean he will not change anymore. He will "fill in"; grow stronger muscles, his weight will change -hopefully through muscle gain and not fat!!!
He will grow his adult hair coat now, it's just setting in.
And you will see some fringe development on his ears. (That alone is a different chapter)

Cowboy @ 8 Months

Nana @ 8 Months

Stenley @ 8 Months

You Ask -When do Papillons reach adult heights?

• When do Papillons reach adult heights?

Papillons quit growing in heights after 6-8 months of age. But they continue to "fill in" (muscle development)
and, of course, their hair coat just starts to change into the adult coat.

Nana @ 3.5 Months

Nana @ 6 Months

Nana @ 8 Months-full grown @ 9.3/4 inches (25+1/2 cm), but.....

Nana @ 9 Months, adult hair is setting in nicely, and some fringes, which will take much longer to develop in most Papillons.

Papillon- Ear Fringe Development

Lets talk about those highly desired ear fringes again: the one, you don,t see on your Papillon.....yet.
Don't be impatient. It takes a long, long time in most of the Papis.
But first to the genes: it is really a genes business. They are inherited. So you can not expect fringes, if mom does not have them, nor dad, nor grand parents ....
You got to look at the parents if you want those fringes, and then, with a little bit of luck, you will see some on your Papillon later.
Fringes are also a surprise at occasions, and unexpected in their length or or hair density.

Her I have a good example of my little Praline. She did not look like much when she was young. She did a such a pretty face, but that was about all. the Hair coat was marginal. Her parents, as well grands all had pretty fringes.

5 Months

7 Months

10 months

13 Months

15 Months

Praline is now 3+1/2 Years old, and look at her now: I believe, she has also longer fringes than her parents.

Those highly valued Ear Fringes

Ear Fringes are another story:

It is 90% genetics in how long those ear fringes will get. The other 10 %  consists of:

• Red & white Papillons have a tendency to grow lesser fringe than dark colored Papillons.
• If your Papi gets to play a lot with other dogs, he may gets his fringes pulled out by them.
• Improper combing.

Matti (left) @ 3 years is still growing fringes.

Tiger Man (right) is also 3 years and still growing fringes, but he gets chewed up a little by those other guys, and I have to watch it.

Quarter Man @ 3 years, I hope, but I don't think, that he will get a little more fringe.

Vroni, @ 2 years may still grow a little more fringe.

Mickey's fringes took a long time, and may still grow. He is now 3.75 years old.

It can take a long time, up to 3-5 years to grow fringes, and it can take quite some time before they even start to grow fringes. Once pulled out, they may not come back!!

Look at your puppy's parents, and beyond. Do they have fringes? Does only one of them has fringes? The chances  diminish dramatically with the amount of parents/grandparents not having fringes. 

Praline is now 3 years old; this might be it!!

@ 15 months, these fringes on Brolle are not full grown yet.

Nanu @ 3.5 years is still growing fringes. Her hair is very fine, and I have to brush those fringes often, to avoid tangled mats behind those ears and matted fringes . A spritz of water mixed with a tiny bit of conditioner applied right before brushing fringes and overall body works well .