Pomeranian Puppy Uglies: What’s Normal, What to Do, and When It Ends
Quick answer: Puppy uglies is a normal developmental phase where a Pomeranian’s fluffy puppy coat falls out and is replaced by the adult double coat. It usually starts between 4 and 6 months and can last until 12–14 months. Your puppy is not sick, their coat is not damaged, and the fluff will come back — fuller than before. The worst thing you can do during this phase is shave or cut the coat. The best thing you can do is keep brushing gently, be patient, and try not to compare your puppy to their pre-uglies photos.
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If you’re reading this at midnight because your Pomeranian puppy looked fluffy and perfect three weeks ago and now looks like a half-deflated cotton ball with patchy fur and concerning bald spots — you’re in the right place.
We’ve been through this twice. Beignet went through puppy uglies and emerged on the other side with the full wolf sable coat he has now. Boqui, our blue merle, is younger and we are watching the same transformation happen again: the same alarming patchiness, the same uneven texture, the same moment of wondering if something was wrong.
Nothing is wrong. Here’s what’s actually happening.
What Puppy Uglies Actually Is
A Pomeranian puppy is born with a single-layer puppy coat. Soft, relatively short, and uniform. This is not the coat they’ll have as adults. Somewhere between 4 and 6 months, the body begins replacing that puppy coat with the adult double coat: a dense undercoat plus longer guard hairs on top.
The problem is that these two processes, losing the puppy coat and growing the adult coat, don’t happen in a tidy handoff. The puppy coat falls out in sections, often unevenly. The adult coat grows in at a different rate in different areas. The result is a puppy that can look genuinely alarming: patchy, scraggly, thinner in some areas than others, with texture that seems wrong compared to what they looked like two months ago.
This is called puppy uglies. It’s universal in Pomeranians. It’s temporary. And it’s one of the most Googled things new Pom owners encounter, usually in a mild panic.
What It Looks Like and When to Expect It
The timing varies but follows a general pattern:
4–6 months: The puppy coat begins thinning. You may notice less volume overall, or patches that look different from the surrounding fur. The face often changes first. The muzzle area can look sparse while the rest of the coat still looks puppy-fluffy.
6–9 months: This is typically the most dramatic period. The coat may look significantly thinner, uneven, or almost moth-eaten in places. Some puppies look noticeably scruffy. The tail often loses its fluff during this phase. This is when most owners start panicking.
9–12 months: The adult coat begins coming in more visibly. You’ll start to see new growth filling in the sparse areas. The texture will start to feel different — coarser than the puppy coat, which is normal.
12–18 months: Full adult coat. The guard hairs have length, the undercoat is dense, and the volume that made you fall in love with the breed in the first place is back. Fuller and more dramatic than the puppy coat ever was.
Some Poms sail through puppy uglies relatively quickly and without looking too dramatic. Others, particularly those with very plush puppy coats, can look quite rough for several months. There’s no way to predict which category your puppy will fall into, and the severity of the ugly phase has no relationship to the quality of the adult coat on the other side.
Note: I have noticed that Pom puppies with silkier coats tend to have an easier time with the coat transition than those with more cotton-like coats.
What’s Actually Happening in the Coat
The adult Pomeranian double coat has two distinct layers: a soft, dense undercoat that insulates and regulates temperature, and longer guard hairs on top that repel moisture and protect the skin. These two layers serve completely different functions and grow at different rates.
During puppy uglies, the undercoat tends to develop before the guard hairs catch up. This is why the coat can look thin and flat even as new growth is happening. The volume that gives a Pom their signature look comes from the guard hairs, and those take longer. The coat may also feel different in texture during this phase: less soft than the puppy coat, more coarse or cottony in places. This is normal and will resolve as the adult coat matures.
This is also why the puppy uglies phase is a critical time to be careful about grooming. The new adult coat is fragile while it’s growing in, and the wrong approach (particularly anything that involves cutting or shaving) can interfere with the coat cycle. More on that in the shaving article, but the short version is: do not let anyone cut your Pomeranian’s coat during puppy uglies if you want the adult coat to develop properly.
What to Do During Puppy Uglies
The answer is mostly: not much different from normal, and definitely not panic.
Keep brushing gently. The coat still needs maintenance during the transition even though it doesn’t look like much. Loose puppy coat needs to come out, and the new growth benefits from regular gentle brushing to keep it from tangling as it develops. We use the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush with a very light hand during this phase. The pins reach the skin without the pressure needed for a full adult coat. A light conditioning spray before brushing helps reduce static and makes the process gentler on fragile new growth.
The full brushing guidance for puppies specifically, including technique, frequency, and what to avoid, is in the puppy brushing article.
Don’t overbathe. Bathing too frequently during this phase can dry out the skin and interfere with the natural coat oils that support new growth. The normal bathing schedule applies here — every four to six weeks unless there’s a specific reason to bathe more often.
Don’t cut or shave. This bears repeating because well-meaning groomers sometimes suggest a trim to “even things out” during puppy uglies. The coat is not uneven because it needs cutting — it’s uneven because it’s growing. Cutting during this phase can disrupt the coat cycle and result in an adult coat that never develops properly. This is not a recoverable mistake in some cases.
Do document it. Take photos during the ugly phase. When the adult coat comes in and your Pom looks completely transformed, you’ll want to remember what the in-between looked like. It’s also useful for your vet to have a baseline record if you ever have questions about coat health later.
When to Actually Worry
Puppy uglies is a coat transition, not a health problem. But there are signs that what you’re seeing might be something other than normal puppy uglies, and it’s worth knowing the difference.
See a vet if the coat loss is accompanied by itching, redness, or irritated skin — this can indicate allergies, mange, or a skin condition that needs treatment. Also see a vet if the loss is happening in very defined, symmetric patches on the trunk while the head and legs remain fully coated. This pattern can be an early sign of Alopecia X, a hereditary condition that affects Pomeranians specifically. Normal puppy uglies is uneven and patchy throughout the coat, not symmetrically distributed on the body. If you have a merle, note their coat colors can transition at different rates, so don’t be alarmed if only one color of fur is coming in.
If your puppy is otherwise healthy, eating well, active, no skin irritation, and the coat changes started around 4 to 6 months, it’s almost certainly puppy uglies. But if you’re genuinely unsure, a vet visit for reassurance is always reasonable.
What It Actually Looked Like With Ours
Beignet’s puppy uglies didn’t feel like a big deal in the moment, but looking back at photos from that period, he was genuinely scraggly. As a wolf sable, his color transformation was dramatic. Sable Pomeranians have guard hairs that are a different color at the tip than at the base, and when the puppy coat falls out, it can feel like your Pom has completely changed colors. Beignet went from almost entirely black as a puppy to significantly lighter across most of his body during the transition. He looked like a different dog. Fortunately, his puppy coat was dense, and the adult coat came back just as dense.
Boqui is just starting his transition now. As a blue merle, his is playing out differently. The change is currently only visible on the silver parts of his coat, not the blue parts. It started along the spine and has been slowly expanding outward from there. The new growth is coarser and slightly shorter than the surrounding puppy coat. He still looks fairly dense overall, but we can see exactly what’s coming. Knowing what to expect the second time around makes it easier to watch without second-guessing every patch.
Only one more puppy uglies phase for us to get through.
The Part Nobody Warns You About
The coat that comes in after puppy uglies is not the same as the puppy coat. It’s denser, coarser, and requires more maintenance. The brushing routine that worked for your soft puppy coat will need to evolve as the adult double coat develops since what worked before won’t reach the undercoat where mats actually form.
This is a good time to start building the grooming habits that will serve you for the next decade. The adult Pomeranian coat is manageable with a consistent routine, but it does require one. Starting that routine while the coat is still coming in means it’s established by the time the full adult coat arrives and actually needs it.
The grooming system we use — brush, comb, spray, in the right order — is covered in the best brush article and the brushing frequency article. The short version: a long-pin slicker brush, a metal comb to check behind it, and gentle consistency. That’s what gets a Pom through puppy uglies and keeps the adult coat healthy on the other side.
