Picking Up & Holding Your Chin

When trying to pick up or hold your chin, be very gentle. Remember, under all that fur is a small delicate body. Because they are prey animals in the wild, chins have the ability to 'slip' their fur. If you are inadvertently a little rough when handling him, he may lose or 'slip' a patch of fur and what is left behind is a clump of fur in your hand and a baby smooth bald patch of skin on the chin. We have seen chins lose a spot smaller than an aspirin and as large as a half dollar. The fur will grow back. How fast it will grow back depends on the age and health of your chin. Usually the younger they are the faster the fur grows back. Obviously, you want to avoid handling your chin in a manner that would cause him to slip his fur.

Whenever you pick up or hold your chin you want to be gentle, but hold him in a way that he is secure and won't fall if he starts to squirm a little. If a chin feels like he doesn't have something stable to rest on or that makes him feel secure, he is more likely to wiggle and squirm. Always have your hand palm side up under your chin's feet, while your other hand is either under his armpits or cupping his back. Hold the chin close to you, and this will make the chin feel secure and give you control should he start to wiggle a little.