How often should my dog’s coat be clipped?
Posted by Dog Supplies Advice in Dog Supplies Q&A, Dog Supplies Tips, tags: Dog, Dog Advice, dog care, Dog Grooming, Dog Healths, dog Q&A, dog supplies, dog supplies advice, grooming, Grooming your dogs, Pet SuppliesHow often should my dog’s coat be clipped?
The majority of breeds don’t need to have their coats clipped. Those that require clipping most often (every six weeks) are the breeds that don’t shed their hair (i.e. Poodles, and the Bedlington and Kerry Blue Terriers). Pet Poodles are usually trimmed in either the Lamb clip, the most popular, in which the entire coat is reduced to a uniform length (long or short according to preference) or the Dutch clip, in which the coat is left long on the legs to resemble a Dutchman’s baggy trousers.
The wiry-coated terriers, whether large, like the Airedale, Wire Fox Terrier and Schnauzer or small, like the Scottish, Cairn and West Highland White Terriers (and also the Griffon ) should have the dead hair stripped out of their coat at least twice a year (spring and autumn ). Hand stripping using a stripping knife (stripping comb) is the ideal way of dealing with these breeds, and the only acceptable way for show purposes, but it is time consuming (an Airedale can take a whole day) and consequently expensive. Many owners simply require that their dog looks tidy and are satisfied if the coat is thinned out with thinning scissors and neatly clipped with electric clippers, which is faster and therefore cheaper, though it usually needs repeating more often (say every two months) because the dead hairs stay in place.
The American Cocker Spaniel has a more profuse coat than the English Cocker and should be trimmed every eight to ten weeks, very precisely if it is to be shown. The other Spaniel breeds benefit from stripping or clipping at slightly longer intervals (about every twelve or fourteen weeks). They need to have the inside of their ear flaps clipped, any surplus coat removed and any tufts of hair between the toes clipped away. Other breeds with a lot of ‘feather’ (long hairs ) on the backs of their legs, such as Golden Retrievers, may also need the hair removed from between the toes. In hot weather, breeds with thick coats, such as the Old English Sheepdog, may find a clip advantageous.
Any materials which are stuck fast in the coat, such as paint and tar, are most readily removed by clipping. A particular problem may occur in long-haired dogs after a bout of diarrhoea. The liquid faeces can mat up the hair, forming a solid plug across the anus which then prevents the animal from passing any further motions. The matted hair needs to be carefully clipped away and then the whole region bathed and dried.
The clipping of hair from the hindquarters of dogs (again, particularly long-haired individuals) suffering from faecal or urinary incontinence will greatly simplify the efficient cleaning of the soiled area.
As a rule, the small silky-coated breeds don’t require any hair to be cut, unless it is to remove mats. The hair is usually parted on the head and along the back (e.g. Australian Silky Terrier and Lhasa Apso) andoften finished off with a how (e.g. Yorkshire and Maltese Terriers and the Shih Tzu).
With the correct grooming tools – electric clippers plus the correct size of blades, straight and thinning scissors and stripping knife (depending on the breed) – it is possible to clip your own dog, and courses in grooming, where all the necessary skills can be learned, are advertised in journals devoted to the breeding and showing of dogs.
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