Cesky Terrier Grooming

About the Cesky Terrier

The Kerry Blue page makes the case that not every terrier is hand stripped. The Cesky is the other one, and between them they are the exceptions that a groomer needs to know before reaching for a stripping knife.

The Cesky was created deliberately in 1940s Czechoslovakia by crossing the Scottish Terrier with the Sealyham, to make a narrower dog that could work in packs in the Bohemian forests. It inherited a soft, fine, slightly wavy coat rather than a harsh one.

That coat is clipped, in a distinctive two length trim: short over the back and sides, left long on the legs, chest and belly, with a beard and eyebrows.

Like the Kerry, Cesky puppies are born black and clear to their adult gray over two or three years.

The two length trim

The Cesky trim is unusual and it is worth describing precisely, because a groomer who has not seen one will default to something else.

The coat is clipped short over the head, cheeks, neck, shoulders, back and the upper part of the tail. It is left long on the legs, the chest, the belly and the underside, forming a skirt, and long on the muzzle as a beard and over the eyes as eyebrows.

The result is a long low dog with a smooth top and a fringed underside, and the line between the two lengths runs roughly along the flank.

It is done with clippers and scissors, every six to eight weeks, and it takes about an hour and a quarter.

Bring a photograph. The trim is specific enough that describing it rarely works, and Ceskys are rare enough that most salons have never done one.

The long parts are what mat: the skirt, the chest, the beard, the armpits and behind the ears. Comb those through with a metal comb every two or three days.

The short parts need nothing between grooms.

Clipped, not stripped, and why

The Cesky coat is soft and fine, unlike the harsh jackets of most terriers, and there is nothing in it that will hand strip cleanly.

That is a deliberate result of its creation: the Sealyham and Scottish Terrier were crossed for a narrower working build, and the coat that came out of it is soft.

Stripping it would be uncomfortable and would achieve nothing, so the breed standard and every breed club describe a clipped trim.

This is worth saying at a salon, because terrier plus beard plus eyebrows reads as a stripping candidate to anyone going on appearance.

Clipping does not harm this coat the way it harms a wire jacket. There is no harsh texture to lose, and the coat comes back the same, so there is no textural argument against a shorter pet trim either.

What clipping does affect is the apparent shade, which lightens on a close clip and darkens as it grows out, exactly as on the Kerry.

Bathe every six weeks or so, comb out the long parts first, and brush while drying.

Born black, clearing to gray

Cesky puppies are born black, or occasionally brown, and the adult color clears in slowly.

The change runs over two to three years, which is even slower than the Kerry Blue, moving through charcoal to the adult shade, which ranges from a dark charcoal gray to a pale platinum.

Some dogs also have tan, gray, white or yellow markings on the face, beard, cheeks, neck, chest, belly and legs, and a white collar or tail tip is permitted.

As with the Kerry, this causes real worry. Owners think the dog is fading or greying early, and it is simply the breed doing what it does.

There is nothing to manage and nothing that grooming affects, beyond the clipper effect on apparent shade.

The one thing worth knowing is that a coat which changes texture as well as color, going thin, patchy or brittle, is a different matter and warrants a veterinary opinion rather than being assumed to be the normal clearing.

A calmer terrier, and a long back

Ceskys were bred to work in packs, which required a calmer, more biddable dog than most terriers, and they are noticeably quieter and more tolerant of other dogs than a Kerry or a Fox Terrier.

That makes them easy at a salon, and it is worth mentioning when booking so nobody plans for a difficult terrier.

The build is long and low, and while the breed is not a dwarf breed in the Dachshund sense, a long back on short legs still benefits from sensible handling. Lift the dog on and off the table rather than letting it jump.

Keep the hair between the pads cleared, since a low dog with a skirt collects a great deal from the ground.

The skirt itself sweeps through mud, wet grass and anything else, and it will mat within a day if it is put away damp. Dry it after wet walks.

Ears are folded drop ears: lift weekly, look and smell, keep the hair around the opening trimmed.

Nails every three to four weeks, teeth daily.

What to tell your groomer

Say the coat is clipped and scissored, never stripped, since the beard and eyebrows suggest otherwise.

Bring a photograph of the two length trim: short over the back and sides, long on the legs, chest and belly.

Ask for the beard, eyebrows and skirt kept, and give a length in numbers for the short areas.

Ask for the skirt and long furnishings combed out before the bath, and dried while brushed.

Say the dog is long in the back and should be lifted rather than allowed to jump off the table.

Expect them not to have met the breed, and say it is a calm terrier rather than a difficult one.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Cesky Terrier