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Dog Grooming by Breed

How often each breed needs a groom, and what tends to go wrong

Dogs of many breeds and coat types being groomed

Grooming needs vary more between dog breeds than almost anything else about them. A Labrador needs a bath and a deshed a few times a year. A Poodle of the same weight needs cutting every four to six weeks and combing to the skin in between, and letting that slip by a month costs real money at the salon.

Coat type is the one that answers the question. Whether a dog needs a haircut every five weeks or a deshed twice a year, whether it can be clipped at all, and what happens if the interval slips, are all decided by the coat and not by the breed name. Two dogs of the same weight in the same group can need completely different appointments.

Size decides the physical side: drying time, whether one person can handle the dog safely, and whether a salon has equipment that will take it.

Every Dog Breed, A to Z

206 breeds, page 1 of 9

An Affenpinscher, a harsh shaggy jacket and a monkey face

Affenpinscher

A harsh shaggy jacket meant to look untidy, on a dog that fits in one hand

Affenpinscher
An Afghan Hound in full coat, the highest maintenance coat in dogs

Afghan Hound

The highest maintenance coat in dogs, and the only one whose honest bath interval is weekly

Afghan Hound
An Airedale Terrier, the largest terrier and a full hand stripping job

Airedale Terrier

The largest terrier there is, and the biggest hand stripping job a salon will take on

Airedale Terrier
An Akita, a heavy spitz double coat on a very large frame

Akita

A heavy spitz coat, twice yearly devastation, and a dog that will not be talked into anything

Akita
An Alaskan Klee Kai, a full husky coat on a much smaller dog

Alaskan Klee Kai

A full northern double coat on a dog a quarter the size, and the same two blows

Alaskan Klee Kai
An Alaskan Malamute, a heavy freighting coat built for Arctic work

Alaskan Malamute

A freighting coat rather than a racing one, and heavier work than the Husky it gets mistaken for

Alaskan Malamute
An American Bulldog, a short coat over skin and folds that need checking

American Bulldog

A working bulldog with a real muzzle, and far fewer folds than the English

American Bulldog
An American Eskimo Dog, a bright white standing spitz coat

American Eskimo Dog

Three sizes, one coat, and a brilliant white standing coat that must never be shaved

American Eskimo Dog
An American Hairless Terrier, the hairless dog that genuinely sweats

American Hairless Terrier

A hairless breed that genuinely sweats, from a recessive gene and a Rat Terrier

American Hairless Terrier
An American Staffordshire Terrier, a short coat over skin that needs the attention

American Staffordshire Terrier

A coat that takes ten minutes and skin that can take the rest of your life

American Staffordshire Terrier
An American Water Spaniel, a waved oily coat built to shed water

American Water Spaniel

A waved oily coat built to shed water, which frequent bathing takes straight off

American Water Spaniel
An Anatolian Shepherd, a working guardian coat that blows twice a year

Anatolian Shepherd

A working guardian coat that needs raking twice a year and almost nothing between

Anatolian Shepherd
An Aussiedoodle in a full wavy fleece coat

Aussiedoodle

The first doodle whose other parent is a double coat, which changes the lottery completely

Aussiedoodle
An Australian Cattle Dog, a short double coat that sheds far more than it looks

Australian Cattle Dog

A short coat that sheds like a long one, on a dog that needs a job more than it needs a salon

Australian Cattle Dog
An Australian Shepherd, a working double coat with heavy feathering

Australian Shepherd

A working double coat with feathering, and three places it always mats

Australian Shepherd
An Australian Terrier, a harsh jacket with a soft topknot above it

Australian Terrier

A harsh stripped jacket with a deliberately soft topknot sitting on top of it

Australian Terrier
An Azawakh, skin so thin that ordinary salon handling can bruise it

Azawakh

Almost no body fat and skin thin enough that ordinary handling bruises it

Azawakh
A Barbet, a woolly curly coat with a beard that soaks up every drink

Barbet

A woolly curly coat that mats to the skin, with a beard that goes in the water first

Barbet
A Basenji, the cleanest and most self sufficient coat in dogs

Basenji

The cleanest dog there is, and about the only one that grooms itself like a cat

Basenji
A Basset Hound, where the ears, the folds and the skin are the entire job

Basset Hound

A very short coat and a very long list, because none of the work is on the hair

Basset Hound
A Beagle, a short flat coat over a surprising amount of undercoat

Beagle

No haircut, no matting, and more shedding than anybody expects

Beagle
A Bearded Collie, a long flat coat over an undercoat that felts

Bearded Collie

A long flat coat over a soft undercoat, and a coat change at a year that undoes owners

Bearded Collie
A Beauceron, double hind dewclaws on a short smooth coat

Beauceron

Double hind dewclaws like the Briard, on a coat short enough to see them

Beauceron
A Bedlington Terrier, the terrier with a wool coat that is clipped, never stripped

Bedlington Terrier

A terrier with a wool coat, clipped and scissored where every other terrier is stripped

Bedlington Terrier

Dog Coat Types

The coat decides the work: what tools it takes, how often, and what a groomer will and will not do to it. These pages cover dogs and cats together, because the coats really are the same.

A Siberian Husky and a Maine Coon, both carrying the dense undercoat that defines a double coat

Double Coat

Never clip · High matting risk

A soft dense undercoat under a coarser weather-resistant top coat. Huskies, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats.

Grooming a Double Coat
A Poodle and a Devon Rex, tight curl and soft wave, both coats that trap shed hair instead of dropping it

Curly Coat

Clips safely · Severe matting risk

Tight curls or a soft wool texture that traps shed hair instead of dropping it. Poodles, Bichons, doodle crosses, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex and Selkirk Rex.

Grooming a Curly Coat
A Miniature Schnauzer and a wire haired terrier showing the harsh jacket a wire coat is stripped to keep

Wire Coat

Strip rather than clip · Moderate matting risk

A harsh bristly jacket over a soft undercoat. Most terriers, Schnauzers, Brussels Griffons, the wire Dachshund and the American Wirehair cat.

Grooming a Wire Coat
A Maltese and a Persian, long fine coats that keep growing rather than shedding out

Silky Coat

Clips safely · High matting risk

Long fine hair with little or no undercoat that keeps growing rather than shedding out. Yorkshire Terriers, Maltese, Shih Tzus, Afghan Hounds, Persians and Turkish Angoras.

Grooming a Silky Coat
A Beagle and a Bengal, short flat coats where shedding is the issue and matting never is

Smooth Coat

Clips safely · Low matting risk

Short hair lying flat against the body with little or no undercoat. Beagles, Boxers, Vizslas, Bengals, Siamese and British Shorthairs.

Grooming a Smooth Coat
A Sphynx and a Chinese Crested, skin care rather than coat care

Hairless

No coat to clip · Low matting risk

No functional coat at all. Sphynx, Peterbald, Chinese Crested and the Xoloitzcuintli.

Grooming a Hairless

Dog Breed Groups

The seven American Kennel Club groups, which sort by the job the breed was developed for, plus crossbreeds.

A Golden Retriever, a Springer Spaniel and an Irish Setter, all carrying the feathering that mats first

Sporting Group

Retrievers, spaniels, setters and pointers bred to work with a gun.

Sporting
A Beagle, an Afghan Hound and a Dachshund, a group that splits between almost no grooming and the most of any breed

Hound Group

Scent and sight hounds bred to track and chase.

Hounds
A Newfoundland, a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Husky, heavy double coats on large frames

Working Group

Guardians, haulers and rescue dogs bred for size and strength.

Working
A Schnauzer, a Westie and an Airedale, the home of the hand stripped wire coat

Terrier Group

Earth dogs bred to go to ground after vermin.

Terriers
A Pomeranian, a Yorkshire Terrier, a Maltese and a Chihuahua, all under about fifteen pounds

Toy Group

Companion breeds under about fifteen pounds.

Toy
A Bichon, a Poodle, a Bulldog and a Dalmatian, the group with no single coat type

Non-Sporting Group

The group that holds everything the other six do not.

Non-Sporting
A Border Collie, an Australian Shepherd, a Rough Collie and a Corgi, weather-resistant coats built to sit outdoors

Herding Group

Breeds that move livestock.

Herding
A Goldendoodle, a Cockapoo and a Bernedoodle, the highest maintenance coats in grooming

Crossbreeds and Designer Dogs

Deliberate crosses such as the Goldendoodle, Cockapoo and Puggle.

Crossbreeds

Dog Grooming by Size

Weight decides drying time, how the dog is lifted and held, whether a salon has a bath and dryer big enough to take it, and most of the price.

A Pomeranian and a Yorkshire Terrier, both under ten pounds

Toy

Under 10 lb

Under about ten pounds. Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, Maltese and Pomeranians.

Grooming Toy dogs
A Bichon Frise and a Shih Tzu, the ten to twenty-five pound range most grooming books are written around

Small

10 to 25 lb

Ten to twenty-five pounds. Shih Tzus, Bichons, Cocker Spaniels and Miniature Schnauzers.

Grooming Small dogs
A Border Collie and a Cockapoo in the twenty-five to fifty pound range

Medium

25 to 50 lb

Twenty-five to fifty pounds. Border Collies, Springers, Standard Schnauzers and most doodle crosses.

Grooming Medium dogs
A Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle, where drying takes longer than cutting

Large

50 to 90 lb

Fifty to ninety pounds. Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Labradors and Standard Poodles.

Grooming Large dogs
A Newfoundland and a Bernese Mountain Dog, a half day appointment and often two groomers

Giant

90 lb and up

Ninety pounds and up. Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards, Great Pyrenees and Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Grooming Giant dogs

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