U.S. Pet Groomers Grooming Guides and a Groomer Near You
Home / Breeds / Dogs

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 3 of 9

A rough coated Brussels Griffon, the variety that is hand stripped

Brussels Griffon

Rough and smooth in the same litter, one hand stripped and one needing almost nothing

Brussels Griffon
A Bull Terrier, a very short coat over skin that gives constant trouble

Bull Terrier

Ten minutes of coat over one of the most allergy prone skins in dogs

Bull Terrier
A Bullmastiff, a short coat on a hundred and twenty pounds of dog

Bullmastiff

A mastiff built to move, with all of the face and rather less of the weight

Bullmastiff
A Cairn Terrier, a deliberately shaggy working jacket

Cairn Terrier

A working jacket meant to look natural, and the one terrier where a neat outline is wrong

Cairn Terrier
A Canaan Dog, a natural landrace with a short easy double coat

Canaan Dog

A landrace that survived on its own, and it shows in how little it needs

Canaan Dog
A Cane Corso, a short stiff coat over a great deal of dog

Cane Corso

A ten minute coat on a hundred pound dog, where the handling is the entire appointment

Cane Corso
A Cardigan Welsh Corgi, the corgi with a tail and a heavier double coat

Cardigan Welsh Corgi

The older of the two corgis, with a tail, a heavier coat and the same fragile back

Cardigan Welsh Corgi
A Catahoula Leopard Dog, a merle coat with a real deafness question

Catahoula Leopard Dog

A ten minute coat, and a color gene that can take the hearing with it

Catahoula Leopard Dog
A Cavachon in a full soft wavy coat

Cavachon

A cross with no Poodle in it that still does not shed, because the Bichon does that job

Cavachon
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, silky feathering on ears, legs and chest

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

A tidy rather than a haircut, and a set of ears that need watching

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
A Cavapoo in a full wavy fleece coat

Cavapoo

A Cavalier ear and a Poodle coat, which is a harder combination than either parent

Cavapoo
A Cesky Terrier, the second terrier that is clipped instead of stripped

Cesky Terrier

The other terrier that is clipped rather than stripped, and also born black

Cesky Terrier
A Chesapeake Bay Retriever, an oily harsh coat that must not be washed out

Chesapeake Bay Retriever

An oily harsh coat where the oil is the waterproofing, so washing it out is the mistake

Chesapeake Bay Retriever
A Chihuahua in both of its coats: smooth and long

Chihuahua

Two coats in one breed, and a dog small enough that the handling matters more than either

Chihuahua
A Chinese Crested in both varieties: hairless and powderpuff

Chinese Crested

Two varieties out of one litter, one with no coat at all and one with a full silky one

Chinese Crested
A Chiweenie, a Chihuahua and Dachshund cross with a long low back

Chiweenie

A Chihuahua and Dachshund cross: an easy coat on a long back and crowded teeth

Chiweenie
A Chow Chow, a lion ruff over one of the densest undercoats in dogs

Chow Chow

One of the densest undercoats in dogs, on a breed that will not tolerate being rushed

Chow Chow
A Cirneco dell Etna, the smallest of the Mediterranean upright eared hounds

Cirneco dell'Etna

The smallest of the upright eared Mediterranean hounds, and the easiest coat here

Cirneco dell'Etna
A Clumber Spaniel, the heaviest spaniel and the most feathering

Clumber Spaniel

The heaviest spaniel, with the most feathering, the most drool and deep set eyes

Clumber Spaniel
A Cockapoo in a full wavy fleece coat

Cockapoo

A doodle coat on a small frame, with a spaniel's ears to go with it

Cockapoo
A Cocker Spaniel, where the ears and feathering are the whole job

Cocker Spaniel

The ears are the breed, and they are also the problem

Cocker Spaniel
A Coton de Tulear, a cotton textured coat that is neither silk nor wool

Coton de Tulear

A dry cotton textured coat that mats like wool and is ruined by heavy conditioner

Coton de Tulear
A Curly-Coated Retriever, a curl that is wetted rather than brushed

Curly-Coated Retriever

Tight crisp curls that brushing destroys, and the fix is water rather than a comb

Curly-Coated Retriever
A Dachshund in all three of its coats: smooth, long and wire

Dachshund

One breed with three completely different coats, and three different appointments

Dachshund

Why Cat Size Does Not Change the Groom

Cats have no size index here. Outside the genuine outliers the practical difference between a nine pound cat and a fourteen pound one is close to nothing: the same table, the same equipment, the same appointment. What changes a cat groom is the coat and the temperament.

The one place weight does matter is indirect: a heavy cat cannot reach its own back, sides and base of tail, and the areas it stops reaching are exactly the ones that mat. That is a coat problem with a weight cause, and it is covered on the silky coat and double coat pages.

Find a Dog Groomer Near You

Search 37,863 grooming salons by town and state.

Find a Local Groomer Cat grooming