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Grooming Herding Group

Breeds that move livestock.

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

What these breeds have in common

The Herding Group holds the breeds that move livestock: Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, Rough and Smooth Collies, German Shepherds, Pembroke and Cardigan Welsh Corgis, Shetland Sheepdogs, Old English Sheepdogs and the Belgian breeds.

Unlike the Hound Group, this one is genuinely predictive. These dogs were bred to work outdoors in weather for long hours, and almost all of them carry a double coat built for exactly that: a dense insulating undercoat with a weather-resistant top coat over it.

They are not clipped, they blow coat twice a year, and the mats form in the same three places on nearly every one of them.

What this group means for grooming

Weather-resistant double coats built to sit outdoors. Never clipped down, and the undercoat behind the ears mats first.

What actually decides the grooming

The coat type, not the group. It sets the tools, the interval and the price, and two dogs in this group can need completely different appointments.

Never clipped, and the reason is not tradition

A herding coat is doing a job that has nothing to do with length. The undercoat traps air and insulates in both directions, and the guard hairs above it shed rain and block sun. A dog carrying that coat is better regulated in August than a shaved one is.

A clipper cannot distinguish the two layers. It removes the guard hairs completely, leaves most of the insulating undercoat against the skin, and hands you the worst of both: no sun protection, no water resistance, and the heat trapping layer still in place. On many of these breeds the guard hairs then regrow slowly, unevenly or not at all, and the coat that fills in is woolly and mats far more readily than the original.

The Old English Sheepdog is the exception that proves the rule, and only in practice rather than in principle: its coat is so profuse that many owners keep it in a short pet trim, accept the change in texture, and consider that a fair trade. That is a deliberate decision with a known cost, not a summer haircut.

What to ask for instead when a dog is genuinely struggling in the heat is on the double coat page, and it is a real answer rather than a refusal.

The undercoat behind the ears mats first, every time

Ask any groomer where a Border Collie or a Sheltie mats and you will get the same answer in the same order.

Behind and under the ears comes first, always. The hair there is finer than the body coat, the ear moves constantly, and a collar or harness strap works against it. On a Rough Collie or a Sheltie the ruff behind the ear is dense enough that a mat can be the size of a golf ball before anything shows from above.

Then the trousers on the backs of the thighs, which rub against each other with every stride. Then the tail, particularly on the heavily feathered breeds. Then the armpits, then the chest ruff.

Check by pushing the coat backward and looking at the skin rather than by running a brush over the top. A brush passes cleanly over a coat that is felted underneath, which is why owners who brush daily are still surprised. If a comb will not reach skin, or the coat feels solid rather than springy when pressed, a mat is forming.

Five minutes a week on those five spots with an undercoat rake and a comb is worth more than an hour of general brushing.

A working coat living in a centrally heated house

These coats evolved on dogs that lived outdoors and experienced a real change of season. A herding dog in a modern house does not, and it shows up in the coat.

Constant indoor temperature and artificial light blur the signals that trigger a coat blow, so instead of two decisive sheds a year, many house-living herding dogs shed moderately all year round and never fully clear the old undercoat. That retained undercoat is what mats, and it is why a dog that never seems to blow coat can still be carrying a felted layer.

The practical answer is a proper deshedding appointment on a schedule rather than waiting for a visible blow: a bath, a conditioner, and a high velocity dryer to drive the loosened undercoat out. Two to four times a year suits most of these dogs, more if you would rather not vacuum daily.

The other consequence is worth mentioning because it gets blamed on grooming. Heavy year-round shedding, thinning coat or bald patches outside the usual pattern are a veterinary conversation, not a grooming one. Thyroid problems, allergies and parasites all show in the coat first, and German Shepherds and Collies see their share.

Breeds in the Herding Group

31 breeds in this group, page 1 of 2

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
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 Belgian Laekenois, the wire coated one of the four Belgian varieties

Belgian Laekenois

The wire coated Belgian, deliberately unkempt and never brushed smooth

Belgian Laekenois
A Belgian Malinois, a short double coat that sheds like a much longer one

Belgian Malinois

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

Belgian Malinois
A Belgian Sheepdog, the long black coat of the four Belgian varieties

Belgian Sheepdog

The long black coat of four Belgian varieties that are otherwise the same dog

Belgian Sheepdog
A Belgian Tervuren, the long coated Belgian and a far longer appointment

Belgian Tervuren

The long coated Belgian, and four times the appointment a Malinois needs

Belgian Tervuren
A Bergamasco Sheepdog, whose coat forms broad flat plates and not cords

Bergamasco Sheepdog

Broad flat plates and not cords, from three different hair types that have to tangle

Bergamasco Sheepdog
A Berger Picard, a shaggy dog whose coat needs almost nothing at all

Berger Picard

A shaggy dog that needs a brush a month, which is not what shaggy usually means

Berger Picard
A Border Collie, a working double coat that is never clipped

Border Collie

A working coat that is never clipped, and mats in exactly three places

Border Collie
A Bouvier des Flandres, a harsh tousled coat with a beard that holds everything

Bouvier des Flandres

A harsh tousled double coat that is stripped or scissored, and a beard that soaks

Bouvier des Flandres
A Briard, a long goat textured coat over double dewclaws on each back leg

Briard

A long goat textured coat, and two dewclaws on each back leg that must be trimmed

Briard
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 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 Dutch Shepherd, brindle and available in three different coats

Dutch Shepherd

One breed in three coats, short, long and rough, with three different routines

Dutch Shepherd
A Finnish Lapphund, an enormous standoff coat on a medium sized dog

Finnish Lapphund

A reindeer herding coat that blows twice a year and is never, ever clipped

Finnish Lapphund
A German Shepherd showing the dense double coat and heavy ruff

German Shepherd

The heaviest shedder most people ever own, and a coat that must not be clipped

German Shepherd
An Icelandic Sheepdog, a thick spitz coat in two lengths within one breed

Icelandic Sheepdog

Iceland's only native breed, in two coat lengths, and it sheds like a Nordic dog

Icelandic Sheepdog
A Miniature American Shepherd, a separate breed and not a shrunken Aussie

Miniature American Shepherd

A recognized breed in its own right, with an Aussie coat and the same MDR1 risk

Miniature American Shepherd
A Mudi, a wavy coat that needs far less than the other Hungarian herders

Mudi

The third Hungarian herding coat, and the only one you can look after with a brush

Mudi
An Old English Sheepdog, the most profuse coat in the herding group

Old English Sheepdog

The one herding coat most owners genuinely do keep clipped, and why that is defensible

Old English Sheepdog
A Pembroke Welsh Corgi, a thick double coat on very short legs

Pembroke Welsh Corgi

A large dog's coat on a small dog's legs, and one of the heaviest shedders there is

Pembroke Welsh Corgi

The other dog groups

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 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

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