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Grooming Hound Group

Scent and sight hounds bred to track and chase.

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

What these breeds have in common

The Hound Group holds the breeds built to find and follow quarry, split between scent hounds working with their nose to the ground and sight hounds running it down. Beagles, Basset Hounds, Bloodhounds, Dachshunds, Greyhounds, Whippets, Afghan Hounds, Salukis and Rhodesian Ridgebacks are all here.

It is the least useful group for predicting a grooming appointment, and it is worth saying so plainly. The dogs were grouped by what they do, and what they do says almost nothing about the coat. This group contains both the lowest maintenance coats in dogs and one of the highest.

So read the coat rather than the group. There are effectively two hound grooming articles and they have nothing in common.

What this group means for grooming

Splits hard: short smooth coats that need almost nothing, and long silky coats such as the Afghan that need more work than any other breed.

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.

Short coats still need ears and nails

A Beagle, a Greyhound, a Whippet, a Rhodesian Ridgeback or a smooth Dachshund has a short flat coat with nothing to cut and almost nothing to mat. A rubber curry brush, a bath a few times a year and a deshed is the entire coat routine.

The trap is that owners of these breeds correctly conclude they do not need a haircut and incorrectly conclude they do not need a groomer. Smooth coated dogs are the ones that arrive at a veterinary appointment with nails long enough to have changed the shape of the foot, because nothing else ever prompted anybody to look.

Nails are the main event. A hound walked on grass rather than pavement does not wear them down, and the blood supply inside the nail grows longer the longer the nail is left, so getting back to a correct length takes several sessions rather than one. Ears matter for the drop eared scent hounds. Anal glands and a look over the skin round it out.

The full version of what a short coated appointment is for is on the smooth coat page.

The long coated exceptions, which are the opposite extreme

The Afghan Hound carries a full length silky coat with no undercoat, and it is among the most demanding coats in grooming. It needs brushing to the skin in sections every day or close to it, plus a bath and a full blow dry weekly, because a silky coat that is left mats and a matted silky coat cannot be brushed back out. The Saluki and the Borzoi carry lighter versions on the ears, tail and legs, and the long coated Dachshund and the Basset Griffon Vendeen have their own.

None of that is optional or exaggerated. An Afghan kept properly is a genuine time commitment and the people who keep them that way plan around it. An Afghan not kept properly ends up clipped off, which works and grows back true but is not what most people bought.

The technique, which is line brushing in layers with a comb to prove each section, is on the silky coat page.

Long ears, loose skin and the folds nobody checks

Several of the scent hounds carry structural features that need attention even though the coat does not.

Basset Hounds and Bloodhounds have extremely long, heavy, low hanging ears that were bred to sweep scent toward the nose. They trail through grass, food and water, they seal the canal completely, and they are among the most infection prone ears in dogs. They need checking and drying weekly rather than occasionally, and the underside of the flap needs cleaning as well as the canal.

Both breeds also carry loose facial skin in folds, and a Bloodhound's wrinkles behave exactly like a Bulldog's: warm, dark, damp and prone to yeast if they are not wiped out and dried. The same applies around the eyes on breeds with heavy haw.

Dachshunds have a different problem, which is ground clearance. A dog with that little distance between its belly and the grass picks up everything, so the belly, the chest and the front of the legs need checking more often than the shape of the coat suggests.

Breeds in the Hound Group

27 breeds in this group, page 1 of 2

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 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 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 Bloodhound, the most extreme ears and folds on any dog

Bloodhound

The longest ears and the deepest folds on any dog, and a great deal of drool underneath them

Bloodhound
A Bluetick Coonhound, an easy coat under very long heavy ears

Bluetick Coonhound

A ten minute coat under some of the longest ears in dogs, and a real hound smell

Bluetick Coonhound
A Borzoi, a long silky sighthound coat that is far easier than it looks

Borzoi

A long silky coat in the same group as the Afghan, and a fraction of the work

Borzoi
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 Dachshund in all three of its coats: smooth, long and wire

Dachshund

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

Dachshund
A Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen, the larger of two breeds left deliberately rough

Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen

A separate breed from the Petit rather than a bigger one, with the same rough coat rule

Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen
A Greyhound, almost no coat over a very lean athletic frame

Greyhound

Five minutes of coat, and four things that are genuinely specific to the breed

Greyhound
An Ibizan Hound, in smooth and wire coats from the same litters

Ibizan Hound

Smooth and wire coats in the same litters, and a sighthound's thin skin either way

Ibizan Hound
An Irish Wolfhound, a harsh coat that is raked and stripped, never clipped

Irish Wolfhound

A harsh rough coat that is raked and stripped, never clipped, on the tallest breed there is

Irish Wolfhound
A Norwegian Elkhound, a standoff double coat that blows twice a year

Norwegian Elkhound

A standoff northern coat that blows twice a year and is never, ever clipped

Norwegian Elkhound
An Otterhound, an oily rough coat and genuinely webbed feet

Otterhound

An oily rough double coat you must not wash the oil out of, on webbed feet

Otterhound
A Peruvian Inca Orchid, the fourth hairless dog and the most sun sensitive

Peruvian Inca Orchid

The fourth hairless dog, the most sun sensitive, and the one that must not be greased

Peruvian Inca Orchid
A Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, a harsh coat that is meant to look untidy

Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

A harsh coat that is supposed to look untidy, on a long low body

Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
A Pharaoh Hound, the dog that blushes when it is excited

Pharaoh Hound

A ten minute coat on a dog whose ears and nose genuinely flush pink when it is happy

Pharaoh Hound
A Plott Hound, a brindle coonhound from Germany with a five minute coat

Plott Hound

A German boarhound that became an American coonhound, with a five minute coat

Plott Hound
A Portuguese Podengo in wire coat, one of six size and coat combinations

Portuguese Podengo

Three sizes and two coats, so the breed name covers six different dogs

Portuguese Podengo
A Rhodesian Ridgeback, showing the reversed ridge along the spine

Rhodesian Ridgeback

The ridge is a feature and a warning, and the rest of the coat takes ten minutes

Rhodesian Ridgeback
A Saluki, a smooth body with long silky feathering on the ears and tail

Saluki

A smooth coated sighthound with long silky feathering on the ears, tail and legs

Saluki
A Scottish Deerhound, a harsh crisp coat that is raked and never clipped

Scottish Deerhound

A harsh crisp coat that is raked and never clipped, on a very short lived giant

Scottish Deerhound

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 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

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