Schipperke Grooming

About the Schipperke

A Schipperke is a small black dog carrying a proper double coat, and the coat has a shape rather than just a length. A short close coat on the face and the front of the legs, a longer harsher coat over the body, and then a distinct ruff around the neck, a cape over the shoulders and a fringe called the culotte on the back of the thighs.

That shaping is created by the different lengths growing naturally in different places, and it is the whole look of the breed. It cannot be cut back in and a clipped Schipperke loses it, often permanently.

Weekly brushing is enough for most of the year. Then two or three times a year the dog drops its entire undercoat over a few weeks, and for that period a ten pound dog produces an implausible quantity of hair.

The shape of the coat, and why clipping ruins it

The distinguishing feature is that the coat is different lengths in different places by design. Short and smooth on the head, ears and front of the legs. Medium and harsh over the body. Longer around the neck and chest, forming the ruff and the cape, and longer again on the back of the thighs.

The silhouette that produces, with a thick collar of coat and a sloping outline, is what makes a Schipperke look like a Schipperke.

Clipping cuts through all of it to a single length and the shape is gone. Worse, as with any double coat, the clipped guard hairs frequently come back soft, patchy or shorter than they were, so the ruff and cape may not return at all.

There is no grooming reason to clip one. The coat does not mat to any real degree, it is harsh and stand off, and it sheds dirt well.

A groomer unfamiliar with the breed may offer a tidy or a shave for shedding, and the answer is no. Trimming is limited to the hair between the pads and the sanitary area.

Brush weekly with a slicker and a comb, and use a rake in the ruff and the culotte where the undercoat is thickest.

Blowing the coat, two or three times a year

Schipperkes shed lightly most of the time and then blow the entire undercoat, and unusually they often do it two or three times a year rather than twice.

Females that have not been spayed often blow after a season, which accounts for some of the extra cycles.

During a blow the undercoat comes out in clumps over two to four weeks, and the amount from a dog this small genuinely surprises people. The ruff and the culotte hold the most.

Daily raking through it, and a bath with a high velocity blow out at the start makes a large difference. Warm water helps loosen the undercoat, so a bath is a useful tool rather than just a wash.

Between blows, weekly brushing is enough.

The coat is black and shows very little dirt, and it sheds mud well once dry, so bathing every ten weeks or so is plenty.

A dog that never blows properly, or sheds patchily outside the cycle, is worth a veterinary check, since black coated breeds can develop coat conditions that show as thinning or a dull rusty cast.

The rest of the routine, on an easy coat

With a coat that needs a weekly brush and no cutting, the remaining routine is where the attention goes.

Ears are small, triangular and erect, which is the best shaped ear a dog can have for ventilation, so trouble is uncommon. Wipe the visible part weekly and leave the canal alone.

Teeth need brushing. Schipperkes are long lived, often thirteen to sixteen years, and dental disease over that span is a real quality of life issue.

Nails every three to four weeks. This is an active, agile dog but not a heavy one, so nails do not wear down as fast as the activity suggests.

Weight is worth watching. A dense stand off coat hides body condition well, and a heavy Schipperke is not obvious to the eye, so feel for ribs.

The breed carries an inherited storage disease that appears in adulthood as a loss of coordination and mobility, and there is a genetic test for it, so it is worth asking a breeder about rather than discovering later.

A small dog with strong opinions

Schipperkes are confident, busy, curious and famously self possessed, and they were bred as barge and workshop dogs to patrol and hunt vermin rather than to be handled.

Most tolerate grooming perfectly well, and the ones that do not tend to have decided early that it is negotiable.

Start in puppyhood, keep sessions short and matter of fact, and handle the feet and ears routinely rather than only when something needs doing.

Because appointments are rare on a coat like this, a Schipperke can go months without being handled by anybody but its owner, and then be asked to stand for a nail trim it has no practice at. Doing a little at home every week avoids that entirely.

They are also escape artists and quick, so a salon should know not to open a door with the dog loose.

Beyond that, this is a genuinely easy grooming proposition: a weekly brush, a bath every couple of months, and two or three demanding weeks a year.

What to tell your groomer

Say the coat is never clipped, trimmed or tidied, including the ruff and the cape, and including for shedding.

Ask for a bath, a high velocity blow out and an undercoat rake, especially in the ruff and the culotte.

Ask for the pads cleared and the sanitary area trimmed, and nothing else cut.

Mention if the dog is mid blow, since the appointment will take longer and achieve much more.

Ask for nails, ears wiped and teeth looked at.

Say the dog is quick and will take an open door, so it should not be loose near one.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Schipperke