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Small Dog Grooming

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

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

What counts as a Small dog

Ten to twenty-five pounds. Shih Tzus, Bichons Frises, Cocker Spaniels, Miniature Schnauzers, West Highland Terriers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Miniature Poodles and Havanese.

This is the center of the grooming trade. More breed patterns were written for dogs this size than for any other, most salon price lists are built outward from here, and if you picture a dog on a grooming table it is probably in this range.

A full groom on a small dog is comfortably under two hours for a coat in reasonable condition. What that covers surprises people, so it is worth setting out.

Weight

10 to 25 lb

Time on the table

The core of most grooming books. A full groom is comfortably under two hours.

What a full groom actually includes

A full groom is not a haircut with a wash attached. The order matters, and most of the steps are invisible in the finished dog.

It starts with a brush out and a comb through, because bathing a coat with tangles in it sets them. Anything that needs to come out comes out now, dry. Then a rough pre clip on a longer coat, taking off bulk so that the bath and dry are not spent on hair that is about to be removed.

Then the bath, usually twice: once to lift dirt and oil, once for the shampoo to actually work on clean hair, plus conditioner. Then the dry, which on a small coated dog is done with a high velocity dryer and a brush working together, because a coat dried flat sets flat and cannot be scissored straight.

Then the detail work: nails, ears cleaned and hair plucked or trimmed as the breed needs, pads cleared, sanitary trim. Anal glands if the salon offers it and the dog needs it.

Only then does the actual haircut happen, clipper work first to set the length, then scissor work to finish the outline, the legs, the head and the tail. On a Bichon or a Poodle the scissor finish is most of the skill and most of the time.

A groomer who does all of that in ninety minutes is moving quickly.

What moves the price, and it is rarely the weight

Two dogs of the same weight can differ by a factor of two in what they cost to groom, and none of that gap is about size.

Coat condition is the largest single factor. A coat that has to be dematted, or clipped off short and started again, takes far longer than a coat that has been maintained, and it is harder work on the animal. This is why salons quote a range rather than a figure, and why the quote can move when the dog is actually in front of them.

Coat type is next. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise are the same weight and are not the same job: one is a tidy and a bath, the other is a full scissored haircut. Behavior is third, because a dog that cannot be handled safely takes two people or a longer, slower session. Interval is fourth, since a dog on a regular six week schedule is quicker every time than the same dog at six months.

The lever an owner actually controls is the interval and the brushing between. Everything else is fixed by the dog you have.

Where small dogs mat first

Mats form where hair moves against something else, and on a small dog that list is short and predictable.

The collar line comes first on almost every dog that wears a collar full time, and it is completely hidden underneath it. Then the armpits, where the front legs swing against the chest, and behind the ears where the ear moves constantly against the head. Then the back of the thighs, then the tail base, then the belly and groin where the coat is finest and least often brushed.

Harness dogs get the same problem in different places, wherever a strap crosses. If your dog wears a harness all day, check under every strap weekly.

All of these are places an owner can check in under a minute with a comb, and all of them are places a surface brushing never reaches. Checking those six spots weekly is worth more than an hour of general brushing, because they are where the appointment either goes to plan or does not.

Small dog breeds

48 breeds, page 1 of 2

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 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 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
A Bichon Frise scissored into its rounded powder puff outline

Bichon Frise

One of the fastest matting coats there is, under one of the most forgiving surfaces

Bichon Frise
A Border Terrier, a harsh jacket meant to stay plain and workmanlike

Border Terrier

The plainest terrier there is, stripped two or three times a year and left alone between

Border Terrier
A Boston Terrier, a very short single coat and a flat face that needs watching

Boston Terrier

One of the genuinely easy coats on the site, attached to a face that is not

Boston Terrier
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 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 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 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 Dandie Dinmont Terrier, a crisp body coat under a silky topknot

Dandie Dinmont Terrier

A crisp body coat that is stripped, under a large soft silky topknot that is not

Dandie Dinmont Terrier
A French Bulldog, where the folds matter far more than the coat

French Bulldog

Ten minutes of coat, and a face that needs attention every single day

French Bulldog
A Jack Russell Terrier in all three of its coats: smooth, broken and rough

Jack Russell Terrier

Three coats in one breed, and only one of them behaves the way a terrier coat should

Jack Russell Terrier
A Kooikerhondje, whose black eartips are a breed feature and not dirt

Kooikerhondje

Black eartips that are a breed feature, and a gene pool small enough to matter

Kooikerhondje
A Lakeland Terrier, a hand stripped jacket on a compact fell terrier

Lakeland Terrier

A harsh fell terrier jacket over soft furnishings, and the furnishings are the work

Lakeland Terrier
A Lhasa Apso in full coat, a heavy silky coat over a small dog

Lhasa Apso

A heavy floor length coat on a small dog, and a temperament that has opinions

Lhasa Apso
A Lowchen in the traditional lion trim, which is optional and cosmetic

Lowchen

A lion trim that is entirely optional, over a soft coat that mats like any bichon

Lowchen
A Maltipoo in a full soft wavy coat

Maltipoo

A coat you cannot predict from the name, which is the whole difficulty with the cross

Maltipoo

The other dog sizes

Weight decides the equipment and the drying time. Coat decides everything else.

A Pomeranian and a Yorkshire Terrier, both under ten pounds

Toy

Under 10 lb

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

Toy
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.

Medium
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.

Large
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.

Giant

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