Smooth Fox Terrier Grooming

About the Smooth Fox Terrier

The clearest example there is of a breed name telling you nothing about the coat.

The Smooth and the Wire Fox Terrier were shown as coat varieties of one breed until 1985, when the American Kennel Club separated them, and most people still hear "Fox Terrier" as one dog.

The Wire needs hand stripping every few months, a comb through its beard and leg furnishings every few days, and a groomer who knows how to do it.

The Smooth needs a rubber mitt once a week. There is no beard, no eyebrow, no leg furnishing and nothing to strip.

They are the same dog in every other respect, which is the point: the coat, not the breed, sets the bill.

What the Smooth does have is a short flat coat that sheds more than owners expect and skin that is easy to see, which turns out to be an advantage.

Wire or Smooth: which is more work

Put the two side by side, because an owner choosing between them is usually choosing on looks and does not know what the difference costs.

The Wire has a harsh broken coat that is hand stripped two or three times a year, plus soft furnishings on the legs and face that need combing every few days and trimming to keep the outline. It is a professional job, at a professional price, several times a year.

The Smooth has a short hard flat coat and no furnishings at all. A rubber curry mitt or a hound glove once a week lifts the loose hair, and that is genuinely the whole coat routine.

Nothing is stripped, nothing is scissored, nothing mats.

Do not clip a Smooth either, but only because there is nothing to clip.

Bathe every couple of months or when it rolls in something, which it will.

The trade is shedding. A short hard coat drops hair steadily all year and it weaves into fabric, which is a real cost paid in the house rather than at a salon.

The advantage of seeing the skin

A visible skin is worth more than it sounds, because most owners of coated dogs find a lump or a hot spot late.

On a Smooth you find everything early: ticks, scrapes, lumps, fleas, hot spots and the dry scurf that means a diet or bathing problem.

Use the weekly mitt session as the check. Run both hands over the whole dog with the mitt and you have done the coat and the examination in the same five minutes.

Two skin things do turn up in the breed. Allergic skin disease shows as itching, chewing at the feet and recurring ear trouble, and it is worth treating as a veterinary problem rather than a shampoo problem.

White dogs also sunburn, and a Smooth with a lot of white and a thin coat over the nose and ears can burn on a bright day. A dog-safe sunscreen on the exposed parts is sensible for a dog that suns itself.

Check the ears weekly. They fold over rather than standing, which cuts airflow.

Nails every three to four weeks, and teeth brushed on a small terrier that will live to fifteen.

A hard dog in a cheap coat

The temperament is the part that catches people out, precisely because the grooming is so easy that people buy the dog as a low effort choice.

The Smooth Fox Terrier was bred to go to ground after fox and it is bold, fast, extremely high energy and independent. It is not a low maintenance dog. It is a low maintenance coat on a high maintenance dog.

At a salon that means a dog that does not stand still because it is bored, rather than because it is frightened, and a table it will happily launch itself off.

Say so at booking. A groomer expecting a placid smooth-coated small dog gets a surprise.

They are also strongly prey driven and many are dog selective, so a salon with loose dogs is worth asking about.

Handling from puppyhood pays here as with any terrier, and the five minute weekly session is the ideal place to build it.

Nothing about this dog needs a professional groom, so it may never be handled by one, and the first time it needs a vet to examine it will be the first time.

The rest of the routine

With no coat work to do, the routine is everything else, and it gets forgotten on easy-coated dogs.

Nails every three to four weeks. A terrier that spends its life on grass does not wear them down.

Ears weekly. The drop ear covers the canal and holds warmth, and this breed already leans toward allergic ear trouble.

Teeth are the biggest one. Small terriers accumulate tartar quickly and live long enough for it to matter. Daily brushing if you can manage it.

Feel for ribs monthly. A short coat shows the outline honestly, which is another advantage.

Check between the toes and the pads after rough ground.

Watch the eyes, since lens luxation and cataract turn up in the breed and both need prompt attention rather than watching.

Deafness is also reported, more often in heavily white dogs, and it is worth testing a puppy rather than assuming a dog that ignores you is being a terrier.

What to tell your groomer

Say it is the Smooth and not the Wire, since the name is shared and the two jobs are nothing alike.

Ask for a bath, a rubber mitt or hound glove, nails, ears and pads. There is nothing to strip or scissor.

Say the dog is bold and busy rather than nervous, and will jump off a table given the chance.

Ask them to check the skin while they work, since it is all visible.

Say if the dog is mostly white, so sunburned or pink areas get flagged.

Mention any known deafness, so nobody approaches from behind.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Smooth Fox Terrier