How Often to Groom
What the interval really is, and what decides it
How Often Does Your Dog Really Need It?
Ask how often a dog needs grooming and you will be told every four to six weeks. It is on every salon website and it is the answer most owners go home with.
It is right for a Poodle, a Bichon and most of the Doodles. It is wrong for the large majority of dogs, and being wrong in either direction costs something. Booking a Labrador every six weeks is money spent for no benefit. Leaving a Doodle twelve is how coats end up being shaved off.
Find your own dog below.
| How often | Breeds |
|---|---|
| Every 4 to 6 weeks | Goldendoodle, Shih Tzu, Poodle, Yorkshire Terrier, Cockapoo, Maltese, Miniature Schnauzer, Bichon Frise |
| Every 6 to 8 weeks | Basset Hound, Newfoundland, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bernese Mountain Dog, English Springer Spaniel, Old English Sheepdog, Airedale Terrier, Samoyed |
| Every 8 to 12 weeks | Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Australian Cattle Dog, Beagle, Boston Terrier, Cane Corso, Labrador Retriever, French Bulldog |
| Every 3 to 4 months | Whippet, Greyhound, Border Terrier, Basenji, Italian Greyhound, Irish Wolfhound, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Miniature Pinscher |
| No haircut needed | Xoloitzcuintli, American Hairless Terrier, Peruvian Inca Orchid, Smooth Fox Terrier, Toy Fox Terrier, Bergamasco Sheepdog, Dogue de Bordeaux, Mudi |
Why the Coat Matters More Than the Size
Weight is the first question a salon asks because it is the easiest one to answer over the phone. It is not the one that decides the interval.
What decides it is whether the coat keeps growing or stops.
A Poodle, a Bichon, a Shih Tzu and most of the Doodles have hair that grows continuously, the way yours does. Left alone it does not shed out, it lengthens, tangles and eventually felts. Those coats need cutting on a cycle, and the cycle is short.
A Labrador, a Husky or a German Shepherd grows coat to a set length and then stops. It sheds instead. Nothing needs cutting, so the appointments are about bathing, drying and getting the dead undercoat out, which is a slower rhythm and often a seasonal one.
That single difference explains most of the table above, which is why the coat is the thing to look up rather than the breed name.
Brushing at Home Is What Makes It Work
A booking cycle only holds if the coat is being kept up in between, and that is where most schedules quietly fall apart.
Skip it for a fortnight on a curly coat and the eight week appointment turns into a de matting job, which costs more, takes longer and often ends in a shorter cut than anyone wanted.
The other half of it is technique. On any coat with an undercoat a slicker brush skates across the top and leaves the felt forming underneath, so the coat looks fine right up until a groomer parts it. A comb that reaches skin is the only honest test.
Some coats need this daily and some need it once a week. That is on the breed guide too, because the difference between a Havanese and a Beagle is not a matter of degree.
All of it is far easier if it starts in puppyhood, before there is anything to brush out.
Getting a puppy used to being handled · Brushing and bathing at home
Hairless Does Not Mean Low Maintenance
The shortest interval of any animal does not belong to a Poodle. It belongs to the hairless cats, and they need attention every one to two weeks.
A coat is what normally moves skin oil away and spreads it out. Take the coat away and the oil stays where it is made, so a Sphynx needs wiping down or bathing on a schedule that would be excessive for almost any dog. Skin folds, ear wax and nail beds all collect the same way.
People choose these breeds expecting less work than a longhair and are startled to find it is more, just a different kind of work.
Which Cats Need a Groomer
Cats groom themselves, which is true right up until the point it is not. Most cats never need a professional appointment. The ones that do fall into three groups.
- Coats too dense for a tongue to get through. A Persian mats at the skin within days and cannot maintain itself at all.
- Cats that can no longer reach. Age, arthritis and weight all stop a cat turning to its own back end.
- Coats with no guard hairs. The soft ones felt rather than slide.
The warning sign is always the same and it is easy to miss. Mats appear first behind the elbows, along the trousers and at the base of the tail, because those are the places a cat reaches last. A cat that has stopped turning to groom its own back end has usually been struggling for weeks.
How to Tell You Have Left It Too Long
You do not need to count weeks. The coat tells you, if you check the places that go first rather than the places you can see.
- Behind and under the ears. Friction from the ear flap makes this the first spot to felt on almost any coat.
- The armpits and the back of the legs. Movement plus a harness or collar does the same job.
- The trousers and the base of the tail. The area an animal reaches last and an owner looks at least.
- Run a comb to the skin, not a brush over the top. If it stops before it reaches skin, the coat is already matting whatever the surface looks like.
If the comb will not pass, book sooner rather than working at it. A mat that has reached the skin pulls on it every time the animal moves, and the skin underneath is usually sore before anybody notices.
Look Up Your Own Breed
Every breed guide carries its own interval, its brushing routine and the thing that most often goes wrong on that particular coat. That is a more useful answer than any average.
Your Breed
The interval your own dog or cat actually needs, and the routine in between.
Find your breed →Your Coat Type
The coat decides the cycle, and it works the same on a dog and on a cat.
Find your coat type →What It Costs
What a groom runs by size and coat, and why leaving it late is the expensive option.
See typical prices →