A Basic Guide to Scottish Terrier Grooming
Are you hoping to try your hand at Scottish terrier grooming? It’s no doubt that this breed is notorious for their grooming requirements, and it can often be frustrating to have to arrange for trips to the dog groomer. Even with professional cuts and trims, it takes hours of preparation to make a Scottish terrier’s coat look as stunning as those seen in world class dog shows. While your beloved Scottie may not ever obtain the flawless coat of a show dog, you can save a bundle on grooming costs and cut out annoying trips to the groomer by learning how to groom your dog yourself. Let’s take a look at what it takes to give your dog that nice, tidy coat.
Equipment
Although the initial cost of grooming equipment may seem like a frivolous expense, it really is more of an investment. Scottish terriers have a life expectancy of around 12 years, and with a grooming need averaging around one clip every two months, the money that you save from grooming visits would quickly pay for the equipment.
To start out, your Scottish terrier grooming set will need to have a curved all-purpose brush. This is great for de-tangling the longer portions of your Scottie’s hair. Next is a good-quality steel comb with both fine and large-spaced “teeth”. A pair of straight shears as well as a pair of blending or “thinning” shears will also come in handy. And last but not least, you will need a dog grooming clipper with interchangeable blade lengths. One of the highest recommended clippers is the Oster A5. Most of these items can be found in a good quality home dog grooming kit, so you may want to consider looking into one of those.
Clipping
The idea of using shears on your pooch may seem a little awkward at first, but it certainly achieves an even and smooth trim. Let’s begin with the head. Try a number 10 or 15 blade—depending on how close you like the trim to be around your dog’s face. The higher the number, the closer the cut will be. Scotties are known for having a characteristic “beard”. This is where we’re going to start. Pull the section of hair that you want to be the beard forward so that you don’t catch it with the clippers. Begin shaving around the beard on the sides of the head, the neck, and ears. When shaving the neck, try to stop around shoulder height, as there should still be shaggy hair left on the breast of your dog. The top of the head and the area between the eyes should also be shaved, but be sure to leave a tuft of hair above each eye (what I like to call the “eyebrows”). When doing the ears, shave the backs of the ears, but try to leave a little tuft of hair surrounding the base of the ears at the front.
Moving on to the neck and back… You may want to switch the blade to a number 8 ½. Bear in mind that you want to work in a downward motion when doing the sides of the back. Begin trimming from the back of the head at the base of the ears down to roughly shoulder height—where you stopped clipping at the neck. Start clipping again from the base of the ears and make your way down near the shoulder. Keep repeating this, moving the clippers along the side little by little. Once the area above the dog’s front legs is done, bring the clipper straight across the dog’s back, but stop at the base of the tail. Now you can work from this line downward instead of from the ears. Fan your clipping outward as you go down. This creates a natural flow and will allow for easy blending. Be sure not to clip too far down—the idea is to create a “skirt” of hair that stretches out from the mid-body downward. Once you’ve reached the area above the hind leg, shave outwards towards the dog’s bum, as this is the way the hair naturally grows. Repeat this for the other side of your Scottie.
Blending
Now that you have distinguished a “line” around your dog’s midsection, you can use the number 7 or 5 blade lengths as well as the thinning shears to blend in the skirt. Start by gently touching the clippers to the “line” of hair lengths. Rather than using a downward motion, pull out away from the body. If you find the clipper seems to take too much off, you can try using the blending shears and your steel comb to gently snip away at the drastic change in hair lengths.
Trimming the Tail
While you can use your clippers to go down the top of his tail, it’s best to use your straight shears to trim the hair underneath. This leaves a fun bit of scruffy hair for your Scottie to wave when he’s happy. Besides, most dogs find it severely uncomfortable to feel the clipper near their “exit hole”.
If your Scottie’s skirt is a little longer than you’d like, take your steel comb and straight cutting shears to take a bit of length off where you like. Remember, when it comes to cutting hair, it’s always best to take it little by little. You can always take more hair off but you can’t put it back once you’ve cut it! It may take a few tries before you get a feel for the best way to cut your dog’s hair, but you’ll soon get the hang of it and become an expert at DIY Scottish terrier grooming!