October 9th, 2020 by Amy Varley

If you have a beloved pooch with a curly-coat, you may be wondering how best to groom them at home. While the majority of these dogs are low shedders, they require a lot of maintenance to keep their coats looking their best! The majority of dog owners with curly-coated dogs take them to a professional dog groomer regularly for their dog to be clipped, however, you still have to do some work in between appointments to keep your dog’s coat looking and feeling it’s best. Here is our handy guide to how you should groom your curly-coated dog at home.

What is a curly coat?

A curly coat on a dog is basically when the hairs grow into curls. These types of coats continue to grow, so need regular trims and even more regular brushing to keep them from getting tangled and causing matting. When loose and dead hairs fall out of these breeds, these hairs get caught up in the curls, which is why many people think that these dogs don’t shed! The hairs that have shed and got caught up in the curls need to be brushed out to prevent them from causing knots, which can become tight and potentially cause your dog some painful skin problems. Breeds which have curly coats include; Poodles, Poodle crosses (cockapoo, cavapoo, labradoodle, etc.), Curly coated retrievers, Irish water spaniels and Bichon Frises.

Invest in some good grooming tools

When you first get your curly-haired little ball of fluff, you will want to invest in some good brushes to help keep on top of grooming your pup’s coat. A long-pin comb is essential for getting deep into the curls and helping to remove any tangles or debris that is caught up in there, along with a slicker brush to help brush the surface coat and remove any dead hairs. If you want to clip your dog’s coat at home, a decent set of clippers and professional grooming scissors will be a must.

Introduce your dog to the grooming tools

Before you begin grooming your pooch, you should make sure they are comfortable with being groomed. Where possible, you should start a good grooming routine with your puppy as soon as you bring them home. Let them explore the tools with their noses, sniffing them and reward them with treats and praise! If you are planning on using clippers at home, you can help your dog get used to them by simply turning them on and holding them near your dog to allow them to get used to the noise – and don’t forget to give them plenty of praise and treats!

Bathe your dog

For a full groom on a curly-coated dog, or when your dog is a little (or a lot!) dirty, you will want to give them a bath, to begin with. You should always bath and fully dry your dog before attempting to clip them, as dirt and grime can cause clipper blades to dull and become damaged. To bath your dog properly, first, you should wet the coat thoroughly, before lathering them up with shampoo! Our Gentle touch shampoo is perfect for dogs with all coat types, including dogs with curly coats, and is super gentle so won’t irritate your pooch’s skin! Once your dog has had a good lather up, you can rinse them off with warm water, ensuring you get all of the suds out! One unfortunate thing you may find with a curly-coated dog is if the hair around their bottom isn’t kept clipped short, your pooch may get some of their faeces caught up in the hair. You might want to put gloves on to clean this area if it looks a bit grubby!

Dry your pooch

Before you start to brush and/or clip your dog, you should first towel them dry, or use a hairdryer or a doggy blaster to remove as much moisture as possible. When you start brushing your dog, if there are tangles that the brush could get caught up in, the brush may pull at the skin and harm your dog more if the coat is still wet.

Use a slicker brush

A slicker brush is typically a rectangular-shaped brush with lots of little pins. You should first brush your dog all over with a slicker, taking care to allow the pins to get as deep into the hair as possible. You should brush in the direction of the hair growth, however, with curly coats, it can sometimes be helpful to part the hair and brush gently backwards against the lay of the fur, before brushing it back into place. This helps to remove any loose or dead hairs.

Cut out any deep matting and tangles

While you are brushing your dog, you may find some knotty bits of hair, very tight tangles or matting. These can especially occur behind your dog’s ears and under their armpits. These areas can be quite sensitive to dogs, so using a pair of scissors to cut any knots out may be a lot easier and less painful for your pooch than trying to brush or comb them out.

Use a comb to get deep in the coat

While a slicker brush is brilliant for the top layer of your dog’s coat, a fine-toothed comb is essential for making sure you are reaching the base of the hairs and removing any tangles that are under the top curls. The undercoat on a curly-coated dog is often very dense which is why you need to use a comb to ensure this gets brushed as well as just the top curlier hairs. If the undercoat isn’t brushed through this will matt and can be very painful for your dog if it becomes tight and trapped under the curls!

Clipping your dog

Because the hair on curly-coated dogs keeps growing, they will need semi-regular clipping to keep their coat manageable and keep matting at bay. The majority of owners will send their dogs to a professional for this part of their dog’s grooming routine, however, some people choose to do it themselves at home, especially if they want to save money as getting a professional groom can be expensive! To clip your dog at home, you should fluff up your dog’s coat using a slicker brush, before clipping the hair from the base of the neck down the back, with the lay of the coat. You shouldn’t clip against the hair as this could irritate the skin and will be a much shorter cut. Care should be taken around your dog’s sensitive areas, for example, their face, bottom areas, armpits and ears – you may want to use scissors for these areas to prevent any accidents. You should clip your dog’s coat from front to back, and if you want to clip their face you should always clip away from their eyes and nose.

Ears

Dogs with curly coats should have the inside of their ears checked regularly for dirt and knots. If there are any long hairs sticking out from inside of your dog’s ears, these can be ‘plucked’ out, so grab a couple of hairs at a time and pull gently out – if you’re doing it right the hairs should come out quite easily with your gentle tug. Removing these hairs will allow more air to get into your dog’s ears and can help with preventing hearing problems. Any excess wax or dirt that is around the edge of your pooch’s ears can be removed with our Ear Wipes – which contain natural cleaners and have antibacterial properties – so are perfect for helping to reduce skin irritation and risk of infection.

Pretty Pooch Dog Ear Wipes Pack of 80

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Grooming your dog’s paws and nails

Once you’ve clipped your dog’s body and legs, you may find their paws look slightly like the Grinch’s hands! Use some grooming scissors to trim away any excess hair between their toes and around their nails. Removing this hair will help to prevent your dog from getting mud and debris stuck between their pads and will stop this hair from matting. You may want to cut your dog’s nails if they are looking a little long – remembering not to cut too much of the nail off to prevent the quick from bleeding.

Maintaining your dog’s coat

Dogs with curly coats tend to require more maintenance than other coat types because the curls can pick up and keep hold of dirt, debris, twigs, burrs, basically all the things you don’t want your pooch to have in their coat! Once your pooch has had a full groom and is looking and smelling fantastic, you will want to keep on top of this as much as possible. Regularly brushing your dog’s coat, every other day should be enough to keep tangles and matting at bay, and will also allow you to check your dog's coat for any issues that may be hidden, such as sores or skin problems. Finding any small issues early is always better than leaving them unnoticed and potentially causing a bigger problem later on!

Regular brushing and semi-regular bathing and clipping will keep your curly coated best friend looking and feeling their best, and grooming is also a brilliant way for you and your pooch to bond so enjoy the extra time together and try to ensure you both enjoy the grooming process.