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Bathing and Grooming by Coat Types

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Introduction to Bathing, Grooming and Styling Dogs by Coat Types

When you understand coat types, everything else makes sense. Coat type dictates the types of products, tools, equipment and technique to use, in order to properly prep, bathe, brush, dry and finish the coat. Knowledge of coat types allows you to be more efficient and creative in achieving every day pet trims with style. Understanding coat types helps you to achieve the ultimate coat at the right time in the show ring. This may sound overly simple, but in fact, almost everything you do as a bather, groomer or stylist will depend on coat type and this information will take some of the mystery out of the process.

Coat Type

There are two types of hair that make up the dog's coat. The undercoat and the topcoat. The undercoat is a short, thick, cottony layer of hair that insulates the dog. The topcoat, often times referred to as the guard hair, is a thicker and stronger type of hair which forms the top layer.The purpose of the topcoat is to protect the skin.

The variations in thickness and length of top coat, and the presence or absence of undercoat, in addition to the coat growth pattern, establish the overall coat type. Coat type is often times a distinguishing characteristic between certain breeds, an example being the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. In this case, coat type distinguishes one breed from the other and determines the products and techniques used for each.

Determined and Undetermined Hair Growth

Dogs also have determined and undetermined hair growth. Breeds with determined hair growth, such as the Norwegian Elkhound, have coat that grows to a specific length, much like your eyebrows. These breeds require tools and techniques that remove the coat naturally, such as brushing, carding, and handstripping to maintain healthy skin and coat.

Dogs with undetermined hair growth, such as the Maltese, have coat that grows to an undetermined length, much like your own hair. Breeds with undetermined hair growth require tools and techniques that remove the coat by artificial means, such as clippering, thinning and scissoring. You will also find breeds such as the Cocker Spaniel that have a combination of determined and undetermined coat types, requiring a combination of both types of tools and techniques.

Typically, the type of hair growth determines the types of products that you use to properly care for the skin and coat and to prevent skin disorders.

Shedding

There are three types of shedding patterns found on man's best friend and the type of shedding pattern is coat type related.

Block & Band

Breeds with determined hair growth shed in a block or band fashion, such as the German Shepherd. Block shedding refers to the shedding of the undercoat. The effect that we see in block shedding is large portions of the undercoat shedding at one time. Band shedding refers to the shedding of the top coat on smaller portions of the body, therefore causing the entire process to take longer than in block shedding.

Mosaic Shedding

Mosaic shedding is a type of shedding that happens randomly and therefore continuous and occurs only on breeds with undetermined hair growth such as the Shih Tzu. Humans shed their hair in the mosaic shedding pattern.

Natural Coat Growth Patterns and Patterns Created by the Stylist

The hair growth pattern is where the coat grows longer on specific areas on the dog, often times creating a signature silhouette or profile for a particular breed or a group of breeds. There are two different types of hair growth patterns that we see on the breeds of dogs. The natural hair growth pattern grows that way naturally and has determined hair growth, such as the Pomeranian. The styled coat growth pattern that must be created by the stylist due to the undetermined hair growth in breeds such as the Kerry Blue Terrier. To achieve every day beautiful pet trims you must have a thorough understanding of the natural hair growth patterns in reference to where the length of coat stops and starts on the anatomy of the dog. Once you understand the natural patterns, you can apply the same concepts when you are styling the breeds with undetermined hair growth that require you to create the coat pattern.

Coat Growth Direction

The last topic of importance in order to form our foundation is the coat growth direction. This term is exactly what is sounds like. It is the direction in which the coat grows.

We hope that all of the information about coat types, shedding, natural and styled coat growth patterns, determined and undetermined coat growth and coat growth direction, has not been too confusing. We believe that it will help you to better understand how to properly take care of the skin and coat on man's best friend.