Best Dog Hair Clippers – The Complete Grooming Guide

Regardless of what dog breed you own, ensuring that they have a well-groomed coat will keep your dog happy, content and most crucially, healthy.

As well as causing the irritating and uncomfortable issue of matting, failing to groom a dog’s fur, including clipping it, can make it the perfect home for all kinds of ticks, fleas and other parasites.

While it’s always a good idea to go to a groomer to have your dog trimmed, it’s not always practical or affordable. In those situations, it’s best then to take on the responsibility yourself. Which means you then must navigate the world of clippers and make the right choice for both you and your dog.

In the following post, we are going to introduce you to hair clippers for dogs, looking at the most common types, the different blades used and how to use them to cut your dog’s hair.

Dog Hair Clippers: Summary Table

Different Hair Clippers For Dogs

There are six main types of dog hair clippers available. In this section we will look at them each individually, discussing their pros and cons.

Cordless – Cordless dog hair clippers are powered by rechargeable batteries and come with either a charging plug or base. While most cordless models are pricier than corded options, they offer a lot more manoeuvrability, portability and convenience.

One major downside to this type of clippers though is their power source and the fact that the batteries they use do not offer a long run time on a single charge. This can be frustrating if you have a large dog with a thick and long coat to trim.

Corded – corded dog hair clippers, as you may have guessed, plug into the wall and don’t need to be charged or have batteries inserted to use them.

This can be a great bonus and save you some money in time. Furthermore, they won’t lose power halfway through grooming a dog. The real downside to these is the fact they are tethered to the wall, which could restrict your movement somewhat.

Single Speed – defined by the measurement strokes per minute, these clippers only offer one speed for cutting hair and are a very user-friendly, easy to use and affordable option.

They are, however, limited in their versatility and suitable only for specific dog coat types, such as shorter and smoother coats.

Variable Speed – Variable speed clippers, on the other hand, offer at least two and very often more cutting speeds, making them ideal for dog owners with several different dogs. For example, dogs with thicker coats require a slower clipping speed, while those with coarser fur require a caster clipping speed.

Low Vibration and Quiet – Not all dogs are particularly fond of having their fur clipped. Especially if they are highly strung and nervy of loud noises. For pets like that, models with quieter models and lower-level vibrations are perfect.

Professional Grade – when a more reliable, durable and robust set of hair clippers is required, particularly if it’s in a commercial or business setting like a professional groomer or veterinary office, professional clippers are a must. These tend to have higher quality components.

Different Dog Hair Clipper Blades

It’s not just the different types of hair clippers you need to familiarise yourself with. You need to also learn a little about the different blade types that are featured in them.

The most commonly used include:

Stainless-Steel – Stainless-steel blade clippers are the most popular. For one thing, stainless-steel does not rust or corrode, so they are safe to use when working with wet dog hair. Steel is obviously favoured also for its sharpness and strength.

Ceramic – you will find most professional dog groomers use clippers with ceramic blades. These types of blades are great if you need to cut the hair of several dogs.

As ceramic blades retain a cool to touch feel longer than alternative blade materials, they can be safely used for longer. However, they are quite expensive and if you just need to groom one dog, the expense might be a little too extravagant.

Fine tooth – these kinds of blades are generally used to finish off a dog’s coat to give it a polished and smooth appearance.

Skip tooth – these are blades that are used to trim a lot of coarse and long fur. This makes them perfect for using for the first stage of grooming, to remove the bulk before using the above to give the final touches.

How to Use Dog Hair Clippers

Now you know a little about the different dog hair clippers available and different types of blades used, it’s time to discuss how you go about actually clipping your dog’s hair.

If you’ve never done it before, it can seem like a mountainous task. To take a lot of the stress and uncertainty, we will go through the basics below.

First things first, you need to make sure you wash and comb your dog thoroughly. It’s best to try and remove as much matting through brushing before you start clipping as possible as they can get caught in the blades. Enlist the help of someone to hold your dog throughout the process.

Have your dog stand or place them somewhere slightly elevated, as this will help save you some strain and pain in your back.

Start working at the back of the neck and work slowly to ensure you give the fur the smoothest cut you can get. Cutting too quickly or using too much force will leave lots of uneven lines.

Work down your dog’s body, following the direction the hair is lying. Then move onto their back legs and then front legs. To do the belly, you will need to have your assistant stand the dog up.

This is the only part where you can afford to go against the grain for a much closer cut to stop things getting stuck to their belly.

Best Dog Hair Clippers – Our Top 5

1. ? Wahl Arco Cordless Clipper

Preview	Product	Rating
	Wahl Arco Cordless Clipper	No ratings yet	Buy on Amazon

2. Wahl Pro Series Lithium Dog/Pet Clipper Kit

Preview	Product	Rating
	Wahl Dog Clippers, Pro Series Lithium Dog Grooming Kit, For Wiry, Smooth, Long, Silky and Short...	No ratings yet	Buy on Amazon

3. Wahl Super Groom Premium Pet Clipper

Preview	Product	Rating
	WAHL Men Dog Clippers, Supergroom Premium Dog Grooming Kit, Full Coat Dog Clippers for All Coat...	No ratings yet	Buy on Amazon

4. Wahl Multi Cut Mains Dog Clipper Set

Preview	Product	Rating
	WAHL Dog Clippers, Multi Cut Dog Cat Grooming Kit, Full Pet Coat, Low Noise Corded, Pets At Home,...	No ratings yet	Buy on Amazon

5. OMORC Dog Clippers

For more dog grooming hints and tips – check out our Grooming and Health section. Don’t forget to comment below or start a conversation on our Facebook page.