Brush a double coat in sections, right down to the skin, using an undercoat rake first and a slicker brush after. Once a week is enough for most of the year, and every day or two while the coat is blowing. A warm bath and a proper cool blow dry lifts dead undercoat fastest. Never shave or clip the coat.
What is a double coat, and why does it blow twice a year?
A double coat is two coats doing two different jobs. On top sit the guard hairs. They are longer and coarser, and they shrug off rain and the worst of the sun. Underneath sits the undercoat, a dense woolly layer that traps air close to the skin. That trapped air is what keeps a Samoyed comfortable in a hard frost. It is also, and this surprises people, what keeps him from cooking in August.
Twice a year the undercoat lets go in earnest. Spring is usually the big one and autumn the tidier second act. For a few weeks the house fills with soft clouds of it. Owners call it blowing coat, and it is not a sign that anything is wrong. A Siberian Husky in full moult will shed more in a fortnight than you thought one dog could hold. The job is simply to get it out with a brush before it felts down against the skin.
What do you actually need in the grooming box?
Two tools do most of the work, and neither of them is complicated. The first is an undercoat rake, a single row of blunt rounded teeth set wide apart and long enough to reach through the guard hairs into the wool underneath. It is the tool that empties a moulting dog. A rake with rotating teeth is kinder on the skin than a fixed one, so look for that when you pick yours: .
The second is a slicker brush, the flat pad of fine bent wires that lifts the loosened undercoat away and finishes the guard hairs so the coat lies flat. Use it after the rake, never in place of it. A slicker pressed hard on bare skin stings, so keep it light and let the wires do the work: . A metal comb rounds out the kit and is the honest test of whether you have finished. If it runs from skin to tip anywhere on the dog, that patch is done.
How do you line brush a double coat properly?
Line brushing sounds technical and takes about a minute to learn. Sit your dog down, part the coat with your free hand so you can see a clean line of skin, and brush the hair below the part downwards and outwards. Move the parting up an inch and do it again. You work in sections up one leg and then along the flank, until the whole dog has been done from the skin outwards rather than skimmed across the top.
Skimming the surface is the single commonest mistake, because the top looks glorious while a mat quietly forms underneath it. The tricky places are the ones a brush naturally skips. Behind the ears, in the armpits, on the trousers at the back of the thighs and around the base of the tail. Those are the spots where a rough collie or a golden retriever will felt first.
Most of the year, once a week is plenty. When the coat is blowing, every day or two for ten or fifteen minutes will keep on top of it far better than one heroic two hour session at the weekend. Bathing helps enormously. Warm water loosens dead undercoat, and drying the dog afterwards with a dryer on a cool setting blows it out in handfuls. That is why a groom during a moult feels like it removed a second dog. A stand dryer made for dogs is a very different thing from a human hairdryer, which runs far too hot: .
Why should you never shave a double coat?
Because the coat is insulation, and insulation works in both directions. Those guard hairs shade the skin and the air trapped in the undercoat slows heat coming in as well as going out. A shaved double coat leaves a dog with sunburn risk and no buffer at all, which is the opposite of what the owner intended. Clipping through the coat can also change how it grows back. The soft undercoat often returns faster than the guard hairs, leaving a patchy woolly texture that mats more easily than the coat you started with.
There is one exception, and it is a clinical one. A vet or a groomer may need to clip an area for a wound, a hot spot or a mat too tight to save. That is a call for the person in front of the dog to make. If your dog struggles in the heat, the answer is a properly stripped out undercoat plus shade and better timing on walks, never clippers. There is more in our guide to keeping your dog cool this summer. The same coat is why most double coated dogs sail through winter without anything extra, though a very old or very lean dog might want one. Our piece on whether your dog needs a coat walks through it.
What about wiry terrier coats?
A wiry coat is its own animal. The harsh outer jacket on a Border Terrier does not shed on a schedule the way a rake and slicker coat does. It grows and dies in the follicle, then waits to be pulled out. Hand stripping is exactly that. You take a few dead hairs at a time between finger and thumb and pull in the direction of growth. The hairs are already loose, so it does not hurt a dog raised with it.
Clipping a wire coat cuts the hair without removing it. The dog looks smart for a fortnight and then the jacket softens and the colour fades. Once that has happened it takes months of patient stripping to bring the coat back. Stripping a whole dog is slow work and there is no shame in booking it in. Rolling the coat yourself between visits, ten minutes on the back and shoulders while the television is on, keeps a groomer's job easy. Our guide to choosing a dog groomer covers what to ask when you ring round.
What should you check while you are brushing?
Grooming is the best health check you will ever do, because your hands are on every inch of the dog anyway. Run them over the skin as you part the coat. You are feeling for lumps, scabs, hot patches, fleas or flea dirt, and ticks after long grass. Check the ears too, especially on a dog who swims, and look between the toes for grass seeds.
Ring your vet without waiting if you find a raw weeping patch that has appeared within a day, or a lump that is new or changing. Skin that is hot and painful to touch needs the same call. So does a dog who suddenly cannot stop scratching or chewing one spot. Those want looking at properly. The same goes for a coat that has turned dull or thin over a few weeks, because the coat is often where something else shows up first. Your vet comes first on anything clinical.
Dull hair with nothing else going on is worth a look at the bowl. Skin and coat lean heavily on protein quality and on the fats in a diet, so it pays to know what is actually in the bag. Every food in our reviews is scored on protein and processing, nutritional balance, transparency and value, and our skin and coat picks are a sensible place to start.
One last thing, because it undoes half a week of brushing. Dry your dog properly after a wet walk. A damp undercoat under a dry topcoat can stay wet for hours, which is how mats and sore skin start. Towel right down to the skin and give the coat a quick comb once it is dry. A pile of decent drying towels by the back door makes that a habit, never a decision.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I brush a double coated dog?
Once a week for most of the year, and every day or two during a moult. A weekly session that reaches the skin beats a daily surface tidy, so it is the technique rather than the frequency that matters. In shedding season, ten or fifteen minutes with the rake each evening will pull out far more coat than one long weekend session, and your dog will find it much easier to sit through.
Are deshedding blades safe to use at home?
Use them sparingly, if at all. The blade style deshedding tools have a fine cutting edge that shortens guard hairs as well as pulling undercoat, so heavy use over months can thin and dull the topcoat. A rake with rounded teeth does the same job without cutting anything. If you already own a blade tool, keep the strokes light and short, and follow with a slicker and comb.
My groomer has offered to shave my husky for summer. Should I say yes?
No, not for heat alone. The undercoat is insulation both ways, and a shaved dog loses shade at skin level and can grow the coat back patchy or woolly. A proper deshedding groom removes the dead wool and leaves the working coat in place, which is what actually helps. The exception is clipping for a wound, a hot spot or a mat too tight to brush out, which is your vet or groomer's call.
Can I bath a double coated dog at home during a moult?
Yes, and it is one of the most useful things you can do. Brush the worst of the loose coat out first so water does not lock mats tighter, then shampoo down to the skin and rinse for longer than feels necessary. Dry thoroughly on a cool setting, working the air against the direction of growth. The loose undercoat comes away in clouds, and a comb afterwards tells you what is left.
