Walk into any pet shop and the grooming aisle can feel genuinely overwhelming. There are brushes of every shape, size, and material, and very little guidance on what actually works for which coat. Using the wrong tool doesn't just mean a less effective brush — it can irritate the skin, damage the coat, or make brushing uncomfortable enough that your dog starts to dread it.
Here's a straightforward guide to the main coat types and the tools that suit them best.
Short coats
Breeds include: Labrador Retriever, Boxer, Beagle, Weimaraner, Greyhound.
Short-coated dogs don't need much in the way of brushing, but they do benefit from a regular once-over — particularly during shedding seasons. The two tools that work best here are a rubber grooming mitt and a natural bristle brush.
A rubber mitt fits over your hand and uses gentle friction to lift dead hair and stimulate the skin. Dogs tend to find it relaxing — more like a massage than a grooming session. Follow up with a bristle brush to distribute the natural coat oils and bring up a bit of shine. For short coats, this takes five minutes and makes a noticeable difference.
Medium and double coats
Breeds include: Border Collie, Golden Retriever, Springer Spaniel, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky.
Dogs with double coats — a softer, dense undercoat beneath a weather-resistant topcoat — require a different approach. The priority here is getting through to that undercoat to remove dead, loose fur before it mats or sheds all over your home.
A slicker brush (with fine, bent wire pins set in a cushioned pad) is excellent for working through the topcoat and dealing with tangles. Pair it with an undercoat rake — a tool with longer, widely-spaced teeth designed to penetrate the topcoat and lift out the loose undercoat beneath. During moulting seasons, you may be surprised by quite how much comes out.
Work in the direction of growth and do it in sections, especially for longer dogs. Pay particular attention to areas where matting is common: behind the ears, in the armpits, and around the collar area.
Long and silky coats
Breeds include: Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, Maltese, Afghan Hound, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Long, silky coats are beautiful but require the most consistent home maintenance. Without regular brushing, tangles form quickly and tighten into mats that are uncomfortable or even painful.
A pin brush — which has long, rounded pins in a cushioned base — is the main tool for these coats. It glides through longer hair without snagging, and it's gentle enough for fine, silky textures. Always follow up with a wide-tooth metal comb to check your work: if the comb moves freely through the coat from root to tip, you've done a thorough job. If it snags anywhere, there's still a tangle hiding.
Work through long coats from the tips upward rather than dragging from the root down, which is painful and damaging. Hold the hair above the tangle to take the tension off the skin, and work through knots a little at a time with patience.
"The number one thing I'd tell owners of long-coated dogs is to invest in a good metal comb and get into the habit of using it as a final check after every brushing session. If the comb goes through freely, you're done. If it doesn't, you're not — and it's much better to find that out now than when your dog is on the grooming table."
Inge
Wire and rough coats
Breeds include: Border Terrier, Wire Fox Terrier, Airedale, Schnauzer, Parson Russell Terrier.
Wire or rough coats have a coarser, crinkled texture and a dense undercoat. They're naturally fairly weather-resistant and don't tangle as readily as silky coats, but they do need regular maintenance to keep the coat texture correct.
A firm bristle brush works well for regular tidying, but wire-coated breeds ideally benefit from hand-stripping — a technique where dead outer coat is removed by hand or with a stripping comb, rather than clipped. Clipping a wire coat repeatedly can soften the texture over time and change its colour and weather resistance. If you have a wire-coated dog and you'd like to discuss the options, I'm always happy to chat.
For regular home maintenance between professional grooms, a bristle brush to tidy the coat and a fine stripping comb to remove loose hairs from the topcoat will keep things tidy.
Curly and non-shedding coats
Breeds include: Poodle, Bichon Frise, Cockerpoo, Labradoodle, Lagotto Romagnolo.
Curly and non-shedding coats are where home brushing matters the most. Because these coats don't naturally shed, loose dead hair stays in the coat rather than falling out — and when it does, it tends to tangle with surrounding hair and mat close to the skin. Mats in these coats can become very tight very quickly, and they're often invisible from the surface until they're quite serious.
Daily brushing with a slicker brush is the goal for most curly-coated dogs, followed by a check with a metal comb. Part the coat to check close to the skin — that's where mats tend to form first, not at the tips where they're easily visible. Pay particular attention to high-friction areas: under the collar, in the armpits, behind the ears, and where the legs meet the body.
Common mistakes to avoid
Whatever coat type your dog has, a few mistakes crop up repeatedly and are worth being aware of. Pressing too hard with a slicker brush is perhaps the most common — it's uncomfortable for the dog and can cause skin irritation known as brush burn, which is a real deterrent to future grooming. Light, confident strokes do the job just as well.
Using the wrong tool for the coat type is also more common than you'd think. A pin brush on a curly coat, for example, will skim over the surface without doing much useful work — and give you a false sense that the coat is fine when mats may be hiding beneath. Match the tool to the job, and if you're ever unsure what your dog's coat needs, just ask. I'm always happy to advise.