Originally bred as a hunting dog, the Welsh Terrier has the independence and intelligence that you would expect, alongside a great need for none-stop fun – traits that any family could welcome. However, one of the most recognisable traits of the Welsh Terrier is their beautiful, wiry coat. Unsurprisingly, their gorgeous coats do require detailed care, so here are a few tips on how to keep their attractive coat looking at its best.
Welsh Terriers rarely shed hair and certainly don’t shed excessively. Their dead hair actually gets locked into their double coat, which is why stripping them is an important part of their grooming process.
Regular brushing of your Welsh Terrier will make your job grooming them much easier, stopping their fur from matting and helping to get rid of the dead hair within their coat. When trimming a Welsh Terrier, you should focus some attention on their recognisable moustache that, although a lovely feature of the Welsh Terrier, can gather dirt from when they’re eating. It can also be important to take some thinning scissors to the overgrown fur on their paws, smartening their overall appearance.
From approximately 5 months of age, you should be thinking about grooming your Welsh Terrier’s hair; but this shouldn’t be done with clippers. Instead, your terrier’s wiry coat should be stripped.
Just because your Welsh Terrier doesn’t shed much hair, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t need stripping. Instead, the dead hair stays within its coat and can lead to painful matting. By stripping parts of the coat once a week, you remove this dead hair and help encourage healthy hair growth on your dog.
Once you have brushed your terrier’s hair with a pad or pin-pad brush, comb through with a metal comb. Then it’s time to take your stripping knife:
1. Firstly, strip your Welsh Terrier’s head, neck and shoulders – being extra careful around your dog's eyes and mouth.
2. Keep your Terrier’s eyebrows untouched from scissors or strippers.
3. Use a coarse stripping knife to strip the hair along the body down to the base of your dog’s tail.
4. Carefully strip your dog’s tail, leaving it quite long on the black side of their tail.
5. Finally, strip your dog’s legs to make sure they blend into their new, tidier look.
A great aspect of the Welsh Terrier’s coat is that it is a double waterproof coat, meaning they repel any moisture and dirt very well, making the need to bathe them very sparse. You only really need to bathe your Welsh Terrier when they’re obviously dirty.
Yes, Welsh Terriers are hypoallergenic dogs. As your Welsh Terrier sparsely sheds hair, it means that it’s very rare that they will trigger an allergic reaction in people around them. When a person is allergic to a dog, this is because their immune system is sensitive to a pet’s urine, saliva or dead skin cells. As a more hypoallergenic dog, the Welsh Terrier produces less of the dead skin cells through their lack of shedding – making a better option for allergy-prone owners.
