3 Easy Steps to Follow in Grooming a Border Collie

With their sheer intelligence and boundless stamina, border collies are always ready to conquer the day as expected from the most intelligent dog breed. Of course, by the end of the day, these pooches would love to be coddled and cared for. Follow this easy border collie grooming guide to make him a happy pooch!

Why is it important to groom your border collie?

Grooming is highly important for border collies, especially their coat. Keeping your pooch well-groomed would not only make your pooch appealing but most of all it benefits his health and well-being. Take note of these effective grooming tips in order to properly maintain your border collie’s nails, fur, and body clean.

1. Brushing

A border collie’s coat has two layers: the top layer and the underlayer. The former is naturally resistant to weather and water. It can be either mid-length and soft or shorter and rough. On the other hand, the latter is the fur closest to the skin. It is soft and very insulating.

Your border collie’s coat needs to be brushed regularly. This is to aid in reducing shedding and also spreading the natural oils through your pooch’s skin, which maintains the flesh healthy and hydrated. It is recommended that you should spend ten minutes grooming your pooch’s coat three times a week to keep it from getting matted. Take note of these steps in brushing your border collie’s coat to keep it from getting tangled or dry:

Step 1: Untangling the knots.

Before you start brushing your dog’s coat, it is best to disentangle the knots and kinks first. It would prevent the brush from painfully snagging the dog’s fur. You can use a matt splitter or disentangling spray to do this step.

Step 2: Grooming his undercoat.

It is natural for a border collie to shed. They constantly shed their fur all year long since it helps them to replenish their coats.

On this step, you must remove the fur. Start by using a de-shedding tool such as a slicker brush or an undercoat rake. These tools will get rid of the shed hair and debris from the dog’s undercoat.

Comb him thoroughly and make sure to work through the dog’s entire undercoat. Make many passes until there is no shed hair that gets tangled in the brush.

Step 3: Grooming his topcoat.

Switch to using a bristle and pin brush to groom your pooch’s topcoat. First, use the pin side to remove the shed hair on the border collie’s topcoat. Then, if you have cleared away all of the shed hair, proceed to brush your dog using the bristle side to give his coat a shiny finish.

2. Bathing

Bathe your pooch only when it is necessary. Dogs that are known to spend most of their time outdoors only need a monthly bath. Although border collies fall under that category, it is recommended that they should be washed only twice per year. Bathing them frequently is bad for their hair since it would strip the nutrients away.

Refrain from:

Using human care products, especially shampoo, on your pooch. It can cause serious skin problems to the animal.
Choosing animal bathing products that contain harsh chemicals. These would dry out your pooch’s coat.
Leaving his coat damp. Your pooch might be susceptible to chill.

Please do:

Apply a coat conditioner or coat oil on his fur to maintain its glossy sheen and also to keep it hydrated. This will protect your border collie’s coat against the damaging heat of the sun and other harsh weather conditions.
Choose a special dog shampoo that would keep his fur in top form.
Properly rinse the shampoo off to prevent it from drying on his coat, which can damage his coat.

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3. Nail trimming

Since border collies are highly active dogs, as a result, it would frequently wear out their nails and in some cases, break it. Thus, it can lead to harmful and painful infections. Trimming their nails would prevent this from occurring. Here are some helpful things to keep in mind when cutting your pooch’s nails properly:

Tip #1

Aside from preparing scissor-style, plier-style, or guillotine-style dog nail clippers, you can also add these tools that may come in handy when trimming your border collie’s nails:

Dog nail file
It would smooth the sharp edges of the nails to avoid incidents like your pooch scratching you with his newly trimmed nails.
Canine solution
It would help stop the bleeding if you accidentally cut the quick.

Tip #2

Before you start trimming, find the small red nerve ending known as the ‘quick,’ which is a black line on the dog’s nail located on the underside of each claw. Avoid cutting parts of the nail that does not extend beyond the quick.

Tip #3

The quick is difficult to find on a border collie with black nails since their colours are the same. Search for the part of the nails where it thickens, which is the indicator of where the quick is. Then you can start clipping on the curved tip, working backwards bit by bit.

Tip #4

Trim your border collie’s nails after he takes a bath. His nails would be softer during that time, which will make it easier for you to cut.

Tip #5

There may be times where you might accidentally cut the quick, which will lead to the bleeding of your border collie’s nails. If you do not have a canine solution that would clot the blood, you can use these items, which are usually found at home, as alternatives:

Flour or cornstarch
Apply a pinch on the wounded area.
Mild soap bar
Push it into the bleeding nail.

Trimming your border collie’s nails may be a daunting task at first, but if you regularly do this routine it would become easier. However, if your pooch will not cooperate, you need to ask help from another person who will hold and soothe him. But if this method does not work, it is best to leave this task to a vet.

Consistency is crucial

border collie dog lying down on the grass

In order to achieve a nice- and neat-looking border collie, consistency in grooming him is the key. These basic steps may be a challenging task at first. However, if you stick to a strict schedule in doing these basic steps and make it a regular part of his lifestyle, grooming him will become easier as time passes by.

3 Easy Steps in Grooming a Border Collie

Why is it important to groom your border collie?