Grooming Your Wirehaired Dachshund

Grooming is a matter of preference

SCRUFFY "NATURAL" LOOK - To keep the hair off the floors just take a metal Flea comb through the coat about once a week to take out the dead hair.  I feel that that the pads of the feet should be trimmed when doing the nails and some sanitary trimming should be done around the rectum, vulva or penis.  You then have a very scruffy happy Wirehaired dachshund.

STRIPPED -  This is the most work. Wirehaired Dachshunds that are shown for their AKC titles are stripped.  This entails being plucked by hand or with stripping knifes.  The hair is pull out NOT CUT.   You can click on the button at the bottom of the page and go to a grooming chart that I did for Kaye Ladd's book that will show you the correct pattern for grooming.  There are different types of stripping knifes that can be purchased from almost any dog show vender or on line.  I do use straight edges scissors on the pads of the feet and thinning shears to make the lines on the neck and under the tail look neat and straight.  When showing a dog you much remember that cutting the hair changes the color of the hair.  You can see the change in color in the pictures of Heather at the bottom of the page.  She is stripped (and younger) in one picture and clipped in the other.  Heather is now retired so clipping her is easier on both of us as her coat is a bit on the soft side.

CLIPPED - I recommend clipping a soft coat if it is your pet.  This is much easier on the dog as the soft coat does mat and does hurt the dog when pulled or stripped.  If your dog is hard coated it can also be clipped.  It will make the coat a bit softer, but never fuzzy.  I use a #7 blade on the body in the winter and an 8 1/2 blade in the summer.  I use either a #10 or #15 blade on the head and stomach.  Also to clean the space between the tail and either the vulva or the testicles.  BEING VERY CAREFUL WITH NOT CLIPPING TO CLOSE ON THE TESTICLES.  I do clip the vulva.  I use straight scissors on the legs.  I fluffy them out when they are clean and trim as you would a poodle or terrier leg.  I also scissor with either thinning shears or straight edge scissors the underline of the dog.

MARS STRIPPER - There is now another option.  There is a tool that you can purchase that is called Mars Coat-King.  I find it very useful on the dogs in the kennel with hard coats that I don't want to clip.  I use it to get the bulk out of the coat and then finish off the dog with a stripping knife.  It has interchangeable blades that can be ordered.  They are sized by the number of teeth on the blade.  I use the one with 20 teeth as I only do the bodies.  I DO NOT USE THIS ON A SHOW COAT AS IT DOES CUT THE COAT TO SOME DEGREE.

Mars Coat-King

EXAMPLES OF THE SAME DOG STRIPPED OR CLIPPED

Heather Stripped

Heather Clipped

I hope this bit of information helps some in your grooming of your Wirehaired Dachshund.  Feel free to download the groom chart and print it out for your personal use.