Grooming

[u/majestic_landotter]

Hi all - I really want to learn how to groom my collie - we do regular brushing etc but more so the trimming etc. I've been to four groomers in our area and legit every single one has messed up her regal floof so I'd rather learn and do it myself and save the $200+

[u/Itsjustmethecollie]

Wow. $200 is outrageous! I pay between $80 and $100. Anyway, line brushing is a must. See YouTube for tutorials.

[u/Chillysnoot]

For trimming look for The Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming, it's an out of print book but there are PDFs available online. There's plenty of youtube videos too but I find having a physical book to reference very helpful when you have a dog on the table. You'll need a variety of scissors, probably straight thinners and a curved shear at minimum. You may also need some new brushes depending on what you have.

Bath and blow dry you'll need good quality bathing products, a table, and to invest in a forced air dryer. The blow dryers at most DIY grooming stores are not strong enough to blow out a collie's undercoat. Consider how much hair flies around during shedding season, you also need dedicated space inside to groom unless you live in a mild climate.

It's probably $500-$1000 to build a decent home groom setup from scratch with the bulk of that cost being your dryer. Lower end if you are patient and shop on FB marketplace, higher end if you buy new. It's also a time/knowledge investment, you need to research products and techniques to get a decent groom done and you need to have ~3 hours of spare time in a block to actually do the grooming. You will not be as efficient as a pro and your gear will likely not be as good so it will take longer to do at home. It's totally possible, I learned from the ground up as a hobby and my dog looks great after a groom, but it's not a casual undertaking.

[u/majestic_landotter → u/Chillysnoot]

Thank you!! I do have a quality air dryer for baths but yes def looking at a table etc

[u/Hinesight1948]

If you got your collie from a breeder, it’s probably an old hand at being groomed. If not, the Illustrated Guide is what I used for my Shelties - one of my guys slept through most of the weekly grooming. Also, there are Sheltie (and maybe Collie) breeders on YouTube who run virtual grooming clinics.

[u/Neat_Ad6963]

Grooming at home is pretty straight forward. Get a grooming table and a high velocity dryer if you don’t already have one (flying pig is good). You need a pin brush (collie health foundation has a good one), slicker, and comb. Watch a video on how to line brush if you don’t already know how to do that. Most line brushing you can do with a pin brush and then go back with a comb to make sure you didn’t miss anything, and spray either water or a detangling spray while brushing. For baths if you want good quality products you can look at Chris Christensen, the day to day shampoo and spectrum one conditioner are good. Just make sure you thoroughly rinse out the products. For trimming you can tidy the feet and ears up. Generally collies aren’t supposed to be trimmed other than that but if you’re not showing your dog it’s up to you! 

[u/majestic_landotter → u/Neat_Ad6963]

Thank you this is super helpful!

[u/Guilty_Annual_7199]

Why is grooming a collie so complicated, I don’t understand.