Pet hair clippers for dogs: quick buying guide

Dog grooming is one of the staples of pet ownership in that you have to do it regardless of whether you and your dog like it or not. Making regular trips to a professional pet groomer can get expensive fast, so doing your grooming at home is often the practical way to go. You can purchase a set of good dog clippers from a local pet store, Amazon or any other online retailer and this short buying guide on pet hair clippers for dogs will help you select the right pair for your canine’s grooming needs.

Which pet hair clippers for dogs you’re going to buy will depend on several factors relating to both your pet and the grooming clippers themselves. Electric dog clippers made specifically for trimming dog hair are available in either rechargeable or plug-in models. Clippers’ blade sizes customize the grooming to fit specific breed’s individual coats, and all clippers come with snap-on guide combs that keep the trim even across your dog’s entire body.

Quick note: Rechargeable clippers are nice because they are cordless, but if you have a large dog you may run out of battery before you’re finished cutting his hair.

Be sure to buy pet hair clippers that are specifically made for dog fur.

Some people think that human clippers will work on dogs, and they will, but they are not made for fur and will end pulling your dog’s hair (sometimes painfully) and go dull much faster than clippers designed to handle pet fur. Knowing how you will use the clippers and how often you plan to use them will help to narrow down your search as well.

If you still intend on taking your dog to a professional grooming salon for a full haircut and the only reason you’re considering pet hair clippers for dogs is to trim around their face and paws in between visits, you will likely be able to get away with an inexpensive pair. However, if your goal is to maintain all your dogs’ grooming needs at home, you will want to spend a little more to get a better quality set of dog clippers.

Regular pet grooming procedures are a necessity for all dog owners and cannot be avoided if you care about your pooch’s health. Today, there’s a lot of high-grade dog clippers available for an affordable price, and most of them will do the job extremely well and last for a long time. Ultimately, you do save a lot of money if you can afford to invest in a set of best pet hair clippers for dogs in the very beginner.

Pet Hair Clippers for Dogs: Quick Buying Guide

Your dog’s coat type is the first thing you need to consider when you’re browsing through all the available options. How unruly a condition his fur gets into is a factor in deciding how to choose the most appropriate grooming clippers. You’re likely going to be using them every four to eight weeks for heavy grooming needs, and possibly once every week or two for trimming. Observe how tangled, matted and long the fur gets in those longer spans of time.

If you’re planning to shave your matted dog or do anything extremely drastic, you should take him to a professional dog groomer in order to avoid any mishaps or unnecessary pain for your pet. You can also get tips and learn how to better groom your canine from your groomer.

The length and thickness of your furry friend’s coat can help guide your purchase. If your dog has hair that is difficult to maintain, you will want heavy duty clippers. Difficult to maintain hair includes hair that gets matted, knotted or tangled in any way, thus preventing grooming from being straightforward and smooth.

After ascertaining the condition of your dog’s hair, you should check on whether or not he has a naturally simple coat to groom.

Animal coats that are simple to maintain are typically short. Hair that grows long and continuously will require more maintenance.

Top 5 best selling pet hair clippers on Amazon:

1. Wahl 9484-300 U-Clip Deluxe Pro Home Pet Grooming Kit
2. Wahl 9281-210 Pet-pro Kit 13 Piece Pet Grooming Kit
3. Wahl 9590-210 Pro-series Complete Pet Clipper Kit
4. Oster A5 Turbo 2-Speed Professional Animal Clipper
5. Wahl 9284 Pet-pro Combo Kit 17 Piece Pet Grooming Kit

* The above top 5 picks for best selling pet hair clippers for dogs are based on Amazon’s Best Seller rankings [June, 2015].

Pet Clipper Blades and Guards

Regardless of whether the hair grows curly, wavy or straight, you will need to purchase pet hair clippers for dogs with changeable blades so that they can adjust to different areas of your Fido’s coat.

Most animal clippers come with only one blade, so if you need to purchase additional blades be aware that they are usually sorted by numbers (same as with human clippers). The lower the number, the less hair you’ll be cutting. So, if you have a long-haired dog whose hair you want to leave long, you’ll want to select a blade with a lower number on it.

The numbering system for pet hair clippers depends on the brand of your choosing, though all of them are pretty straightforward. Most also come with instructions and additional information on the packaging that will explain the lengths of each blade and what type of fur it is best suited for.

Some clippers for pet hair come with plastic guards that slide over the blade to save you from changing the blade length all the time. These guards are numbered in the same way that the clipper blades are. The lower the number, the less hair you’ll be cutting.

Types of Clipper Blades

The number of the blade is not the only thing you should consider when purchasing a set of pet hair clippers for dogs. The cut of the blade is also important, as that is the factor that will best suit the natural shape of your pooch’s coat.

If your dog’s coat is naturally short, choose a blade type that will go with that short cut and won’t make any drastic changes. Again, you will be able to find all this information on the packaging of the clippers.

Clipping your dog’s hair is about maintenance, not about making a huge style change. There are different categories of pet hair clipper blades that should also be mentioned in this buying guide. These categories usually include:

1. Wide blades (also known as T-blades)
2. Finish cut blades
3. Skip tooth blades

1Wide clipper blades are good for larger dog breeds because the blades and the clippers themselves are larger. The wider the blade, the more hair it takes off with every pass. By using this size for a bigger dog, you cut down on the time needed to groom him. Likewise, if you have a smaller dog you will want to use a more narrow set of pet hair clippers.

2Skip tooth blades are good for cutting through hair that is dense or matted and are often used before bath time. However, you don’t want to use a skip tooth blade on wet dog fur, because it will be more apt to pull the fur and cause your dog pain and discomfort.

3Finishing blades, on the other hand, are used after bathing to complete the haircut. If you have a dog that has a continuously growing coat, it’s important to be able to switch between pet clipper blade types for each grooming session. The type of coat that your dog has will dictate how many clipper blades you will need and which types you will require.

Top 5 best selling pet clipper replacement blades:

1. Andis Pet #10 CeramicEdge Blade Set
2. Oster CryogenX Professional Animal Clipper Blade
3. 1037-400 Standard Adjustable Replacement Blade Set
4. Andis #7 Skip Tooth Clipper Blade (#64080)
5. Andis Pet Pet Clipper Blade

* The above top 5 picks for best selling pet hair clipper replacements are based on Amazon’s Best Seller rankings [June, 2015].

Most comfortable pet hair clippers for YOU?

Finally, when selecting the best set of pet hair clippers for dogs, no less important is to be mindful of how they feel in your hand.

You want your dog clippers to feel weighty, but not too heavy. You need to feel like you have a solid, comfortable grip on the tool and feel confident with it. Clippers that are ergonomically unsound or that don’t feel well in your hand could cause you to drop them or have you struggle in handling them, which could lead to your and/or your dog being injured.

Find set of ergonomic dog clippers that won’t cause arm, wrist or elbow strain. You can browse local pet stores for that. Take the clippers out of the package and hold them for a bit before you purchase them. Lift the clippers to check the weight. They should be heavy enough for you to feel and control properly, but not so heavy that they make your hand feel tired, sore or cramped.

One tip we must mention in this dog clippers buying guide is that you should test out a pair of pet hair clippers by holding them like you would a pen, but with the blade pointing downward. If you’re not comfortable holding the clippers in that position, then it isn’t the right set of clippers for you.

A few more tips to consider before you purchase a set of pet hair clippers…

1Choose clippers that not only conform to your pet’s coat condition and actual coat type, but that also have a high clipping speed. You want to be sure that the clippers will keep up with the cutting and not get stuck in your pet’s thick fur. Not only will this slow you down, but it will pull your dog’s fur and cause them pain.

Video: Best Dog Clippers

2Paying attention to the actual make and structural integrity of potential pet hair clippers is never a bad idea, especially since this is probably going to be the most important investment in your array of grooming tools.

3As for the actual make of the dog clippers, check to see that you don’t have to do a lot of internal maintenance (oiling the parts, taking it apart and so on). If you’re only going to be using them once every month or so, you don’t want to have to sink large amounts of your time into rebuilding and re-configuring the clippers for your dog every single time.

4Make sure that the motor on the electric clippers is powerful and runs smoothly yet quietly. A loud, roaring noise could scare your dog and make him very averse to grooming time in the future. Similarly, the unit that it runs on should be self-cooling and shouldn’t rely on fans or vents that will make more noise and be prone to being clogged or overheating. A good set of truly silent dog clippers is always a decent start.

When purchasing clippers, consider the same things that you would when buying any other item: quality and longevity for the purchase in question. Buying dog clippers is all about knowing your canine and his coat type. If you feel as though you’re unsure what to buy or that you’re a little confused as to where to get started, don’t be afraid to go to a professional dog groomer and ask for a little guidance.

As I mentioned before, you will be able to find much of the information that you need right on the dog clippers’ packaging and you should be sure to try them out in the pet store before you purchase them (online retailers will almost always have them for a cheaper price). Consulting with your veterinarian or a professional pet groomer in a salon before you make your decision is not a bad idea either. The more information you have, the better your final decision will be. Happy pet grooming!

Feature photo courtesy of Andis via Amazon