Dog Grooming Terminology: Essential Terms to Know | MoeGo

Confused by grooming terms? Our easy dog grooming terminology guide explains essential grooming terms, helping you quickly learn and build confidence.

Dog Grooming Terminology: A Guide to Terms Every Pet Grooming Professional Should Know

When you sit down in the barber’s chair and they ask, “What are we doing today?” there are some generally agreed-upon terms that you both know. You’ll likely know if you want a clipper cut or a scissor cut. You probably either want layers or want to avoid them at all costs. The same goes for specific cuts — many have names that convey what they look like in just a phrase. A crew cut is a recognizable one: most members of the U.S. military sport it. In the 90s and early 2000s, the “Rachel” meant face-framing layers that mimicked Jennifer Aniston’s television style. 

The same is true for dog grooming terminology. There are breed-specific cuts, specialized techniques, and a million-and-one different ways to style a dog’s coat. Many owners will know what they want right away, and others will need a little help in deciding on the right services, cut, and style for their pup that will work with their dog’s coat and lifestyle. 

Why Understanding Dog Grooming Terms Matters

Dog grooming terminology matters because you need to be able to accurately communicate with a pet owner what their preferred haircut and maintenance level is. As a dog grooming professional, you’ll need to work with your clients to identify the style they like and that they can maintain in-between appointments. 

Grooming terminology can vary from person to person and professional to professional, so making sure that you, as a grooming professional, are on the same page as the dog owner is incredibly important. You can encourage your clients to bring in some example photos of cuts that they like, modeled on their breed of dog, and you can also use a comprehensive visual guide to help them make their decision, like this Pet Styling Guide from MoeGo user Cloud Grooming. 

Common Haircut & Style Terms

Here are some common grooming terms and what they generally mean: 

• All-Over Trim (AO or AOT): A full trim up from tip to tail, to the owner’s preferred length.
• Face/Feet/Fanny (FFF): When a dog needs a touch-up between regular grooms, a Face/Feet/Fanny cut gets the hair out of the dog’s face, off its feet, and away from its private areas so that they can see, track in less mud, and use the bathroom with less mess.
• Clean Face: The hair on a dog’s face — including eyes and muzzle — is trimmed neat and clean.
• Clean Feet: The hair on the feet and in between the toes is trimmed up tight to keep them neat and clean.
• Conditioning: Special moisturizers and detanglers are applied to help soften the coat and/or nourish the skin. A moisturizing treatment can help keep the coat easier to maintain in-between grooming appointments as well.
• Dandruff: Just like humans, dogs can have dandruff, too. This varies by breed and age, as well as hormonal changes.
• Nail Clip: A dog grooming professional trims the nails short, without cutting into the sensitive “quick”, the soft tissue embedded in the nail close to the foot.
• Nail Grind: A pet salon professional may prefer to use a file or rotary grinder to shorten and shape the nails.
• Round Feet: When the hair on the feet is trimmed to make the feet appear round. This is different from Beveled Feet (where the hair is beveled from a higher point above the foot down toward the foot) or Cat Feet (where the maximum amount of hair is removed to resemble the feet of a short-haired cat). 

• Anal Gland Expression: A dog grooming professional will “express” or squeeze a dog’s anal glands to remove any buildup that hasn’t occurred on its own.

Just as there are grooming terms, there are also dog grooming style definitions to know: 

• Kennel Cut: An overall short cut that keeps a dog’s coat easy to maintain. 
• Lion Cut: When a dog or cat is clipped close or shaved all over except on their neck and head. The final product resembles that of a lion’s mane. 
• Puppy Cut: This is one of those dog grooming words where it’s used to mean more than one thing to different people. Generally, it means trimming a dog’s hair to all one length, helping them to be fluffy and to resemble a younger dog whose coat hasn’t grown out in breed-specific places. However, this term has become so ubiquitous that it has lost its meaning in many circles. Before giving a Puppy Cut to a client who is requesting it, make sure to describe what you, as a dog grooming pro, mean when you say Puppy Cut and confirm that this is the style they want. 

• Teddy Bear Face: This cut trims close to the eyes but leaves the hair on the head in a round, fluffy ball to resemble the most cuddly of Teddy Bears.

Breed-Specific and Professional Grooming Terms

Want to get even more specific with your dog grooming definitions? Let’s talk breed-specific cuts: 

• Beard: Schnauzers and Terriers often keep their breed-specific “beards” — the longer, shaggy hair at the end of their muzzle.
• Bobbed Tail: Some breed standards involve docking or removing a dog’s tail as a puppy.
• Cocker Cut: This breed-specific cut highlights the natural wavy hair of a Cocker Spaniel, where the coat is left long on the ears, chest, legs, and belly, but clipped short everywhere else.
• Poodle Cut: Clearly breed-specific, this cut for Poodles and some Doodle breeds follows breed standards to shape and style the dog’s hair close to the body but more full and fluffier on the head, ankles, and tail. 

• Schnauzer Cut: A distinctive cut where the coat is hand stripped to remove dead hair, leaving the classic bushy “beard” and fluffy eyebrows behind.

One advantage of a pet grooming software is that a pet salon can showcase breed-specific cuts in the gallery of the digital storefront, so that owners can see what they look like and select them during the online booking process. This helps the salon owner know that the correct amount of time will be reserved for a breed-specific dog grooming appointment. 

Dog Coat Terminology

From the soft coat of a cuddly Doodle to the wiry, water-repellent coat of a hunting dog, a dog’s coat plays a big role in what grooming might look like: 

• Double Coat: Many dog breeds have a double coat. This means they have a soft, insulating undercoat covered by a protective top coat. These dogs can take longer to brush out and clip, which should result in larger grooming bills. Huskies, shepherds, and other cold-weather or working dogs often sport these double coats. 
• Single Coat: Dogs that have only one coat, often shorter-haired dogs or dogs originating in warmer climates. 
• Wire Coat: A breed-specific coat that many schnauzers, terriers, and other water dogs may have. 
• Corded Coat: Very breed-specific and much more rare, where the coat grows in long clumps that look like cords instead of individual strands.

Grooming Process Terms to Explain to Clients

After a dog is bathed, it’s time for the styling part of the grooming appointment. Here are some common dog grooming terms that you may need to communicate to dog owners: 

• Clipper Cut: Depending on the coat type and style desired, a dog grooming professional may use clippers to uniformly clip the coat all over or in specific places. 
• Scissoring: Scissoring is done for specific cuts, and in specific places as well, helping to feather the longer hair into specific shapes around the dogs legs, ears, and tail, often. 
• Dematting: When a dog’s coat is very matted, dematting can be done with combs, special brushes, and even scissors or clippers if the case is unsalvageable. 
• Carding: A special process where a dog grooming professional uses a stripping knife or carding knife to remove dead hair from a dog’s undercoat. Some grooming salons may also use the term mucking to describe this process. 
• Flea Bath or Flea Dip: Using specialized shampoos or other products designed to kill and remove fleas, a dog grooming professional can recommend treatments to keep them from coming back.

Final Tips for Communicating with Pet Owners as a Dog Grooming Professional

Especially with a first-time appointment with a new client or a new dog of a current client, you, as the groomer, will want to get very specific about what the goals of the dog owner are and how to accomplish them. Make sure to schedule extra time for a first appointment so you can ask follow-up questions, demonstrate techniques, and clarify what kind of maintenance will be required for a specific cut requested. The less rushed you feel to get the owner-communication part out of the way, the better service you will be able to provide, and the more likely the pet owner will return for a follow-up groom. 

If a pet owner is unhappy with a cut, take the time to find out what they are specifically unhappy with, and make suggestions for their next appointment to address those concerns. Be sure to note what you’ve discussed in their profile in your pet business software so that the same mistake doesn’t happen again. 

One of the many advantages to a dog grooming professional using a pet business software like MoeGo, is that once your pet owners have a favorite cut, you can save those preferences as pet codes and keep coming back to their notes with each visit, ensuring each pup gets the perfect cut each time.