There are two main reasons for clipping dogs while wet: Greater ease of clipping, and to save more length. The clipper blades seem to go through wet coat doubly fast, and a much longer blade will do the job. A side benefit is that the clipper blades do not heat. The downside would be that the blades goop up with wet hair.
CASE ONE: Annabelle the Old English Sheepdog.
Poor Annabelle is not doing too well. Her heart and will are strong, but her rear quarters are giving out. I took one look and knew we had to strip her. She was badly matted. The owner agreed to a strip down and asked that I save what I could. I decided to wet clip.
I bathed with EZ Groom Crystal White, conditioned with Chris Christensen After Bath diluted through the Bathing Beauty bathing system with extra Ice on Ice added to the conditioner, toweled and lightly HV'd to lift the mats from the skin. I used a 4F blade on my Andis Super Two Speed clippers. Clipper power is important to clipping badly matted coats, whether or not the hair is wet. Although I have been trained to NEVER force clippers through hair, I will admit that I was forcing the blade through the matted stuff on the legs. You can see how the coat was "peeling". On a dry coat, you would not be able to do this with a #4 blade, as it would just jam.
Although I worked with the growth of the coat on the front of the leg, on the inside it was too tight and I ended up getting it from the side. You can see how bad that was... it came off in a huge piece.
Tip One: Brush your blades frequently as you clip. The wet hair builds up.
Tip Two: If you run into an area that where you can't seem to clip, spray with water at the skin and try again. Sometimes the hair dries too much.
Here's the back leg, it was bad too.
Here she is after the clipping.
Annabelle is barking. She "talks" to us the whole time she's in the shop. The clipper work took 25 minutes. She then pen dried and was finished, using a #3 3/4 blade. When wet clipping, not only can you get a longer blade through a matted coat, but you can usually finish with a size longer than you use to rough out. Here is Annabelle finished:
CASE TWO: Picacho the Maltese
I forgot the "before" pic for Picacho, so let's look at one I took in December, but ran out of time and didn't get an "after".
This time he was this dirty and twice as tangled. Picacho has been on a medication for Valley Fever for several months and it's had a terrible effect on his coat, making it coarse, dry and just generally awful. He's always been a dirt bag, but now its disgusting. In December I was able to brush him out. Oh yes, he wears a harness 24/7. This time he was so matted, I couldn't comb it out. The ears were bad, too.
We went right into the tub and began a wet clip. I used a #3 3/4 blade. He was not as tightly matted as the OESD above.
The electrical strip you see in the background is NOT where I have the clippers plugged in. I use the GFCI box that came with my Bathing Beauty recirculating system. There's an extra outlet in there where I can plug in the clippers and be protected from shocking around water. You can get one at an electrical supply. I haven't been electrocuted yet!
After clipping, I dried Picacho in a wire crate with fans. You don't want any more table time than absolutely necessary with this little guy. He is what we might "a pistol." Or maybe we could just say he's "intense." Clue: He has not been neutered. Every minute with this dog is stressful. Nothing is lost and sanity is maintained by cage drying him.
Check out the end result!
I've been grooming this dog for at least five years, and this is maybe my favorite groom. I finished with the #3 3/4 blade skimmed over the topline and then scissored the legs, face and ears. Personally I think that this style reflects the dog's personality better than the full look. The owner was not unhappy. Gosh, when I said "clip", he was thinking "pinkie clip", the "marine look" etc. etc. Look at all that length we have. I hope we can keep this trim!
I love wet clipping, it extends my options. Get a GFCI box and give it a try!
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