Dog fans who know the Bedlington Terrier are aware that there is a breed that looks like a sheep. Although it resembles a sheep, there are still huge differences in appearance. Today we will guide you to “tidy up” this dog dressed in sheep's clothing.

Grooming its head is our first key point. How to cut a show-quality Bedlington Terrier hairstyle will satisfy you immediately. The second key point is grooming the Bedlington Terrier's back. Those familiar with this breed know it is a “hunchback.” To what extent it should be groomed into a “hunchback,” please read on. Besides sharing this core secret, we also offer you an extra tip: when this breed stands naturally, the distance between the front legs at the chest is greater than at the feet (a structural highlight, also a great test of your grooming skills).

Victory Double V

Everyone knows the steps in grooming, right? Of course, start by shaving the hair on the soles and genital area clean. Next, prepare for our first key point: shave the base of the ears clean, then use clippers to shape the ear contours completely. At the tip of the ears, be sure to shave into an inverted “V” shape, leaving some long hair.

Then, from the ear base to the eye corner, shave a parallel line, and from the eye corner to the mouth corner, shave a slanting line. Shave the lower jaw hair forward, following the rule of not exposing the mouth corners. Next, shave a “V” shaped collar on the neck, from below the ear base to about 2 cm below the larynx, shave a straight line. The lowest point of the “V” collar should be adjusted according to the dog’s individual characteristics. The shaving steps on the head are now complete.

Crazy Tail

Neither grooming books nor instructors emphasize tail grooming as a priority. Almost the entire tail is bare except for the base. Let the dog stand well on its hind legs, with the hock vertical to the ground, pull the tail down. If it's a male dog, leave space for half of the “testicles,” if female, then cover the private area. Now trim the tail with scissors.

Second Key Point

Not many breeds have head width roughly equal to body width, but the Bedlington Terrier is just such a breed. Its ribs are so flat that unscrupulous dog dealers won’t reveal ignorance on this point.

In grooming, hair on both sides of the body must be trimmed relatively flat, with not much curvature, and smooth continuity on every part, reflecting your scissor skills. Coat length on the body should not be long, about 2.5 cm is fine, or else the flatness we emphasize will not show.

Start trimming from the tail base. Cut the tail base hair short so that when the tail naturally hangs, it connects smoothly with the back line. Use scissors to cut the tail base area and trim two-thirds of the backline so the hip and back lines connect smoothly. Slightly trim below the ischial tuberosity to show the rear limb angle but not exaggerated.

Pull the dog’s hind legs backward by hand, use scissors to round the feet’s perimeter. Then trim the hind legs, shorten and tidy up the coat on the legs. Viewed from behind, the hind leg widths from top to bottom should remain consistent for breed style.

Trim hair from pelvis to knee and then to hind legs, first cut 1/3 of the lower abdominal line, to make a better connection between the lower abdomen and hind legs. Hair at the highest flesh point can be cut shorter.

The hind leg hair doesn’t need to be kept long, equal to body hair is fine. Trim from pelvis to knee according to the dog’s natural curve, with a natural bending angle at the knee.

Trim the hair from knee to hock to rear foot so the lines at knee and hock are parallel.

Emphasis once again:

Side body hair should be trimmed flat, from scapula to femur almost a perfectly flat plane with no bumps. Next, trim other parts of the back line. The Bedlington Terrier has a pronounced arch in the waist, so trim along the dog’s natural back line, making sure the arch is clearly shown. Then trim the connection between back and sides.

Then trim the lower abdominal line. The lower abdominal line can be trimmed a bit exaggerated to show the dog's good chest depth, but it must fit the back line angle. From the side, the back line and lower abdominal line are best as two parallel lines.

Next, smooth the connection between the side and lower abdominal lines, but the angle need not be exaggerated. Finally, near the highest flesh point on the waist, trim a fan-shaped curve.

What character to replace it with? A ship! The Bedlington Terrier’s hairstyle resembles the hull shape of an old European ship. Remember the ship! Let’s start trimming the head.

The trimmed head should look equally wide top to bottom from the front, with two arcs at both ends. The skull area is the widest part of the head. Use scissors along the cheeks to cut the hair growing between the eyes and ear roots, setting the head width, then push this width forward. Use scissors to shorten hair around the shaved area for a natural transition, shaping the sides of the head. The center of the skull is the highest point of the head; from here to the nose tip, viewed from the side, it forms an arc.

Trim off any hair beyond the nose and shape it into an arc. Also, trim the hair around the lips but do not expose the lip line. Shorten the lower jaw hair so that side view shows the jaw integrating with the whole head. Then shape the connection between both sides and the top of the head into an arc. From the head top, trim down the neck and connect it with the back. Trim the hair in front of the eyes evenly.

Use scissors to slightly cut the ear feathers into a slant line to shape the entire ear feather into a diamond shape, then trim off the tip below the diamond neatly.