The biggest feature of Schnauzer grooming is hair plucking.

Many people ask, "Why pluck Schnauzer hair?"

Because plucking preserves the original color of the Schnauzer’s hair roots. Without plucking, the Schnauzer’s back hair color will gradually lighten, even turning into a light silver-white. If your Schnauzer is intended for competition, plucking is mandatory as part of grooming care. Of course, if your Schnauzer is just a household pet and not planning to compete, you can choose regular trimming instead of plucking.

1. The benefits of plucking Schnauzer hair are:

Removing the dog’s aging coat allows new coarse hair to grow in smoothly, covering the dog’s body evenly. After several plucking sessions, when the new coarse hair covers the Schnauzer beautifully, it will make your Schnauzer look more handsome and handsome.

2. Schnauzer requires a 4-week plucking cycle. When plucking, hold the end of the Schnauzer’s hair with your right hand and pull the hair in the direction of growth. The key is the hair must be pulled out by the root, which stimulates the hair follicles to grow thicker coarse hair. The left hand holds the skin on the Schnauzer’s back to prevent resistance from the dog.

In the first week, only pluck the recessed area along the Schnauzer’s back line. In the second week, start from the lower end of the skull, extend to behind the shoulder blades, expanding to the abdomen, back, and thighs. Leave the bony protrusions for another week before plucking them to allow the back hair to grow evenly and make the back line smoother and more streamlined. In the third week, pluck down from the base of the ears to the front legs; the fourth week removes hair on the neck and head.

3. Wait for Schnauzer coarse hair to grow out. After 4-5 weeks of plucking, the fine undercoat grows back first. At this time, patiently remove all the soft undercoat hair, leaving only the coarse hair lying close to the skin. This completes the entire plucking process.

After dealing with the fine new hair, the coarse hair will follow. Therefore, from now on, avoid washing the back hair. Bathe only the dog’s face, legs, and belly. Because regular shampoos will damage the hardness of the coarse hair when combined with water, causing the coarse hair to become soft and loose. If the coarse hair has grown but the Schnauzer’s back hair gets dirty or needs cleaning, use only shampoo designed for coarse hair.

After the coarse hair grows, moderate scraping of the fine hair is necessary before each bath. As fine hair continues to grow, it will push the coarse hair apart and ruin the tight fit of the Schnauzer’s back coat. Therefore, scrapers are needed to remove the fine hair.

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4. If you don’t want to pluck, you can use clippers instead

If the owner doesn’t want to pluck the dog’s hair, you can use electric clippers to trim the back, neck, head, and abdomen. Electric clippers typically come with length guards, allowing you to cut to a preferred length. For Schnauzers that have been plucked, you can use clippers to trim the throat, ears, and abdominal hair.

5. Plucking Schnauzer hair is not very painful When it comes to "plucking Schnauzer hair," many people imagine pulling each hair strand one-by-one on the dog, thinking it is very cruel.

Actually, it isn’t. For Schnauzers (wire-haired breeds), stripping is a routine task. As long as the technique is correct and appropriate, the dog hardly feels pain during stripping.