Border Terrier Hair/Eyes Interface

Looking after my sisters dog for 10 days. 6 month old BT. He’s a bit of a scruffy bugger, nothing excessive, but the hair over his eyes seems like it might be a bit annoying for him.

If I remember from the cairn terrier I had as a kid, perceived wisdom was to leave this hair to protect the eyes or something. Bit of googling suggests this might be a bit of an old wives tale.

So, BT owners, sort his eyes out, or leave it?

…or just take him for a full grooming?

Number 1 all over should be ok.

Bare blade would be better, your sister will thank you for this.

We trim our westies hair around the eyes.

He needs a bit of a groom and tidy. Our BT gets groomed and stripped 3 times a year. She looks better a month in, when the scruff comes back though.

He’s only 6 months old so don’t mess with is coat too much, he may need a small trim around his eye but in all honestly he’s not that bad just now.

Okey dokey. Will just clear the eyes a little bit.

*grabs a sharp knife*

Borders need to be hand stripped (not cut!) to maintain their wirey coat. Otherwise they end up fluffly. As for hair around the eyes, trim it if required!

That’s fine for a BT. Our 7month old hooligan BT looks like that and out previous ones were similar.

Also until they get old. Strip them don’t get the clippers out.

Leave the poor bugger alone!
If you must play with his eyebrows try and fashion them into little divil’s horns. But don’t cut them!

Don’t cut his coat it’s specific to a BT they have two layers & it should only ever be hand stripped. In fact if he was a working dog they don’t even strip them just let the coat shed itself by being outside in & out of the undergrowth.
Never shampoo a BT either they have a waxy waterproof layer on the outside coat that can be lost forever.
If the hairs are too long they will die and be pushed out by new hairs coming through this is how BT shed their coats, you can gently just got hold of them with your fingers and pull them if they are dead.

Never shampoo a BT either they have a waxy waterproof layer on the outside coat that can be lost forever.

Never heard that one.

Yeah ideally just wash em with water but if needs must a mild dog shampoo but never the human stuff, if your BT swims u can see it as the dog gets out of water – ours is mad for a swim :-). It’s not duck like more sort of what Barbour jackets have on them.

This;
“..A Border should never be bathed unless in a dire emergency, like rolling in a cowpat. Most ordinary dirt once it is dry will brush out. The top coat is waterproof and shampoo, even the mildest can remove the oil. Once the oil is removed, the coat will not be water resistant and will pick up dirt far more easily. Far better just to use luke warm water with no shampoo or detergent at all…”

Yeah it goes for a bit but always comes back.