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Marci Wanta is a talented and passionate competition groomer and salon owner from Wisconsin. One of her specialties is the Bedlington Terrier trim.

In this step-by-step tutorial, Marci guides you through the proper Bedlington trim with the help of her beloved dog, Leonard.

This tutorial is dedicated to Leonard—gone but never forgotten.

The Bedlington Terrier originated in England. They were bred to hunt otters, badgers and other game in rough terrain. It is a strong, but flexible breed with similarities to sighthounds. The Bedlington Terrier is described as graceful, lithe and well-balanced with no signs of coarseness, weakness or shelliness.

Before you understand the haircut, you have to understand the structure of the dog underneath. Let’s start with the coat, as described in the standard. The coat is “a very distinctive mixture of hard and soft hair standing well out from the skin. Crisp to the touch but not wiry…(it) must not exceed 1 inch on body; hair on legs is slightly longer.” The trim should not have excessive hair. Your goal in grooming a Bedlington should be to show off and compliment the dog beneath the hair, not just the haircut itself. Overall, the dog should be slightly longer than tall. The shoulders should be flat and sloping. There is a slight rise over the loin, it is not extreme. The rise over the loin will be the longest hair on the body, not longer than an inch. The topline and underline parallel each other. They are slab-sided, but have sufficient lung/heart space. The distance from the withers to the elbow and elbow to the ground should be equal. There is a slight bend in the pastern and the hocks are well let down. This does not fully describe the Bedlington Terrier, but it is a starting point for understanding the key aspects of the profile. Then you can build on them to have a more complete understanding of the breed.

To execute a stunning trim, we need to start with stellar prep. Using a whitening shampoo in the bath, like the Petology Vibrant Whitening Shampoo, can help with any staining and brighten the coat. Be thorough during the bath. Don’t forget to scrub between the toes and remove any eye gunk with a flea comb. After a quick rinse, follow up with a second shampoo. The Coat Handler Clarifying Shampoo is a great option to remove any leftover buildup and leave you with a good canvas for the rest of your prep. No conditioner on a haircut day! Rinse thoroughly. Don’t forget to clean their ears. My go-to is the Bark2Basics Ear Cleaner. After a quick towel dry, add some volumizing mousse, like the Artero Zoom Mousse, to the legs. Use your velocity dryer to dry the coat until it’s about 90% dry. Be sure to pay close attention to the short areas just as much as the long areas. I especially like to focus on the hair around the toes. Straight hair will set you up for success later when you’re trimming. Once the coat is 90% dry, mist it with a spray like Davis Fluff Out. Grab your stand dryer or hot dryer and a trusty flat-backed, short-pinned slicker brush, like the SureGrip Flat Slicker, and start fluffing. Work little by little brushing the coat with heat to stretch and straighten the hair. Don’t forget the tassels or the shorter hairs. We want those areas to be straight and stand up off the skin too. After your dog is fluffed, it's time to comb! This is where static can really build up. Using the Bark2Basics Anti-Stat Spray can help curb that static. Try spraying it a little further away or above the dog to prevent wetting the coat too much. Using the Kenchii Flash 5, complete a typical sanitary trim up to the navel and trim the paw pads paying close attention to the outside edges of the pads, which will begin to layer and bevel the hair on the feet. Once your pup is fully prepped, you’re ready to start the haircut!

Now that we have a basic understanding of the overall shape, let’s cover the order of the groom. I start with the shave outs. The shave outs are typically done with a 40 blade. In this tutorial, I used the Joyzze Falcon Cordless Clipper. The entire tail is shaved except for the top third. This top portion is left in a “V” shape. The pattern lines on the face are as follows: from the corner of the mouth, to the corner of the eye, to the top of the ear, follow back around the ear, meeting in a “U” or “V” shape two to three fingers above the prosternum (a.k.a. the chest bone). Everything in between these points, including the entire bottom jaw and the lips (just under the nose), is shaved. A small tassel is left on the ear in an inverted “V” shape, covering about the bottom inch of the ear at the highest point. The same shape of the tassel should be replicated on the inside of the ear as well. Congrats! You finished the shave outs!

Next we will set the length on the shoulders with a 5 or 7 blade. Start from under the ear, clipping down and back towards the elbow, skimming off at the widest point of the shoulder muscle just before it dips in. Make sure to not dig into the back of the neck. Continue clipping, skimming straight down, around to the chest shaping a straight front. Next use the 7 blade to set in the rear. Starting at the ischium, or pin bone, clip down skimming off at the hock. Bedlington Terriers have a well let down hock, meaning it is short. You do not want to leave fill on the back of the leg under the bend of knee like you would on a poodle. The back of the leg should be tight, or short, to expose the rear angulation of the dog.  

Now that the front and rear of the dog are set in, let’s set the dip in the topline and the tuck-up in the underline. The dip in the topline should be approximately one inch behind the withers and be in line with the elbow. Insert the 7 blade at this point and make a small scoop, just enough to set the dip. The tuck-up should mirror where the rise over the loin is. The loin is the area between the rib cage and the croup. Use a pair of shears to notch in the highest point of the tuck-up. Proportionally, the dip in the tipline is at the ⅓ line of the dog; the rise over the loin/highest point of the tuck-up is at the ⅔ line of the dog. Now set the other corresponding points: the lowest point of the underline at the depth of chest and the highest point of the topline is over the loin. As stated above, the distance from the withers to the elbow and the elbow to the foot should be equal. On a well built dog, you should be able to set the lowest point on the underline by trimming off any hair from the rib cage that hangs past the elbow of the dog. If the previously mentioned distances are not equal on your dog, this is a chance to groom correctively. Trim the lowest point of the underline so that it appears that the distances are equal. When setting the rise over the loin, remember that the hair on the body should not exceed one inch. The highest point of the topline will be the longest hair on the body. Trim straight over this point to set it. If you are not familiar with the dog you are grooming, you may choose to set in the tuck-up after you have set the rise over the loin, to accommodate for any corrective grooming you may need to do. Now we will connect the dots!

Use a pair of straight shears to scissor from the highest point of the topline to the dip. Mimic this line on the underline from your tuck-up to the lowest point of your underline. Remember, the topline and underline run parallel to each other. Opposed to the Poodle’s well-sprung ribs, the Bedlington is slab-sided, or flat-ribbed. Using the length you set on the shoulder as a guide, scissor straight back from the shoulder to the end of the rib cage. At the loin, slightly scissor in to create a slight waist definition. Gently taper from the rib cage into the topline you set. Then gently taper from the bottom of the rib cage into the underline. Think of it as wrapping underneath the dog.

Next, we will set in the feet, our next “dots.” Then we can connect our body, legs, and feet. Bedlingtons have hare feet, which are more oval in shape than round. Scissor tight around the shape of the foot from the underside. With the foot flat on the table, scissor around it making sure not to pinch the foot at the toes. It is acceptable to expose nails on this breed. To begin shaping the legs, scissor down from the shoulder meeting with the foot. We clipped straight down off the chest earlier. To trim the front of the front leg, start at the prosternum and scissor down and slightly back to show off the return of upper arm, then down into the front of the leg aiming for the tip of the toes. This should not be extreme, but enough to show that the leg is under the dog. When viewed from the front, Bedlingtons should have a keyhole between their front legs. If you were to stack a wet dog, you would see that the space in between their front legs at the elbow is about 3 fingers wide. They stand with their feet close together, creating this keyhole shape that tapers down. This part of their structure is mimicked in the trim. To set the top of the keyhole, insert your straight shears in between the front legs at the height of the elbow, where the brisket follows through to the chest, and notch in the continuation of the underline. Now that you have the top of your keyhole set in, continue to scissor column legs when viewed from the front. Leave the back of the leg alone for now. With the dog stacked correctly, you should see that keyhole shape. 

Next, let’s tackle the back legs! Viewed from the back, the back legs should slope down from the topline in an inverted “U” shape. While Bedlingtons stand with their front feet together, they stand with their back legs wider apart. Follow the transition, from the rib cage into the topline, back over the loin and blend into the rear. Scissor from the ischium, or point of rear, meeting with the highest point of the topline, showing off a well angled croup. Follow this line scissoring over the tail to match on the other side. After you have set in the area right over the hips, connect your dots and scissor down to the foot. Scissor the inside of the back legs, making sure the legs form parallel lines. The Bedlington’s hock is well let down, or short. You may leave the hair on the hock longer so that it falls lower, then scissor straight down, to give the illusion of a shorter hock. For the front of the back leg. Scissor straight down from the tuck up. To show off a well angulated stifle, or knee, imagine a line from the withers to the back of the back paw pad. Scissor along this line, but do not cross past the toes. From the toes to where the above line stops, scissor straight up. To break it up, you have three “sections” of the leg (viewed from the side): straight(the section including the upper thigh), angled(the section including the second thigh), straight(the section including the hock). To scissor the back of the front leg, scissor down from the elbow. Once you reach the pasterns, slightly angle in towards the back of the paw pads, to show off the slight bend to the pasterns. I leave the back of the front leg and the front of the back leg for last so I can make sure my dog is balanced properly. The legs should be approximately the same width. If I need to make my dog look longer, I will trim more hair off these areas. If the dog needs to appear shorter in length, I will leave more hair there. Whew! We are done with the body of the dog. Next, we will tackle the neck and head. 

The head is a crucial aspect of a Bedlington Terrier, both structurally and for grooming. From the front, the head should appear parallel, equal in distance at the mouth, eyes, and all the way back to the highest point above the occiput. You’ve done a lot of the work on the head just by setting in your shave outs. Follow the pattern lines of your shave outs, trimming off anything that hangs over them. From the profile, the head can be described as the shape of a banana, appearing long, mostly straight with a slight curve and only significantly curving right at the occiput before narrowing down the neck. The back of the neck is wedge-shaped. The tip of the wedge follows through to the dip you set in on the topline.

Congratulations! You’ve completed a Bedlington Terrier trim!