Starting at about 5 months of age, the coat of Welsh Terrier  is hand- or knife-stripped every three months. Clipping will destroy the joyous color, though this procedure may be sought by pet owners requiring a cheaper grooming bill and for older dogs and those unable to sustain long hours of grooming.

The black-and-tan coat is wiry, tight, close and abundant. The top or guard coat is rough and wiry, and the undercoat is fairly soft. A single coat is undesirable. 

Grooming Process

Equipment needed: Two stripping knives (coarse and fine), scissors, thinning scissors, terrier pad, and a coarse- and fine-toothed comb.

Breed tip: The Welsh Terrier should look tailored and smart, yet natural.

• Using a terrier pad or pin-pad brush, work through the entire coat to remove tangles and any debris that may remain from the dog’s exciting walks and investigations.
• Comb the jacket with a fine, metal comb. Use a coarser comb for whiskers and longer hair.
• Strip (with a fine knife) the head, neck, front and shoulder. Working from the middle of the eye to retain the eyebrows, strip backwards to the point of the neck, and down from the inner corner of the eye to the edge of the mouth, backwards to the throat.
• The eyebrows should preferably be trimmed with finger and thumb. They are left over the eyes but are not scissored off to a sharp edge like Schnauzer brows. The eyebrows create the mean look desired. Hair is not removed under the eye. The face should not look scooped out or trumpet-like.
• Closely trim the ears with a stripper or thinning scissors. Neaten the edges with scissors.
• Hand-strip down the neck and over the shoulder to the elbow point, leaving a fringe of hair at the lower chest and along underneath the rib cage, which is trimmed with scissors to accentuate the outline.
• A coarser knife is used to strip the body down to the base of the tail and over the dog’s hip joints.
• Strip the tail with the growth of the hair, leaving the hair moderately long on the black side of the tail, and short on the tan side. The tail should not be left looking “whippy”.
• Strip the legs to blend in or use thinning scissors or shears to carefully shape with the contours. This dog should look tailored and smart, yet natural.
• The Welsh Terrier is not frequently bathed. However, pet owners may like to bathe the dog when it becomes necessary, using a mild, natural shampoo to enhance the texture, then cage-, air- or gently blow-dry.
• Tidy loose hairs and shorten the beard to face forward, and tidy the eyebrows with thinning shears. The eyebrows are not left long, as in the Schnauzer‘s case.
• Check the Welsh Terrier’s nails, ears and teeth, being careful to remove hair from the inside of the ear, using ear powder first to loosen the hair.
• Scissor the hair between the foot pads.
• With the pet dog, it is a good idea to clip a 2-inch (5 cm) line from the genitals to the chest to keep this area clean and hygienic. The genitals are also clipped short for the same reason. The best blade is an Oster No. 10, as this will not shave so close as to make the skin sore, but will be short enough to keep the whole area clean.
• Note: the use of chalk aids stripping. A good pointer is to mark the area requiring stripping with a chalk outline. If a trimming tool is used for stripping, it should be a blunt, dull, serrated-edged tool so as not to cut the throat. As with all terrier breeds, read the breed standard, and contact an expert in the breed or the breed club to be sure any trimming does not breach kennel club rules.