How to trim your dog’s tail at home
Dog’s tails can become filthy and matted, so it’s important you wash, brush and trim them regularly. Dogs with short fur won’t need much care, however dogs with long floofy tails will need regular grooming.
Dog’s tails can be groomed into five different styles; pom-pom, carrot, plume, natural and flag.
You’ll often see Poodles groomed with pom-pom style tails, and Westies and Scottish Terriers with carrot style tails. The plume tail, which is a naturally long style can be seen on Shih Tzu, Maltese and Bichon Fris dogs. Schnauzers and cocker spaniels have a natural style tail, and golden retrievers and many mixed breeds like Cavoodles, Spoodles and Groodles are groomed with a Flag style tail.
I groom a lot of Cavoodles, so today I’ll teach you how to trim a flag style tail. Poppy and Soda have both volunteered to be models.
What you’ll need:
De-matting comb if you dog’s tail is knotted or matted
How to trim a dog’s tail at home
The first thing you need to do is brush your dog’s tail to remove any knots or matting.
[1] The best type of brush for this is a slicker brush. Try not to brush your dog’s tailbone, instead hold the tailbone with your hand and brush the hair away from your dog. Brush one side of the tail and then the other. Once the top layer of fur is brushed, push it aside and brush the fur underneath.
[2] If you come across a knot or matting, if it’s small you might be able to brush it out with the slicker brush. If not, you could try cutting into it with scissors to break it up and then you might be able to brush it out. Or, and this is my preferred option, you could use a de-matting comb. A de-matting comb is a groomers best friend. Its serrated blades easily cut through matting, tangles and knots. You’ll see in the photo below Poppy has a mat near the base of her tail. I made sure I held her tailbone and the fur above the matting so she wouldn’t feel the pulling and I used the de-matting comb to break up the matting until I could brush through it with the slicker brush.
If the matting is large, trying to brush it out can be too painful for your dog so it’s best to cut it off. This might leave the tail looking a bit uneven with a section missing – but that’s fine, home grooming is all about keeping your dog comfortable, you’re not entering them into a grooming competition, and their fur will grow back in no time.
[3] Once you’ve finished brushing through their tail with the slicker brush you shouldn’t have any knots or matting.
[4] Next, comb through their tail to check for any hidden knots of matting. If the comb gets stuck it means there’s still a knot for you to get out.
Dogs can get quite sensitive when you touch their tail. They can often either turn around in circles to try and get away from you or they might just want to sit down. If they do turn around in circles you might need a second pair of hands to help keep them still. If they sit down, that’s fine, you can easily brush out their tail and run a comb through it while they’re sitting, just like how I’ve done with Soda below.
[5] Now it’s time to create the shape of the flag. An easy way to do this is to wrap your fingers around the base of the tail and slide your hand (along with the fur) to the tip of the tailbone. Holding the tip of the tailbone with your fingers (so you don’t accidentally cut it), twist the excess fur and cut it off.
[6] Next, re-comb the tail so the hair lies naturally and you’ll see the cut you just made has created the start of the flag shape.
[7] Using your curved scissors, follow the shape of the flag and trim the rest of the tail. If the tail is thick you may need to trim one side of the tail and then the other. Once you’ve finished, re-comb the tail and trim any stragglers or uneven sections.
[8] Ta-da! Nice job, your dog’s tails should look like a nicely shaped flag like Poppy’s.
If you’re feeling game, and you think you’d like a shorter tail you can always keep trimming it. I like to keep Soda’s tail short because it gets matted really easily and she picks up a lot of debris from outside and brings it inside. So I trim her tail into a carrot shape, have a look at her below, I think she looks pretty cute ☺
Just remember there’s no such thing as over-trimming. If you go a little too short and you’re not happy with it, don’t worry it will grow back before you know it.
Soda groomed with a carrot style tail
Tips for shaping a flag style tail
Brush any knots and matting out before you start trimming
You might need a second pair of hands to hold your dog still
I highly recommend a de-matting comb to remove matting
Hold the tailbone while you brush to prevent the hair pulling and hurting your dog
Always re-brush and trim twice, you always seem to miss a stray hair or two!
I’m a qualified dog groomer and fur-mum to two cavoodles; Soda and Poppy. I’m passionate about the health and wellbeing of dogs, as well as helping dog parents groom their dogs at home. I’ll teach you the basics, however if you don’t feel comfortable or confident at any time that’s completely fine, book your dog in for a regular groom and pamper session at the salon. Please never leave your dog unattended on a grooming table.
Disclosure: Healthy Happy Paws is a reader supported website. If you purchase products through links on this website we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.