The Origins of Breed Clips (and Who Decided This?)
Dogs have been helping humans for a very long time. Long enough that their bodies, coats, and even their haircuts were shaped around the jobs we asked them to do. Breed clips are part of that history, even if they don’t always feel like it now.
To understand them properly, you have to start there.
Before breed clips, there were just dogs being incredibly useful
Long before standards, shows, or diagrams with dotted lines, dogs were working alongside humans doing genuinely muddy, sometimes dangerous jobs. They retrieved, hunted, herded, guarded, flushed, dug, tracked, and generally made themselves completely indispensable.
They adapted to us, and we adapted to them.
Coats were managed not for looks, but because a sodden dog couldn't swim properly, a tangled dog couldn't move efficiently, and a blocked or damaged coat could actually get a dog hurt. Grooming was part of the partnership. It was one of the ways humans said, "I've got you."
And dogs, being dogs, showed up anyway - cold water, sharp scrub, burrs, tunnels, long days, zero complaints, just pure enthusiasm. They're excellent like that.
When you look at it that way, breed clips stop feeling arbitrary. They start to look like practical care, shaped slowly by people who genuinely depended on their dogs and wanted them to keep coming home safe.
So why do we even have dog shows?
Fair question. As societies industrialized and working roles changed, there was a real risk that useful breeds and their defining traits would just... disappear. Dogs weren't needed in the same ways anymore, and without records, consistency, or shared standards, breed type could vanish pretty quickly.
Dog shows emerged in the mid-19th century as a way to preserve breeds by preserving type.
At their best, dog shows were meant to encourage thoughtful breeding, reward sound structure and movement, and maintain physical traits linked to a breed's original purpose. They created a shared reference point. A way of saying, "This is what a healthy, capable example of this breed should look like."
They were also social, competitive, and a bit cultural. A place for breeders to meet, compare notes, build reputations, and yes, show off a little. That mix matters, because it explains why some things became fixed even when the original context faded.
Over time, function became harder to assess in a show ring. Appearance was easier to judge consistently, so gradually, visual traits began to carry more weight than working ability. Not out of bad intent - just momentum, politics, and the fact that judging a dog's ability to flush game is significantly harder than judging whether its topknot is symmetrical.
Dog shows preserved type, but they couldn't always preserve context. If you’d like to go down a small historical rabbit hole, this is a great read on Australia’s very first dog shows.
The moment grooming stopped evolving
Once dogs moved fully into the show ring, grooming styles stopped changing and started being inherited like family heirlooms. A particular version of a working clip was chosen, written down, and preserved - not because it was the only way, or even necessarily the best way, but because it was a way everyone could agree on. The job faded. The haircut stayed. And here we are, still doing it.
That's how we ended up with clips that make perfect sense historically, but can feel a little odd in a modern lounge room.
Poodles, water work, and those famous bracelets
Poodles were working water dogs long before they were show dogs. Historical records place them retrieving waterfowl in Germany and France from at least the 15th century.
Here's the practical bit: a full poodle coat, when wet, is heavy. That weight creates drag in the water and increases the risk of the dog getting seriously chilled once they're out. So coat was removed where it interfered with movement, and left where it actually mattered - the chest, the vital organs, the joints.
Those rounded sections of coat around the legs - what we now call bracelets - weren't decorative flourishes. They were practical insulation placed where heat loss mattered most.
This is why the scene in Best in Show works so beautifully. Sheri Ann Cabot, proudly presenting her poodle Rhapsody in White, explains re the bracelets “Those act as flippers” (LOL).
They don't, of course. Rhapsody is not cutting through the water like the Thorpedo.
But the joke lands because it stretches something real. The bracelets did protect joints and helped reduce heat loss in cold water. They had a genuine purpose, they just weren't marine engineering!
As with most good satire, it works because it's not completely wrong.
Once poodles became show dogs, that practical logic became stylized. Symmetry increased. The outline became elaborate. The job disappeared. The haircut carried on.
Terriers, then and now
Terriers tell a slightly different story, and they've collected a few myths along the way.
You'll often hear that terriers "naturally stripped themselves" while charging through scrub and burrs chasing vermin. There's a grain of truth here, but it needs context.
Wire coats evolved to protect skin, resist dirt and moisture, and shed dead hair rather than hang onto it. The harsh outer coat grows, dies, and loosens. The undercoat insulates underneath. It's a coat designed to let go.
Working terriers moving through tunnels, brambles, and rough ground experienced constant abrasion. That wear loosened dead coat and helped stop it becoming overly long or soft.
What it didn't do was finish the job neatly.
People still stepped in and removed dead coat by hand. Early stripping was simple maintenance, not styling. It was about keeping the coat functional so the dog could keep working safely.
Fast forward to now, and most terriers are far more likely to be found under a cafe table than in a burrow, navigating chair legs, prams, and the occasional dropped croissant. Truly harrowing work. The coat, however, hasn't changed.
Why hand stripping and carding still matter (even for pet trims)
Modern pet life doesn't provide the wear and tear these coats were designed for. So we step in.
Hand stripping removes hair that's already dead, helping maintain texture, color, and coat quality. Carding reduces excess undercoat, improves airflow to the skin, and allows the harsh outer coat to behave the way it's meant to.
And yes, this still matters even if the dog is going to be clipped in a pet style.
Carding a wire coat before clipping helps prevent gradual coat change, supports skin health, and creates a cleaner finish. It's not about chasing a show result. It's about giving the coat the best possible start, even when the final look is practical and comfortable.
So who decided breed clips, really?
Working people did, first. Dog shows decided what stayed. Kennel clubs wrote it down.
And now? Breed standard grooms are exactly that - standards. They're the reference point every professional groomer needs to know, not because they're arbitrary rules someone made up to make life difficult, but because they represent agreed-upon breed type. They're how we maintain consistency, communicate clearly with breeders and exhibitors, and demonstrate that we actually know what we're doing.
Understanding where breed clips came from doesn't give us permission to ignore them. It gives us the context to execute them properly, explain them confidently, and know when a client is asking for a breed trim versus a pet-friendly interpretation.
We need to know the standard before we can adapt it thoughtfully. That's just professional.
Fascinating, innit? With love,
igroomhub
References
Bruce Fogle. The Encyclopedia of the Dog, DK Publishing
Edward Ash. Dogs: Their History and Development, Ernest Benn Ltd
Ross Clark. Poodle Clipping and Grooming, Interpet Publishing
American Kennel Club, breed history and dog show archives
Fédération Cynologique Internationale, breed standards and nomenclature
Best in Show (2000), Directed by Christopher Guest
Welsh Terrier line drawing by ZepSketch
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