MASTERCLASS

Airedale

ALICIA FRAGIADAKIS

APOLLO

Meet Apollo, a handsome 13-year-old Airedale Terrier getting a smart, manageable pet groom with Alicia. Using a combination of clipping, attachment combs and scissoring, she works through the distinctive Airedale outline, showing where to leave coat to create balance and where it definitely doesn’t belong. There’s plenty of breed-specific detail here, particularly around the legs, chest, flank and that unmistakable brick-shaped Airedale head.

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Part 1 Alicia begins with a #7 blade through Apollo’s body, showing how she flicks away from the muscles of the legs to create an early blend and reduce the amount of scissor work needed later.

She also explains one of the important differences in the Airedale outline: there’s no skirt or traditional underline. Instead, carefully placed coat through the flank helps visually shorten the body, while coat at the base of the chest creates depth. Alicia then clips the tail, neck, chest and head ready for the finishing work to come.

Part 2 Alicia uses a 22mm attachment comb through Apollo’s legs, a quick and effective option for a pet Airedale whose softer clipped coat has a habit of collecting everything it passes.

She tightens the feet, creates straight hocks and tidies the remaining coat with scissors before blending the legs into the clipped body. The flank and chest furnishings are then shaped and softened to create the proportions she wants without turning them into a skirt or underline.

Part 3 The head is where the Airedale really comes together. Alicia clips and trims the ears before using a 10mm attachment comb in reverse to establish the head and cheeks.

The goal is a brick-shaped head, with the cheeks establishing the widest point and the rest of the coat shaped within that outline. Alicia creates the small, neat eyebrows, blends the top of the head and shapes the facial furnishings forward to emphasise length rather than creating a large beard. A final tidy of the ears, chest and furnishings brings Apollo’s Airedale pet groom together.