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Dog Clippers Vs Human Clippers – What’s the Difference?

 

The cuteness and adorable looks of your canine friends evoke heart-warming feelings in you. However, it requires you to groom their hairs and furs regularly. So while you may be tempted to use the human clippers for trimming or shaving your dog’s hair, it is not an ideal way.

Most pet owners use human hair trimmers for shaving dogs’ fur because dog hair clippers and human hair clippers look similar. However, when you look closely, you can make out the differences between the two devices.

Investing in a new set of grooming tools for trimming or shaving your dog’s hair may seem costly, and you might wonder if it is safe to cut dog hair with human clippers.

Read on as this article compares the dog clippers with human clippers and discusses the differences between the two clippers.

No, you should not use human clippers for cutting your dog’s hair, even though both clippers look similar. Instead, you need a set of special dog clippers for grooming your dog’s fur. Using human clippers may damage or hurt your dog’s skin with accidental cuts and irritation.

Grooming your dog’s hair involves applying the clippers all over the dog’s body and brushing against the sensitive skin. Thus, dog clippers are made lighter and designed to avoid the roughness of human clippers.

The dog clippers feature different blades and motors suitable for cutting different varieties of fur types. The dog clippers feature a lighter motor that produces less noise and ensures quieter trimming.

On the other hand, the human clipper produces loud noise that may stress your dog. This may irritate your dog and cause him to make sudden movements resulting in skin cuts and bleeding.

Another drawback of a human clipper is that it may easily get stuck in thicker parts of a dog’s fur and cause painful tugging. On the other hand, a dog trimmer features a different blade design for avoiding pulling a pet’s hair.

Being a pet owner, won’t you love to explore more about dog clippers? So keep reading as this article compares human clippers and dog clippers and discusses useful tips for selecting a good dog clipper and trimming your dog’s hair perfectly.

There are various key differences between dog clippers and human clippers that drastically affect how you groom your dog’s hair. So before you think of using human clippers for trimming your pet’s hair, consider these differences.

Power of the Motor

Human clippers are meant for trimming and shaving human hair, these feature a robust and durable motor for quick trimming and heavy-duty performances. At the same time, dog grooming clippers come with a lighter motor suitable for trimming or shaving a dog’s hair.

The light motor of the dog clippers gives quieter performance and doesn’t scare away the pets. It produces softer and lighter vibrations that keep your dogs stress-free and ensure convenient handling while trimming your dogs’ hair.

This lighter motor in dog clippers is designed to stay cool and operate for longer periods. While the motor in the human clippers is meant to run for only a couple of minutes during trimming, it heats up quickly.

Speed

Although dog clippers have a lighter motor, they tend to run at a faster speed. This speed helps produce more strokes per minute for smooth trimming and shaving through the thick fur without any blades jamming.

Some advanced dog clippers allow you to operate them at multiple speeds. Thus, you can use these clippers at slower speeds to properly groom delicate body areas like the face.

With human clippers, you get various options of varying the speed to match the individual preferences.

Blades

The human clipper’s kit features various blades for ensuring the precise chopping of the hair. Thus, you can use these blades for trimming human hair of any length conveniently. However, it does not give satisfactory results while trimming the dog’s fur.

The dog clippers come equipped with blades specially designed for trimming or shaving a dog’s fur. Thus, dog clippers are ideally suitable for grooming a dog’s hair. The two commonly used blades in the dog clippers are fine-tooth blades and skip-tooth blades.

Fine-Tooth Blades

Fine-tooth blades have a mark “F” or “FC” on them. These blades have more space between the teeth as compared to the blades of human clippers. All fine-tooth teeth have a similar length for providing smooth and finished looks.

However, these blades are not suitable for trimming thick fur, matted coats, and dirty hair.

Skip-Tooth Blades

Skip tooth blades come in numbers like 3, 4, 5, and 7. They have more space between their teeth as compared to fine-tooth blades of dog and human clippers. The presence of gaps between the teeth of these blades provides convenient trimming of thick or matted fur.

These blades work great for grooming dogs with a thick double coat. The long teeth of these blades avoid painful fur pulling and help in removing long fur, dirt, and matting before bathing and grooming.

Blade Numbers

The blade numbering system for human clippers is different from that of pet clippers. Even though these clippers have the same blade number, they differ in their cut length. Generally, the higher blade number is suitable for, the shorter dog’s fur.

Length of the Cuts

The length of the cuts on the blades of human clippers is designed for providing great finishing while removing body hair and shaving the beard. Thus, the brushes are closely positioned from the blades.

Thus, when you use human clippers on the dogs, it risks inflicting serious cuts. While dog clippers are designed for matching the length cuts suitable for pets. Thus, you can safely use the dog clippers for trimming your dog’s hair without causing any potential bruises.

Clipper Kits with Combs

The human clipper kits come with combs that are designed for grooming human hair. Similarly, a dog clipper kit features a special brush for easy combing of a dog’s fur.

If you use human clippers on your dog, your comb won’t work for combing the dog hair, and you need to purchase the dog combs separately.

Grooming combs are fitted over the clipper blade, and these allow the groomer to make adjustments for their desired length. With pet combs, you can cut longer lengths up to 2 inches, while human combs are suitable for cutting shorter lengths up to 1 inch or less.

Cord or Cordless

The human clippers are usually cordless for providing convenient handling and effortless movement during the trimming process. On the other hand, the dog clippers are usually corded with a longer length so that you can efficiently work around your pet and clipper.

• Invest in branded and high-quality dog clippers for efficient cutting of dog’s hair at home.
• Choose the dog clippers as per your dog body and purpose. Select different dog clippers for smaller and larger breed dogs. Also, choose the appropriate clipper for light trimming or shaving the entire body.
• Go for a less expensive medium grade pair of clippers for simple grooming. On the other hand, if you want high-quality grooming, select an advanced pair of clippers.
• Some clippers feature multiple blades that can be operated at different speeds for ensuring precision trimming. The numbered blades determine the degree of close-cut, and you can use them as interchangeable parts with your dog clippers.
• The type of dog clippers that work best for you depends on the level of quality cut, your dog’s breed, and the thickness of fur. Consider these factors before choosing the dog clipper for your fur friends.

• Shaving your dog’s complete body at home is a time-consuming task. Don’t rush with the shaving procedure, and take your own time to get accustomed to it.
• Ensure to wash and brush your dog’s fur before you being to trim or shave them. It removes the tangles and makes them convenient for both you and your dog.
• Allow your pets to get comfortable with the sound of the clipper before you start trimming and shaving.
• Check the blades of the clippers for their sharpness. The sharper blades provide a smooth shaving experience, while the dull blades may tug at the dog’s fur and cause irritation to the dog’s skin.
• Ensure to go slow with the shaving and proceed in the direction of the fur’s growth. If you try to shave fast and move in the opposite direction of the fur, it may leave your dog with choppy looks and lines on the fur.
• Avoid any sudden jerks during shaving as it may unnerve your dog and cause him to panic.
• Divide the shaving area into various sections and perform the shave section wise. Begin by shaving with the neck first and then proceed downwards to the back legs.
• If you are a beginner at grooming dogs, take special precautions while using skip tooth blades as it may harm your pet and result in injury. Instead, it’s recommended to use sheers for trimming sensitive areas and cutting matting.