Husky grooming

Husky grooming: never shave, always dry.

Name: Bay Area Mobile Dog Wash
Telephone: (408) 599-8317
Price range: $75–$155

A husky needs brushing, an occasional wash that actually reaches the skin, and a dry that takes longer than the bath. It never needs clippers. The brushing is yours. The drying, especially during coat blow, is where a pro earns the visit.

The coat

What you are grooming.

Coat

Double coat

A dense woolly undercoat under a weatherproof topcoat. It sheds steadily, then releases all at once each fall and spring.

Smell

Very little, when dry

A healthy husky coat is close to self-cleaning. When a husky smells, it is almost always undercoat that stayed damp.

Hardest part

Drying

The undercoat is dense enough to hold water long after the topcoat feels dry. A towel does not reach it.

Our price

$95 to $115

Most huskies are our medium tier at $95. Big males over 60 lbs are $115. Nails and ears included.

Rule one

Why a husky is never shaved.

Every summer someone decides a husky in San Jose heat would be happier shaved. It would not. The undercoat traps a layer of air that insulates in both directions, and the guard hairs shade the skin from sun. Take it off and the dog loses its cooling system and its sunscreen at once. The undercoat can grow back patchy or woolly for good, and the shedding carries on regardless.

What helps a hot husky is the opposite: getting the dead undercoat out so air can move through what is left. That is brushing, plus a wash and forced-air dry during coat blow. Coat blow timing and the rake to use are on the husky shedding page.

Home or pro

Each part of husky grooming, and who does it best.

Brushing

At home: Weekly with an undercoat rake most of the year, daily during coat blow. It is the one job no visit replaces.

At our visit: A brush-out before the bath and a finishing brush after the dry.

Washing

At home: Off-season, a reasonable home job if you have a tub and patience. Getting water and shampoo through to the skin takes longer than people expect.

At our visit: Warm water worked down through the undercoat by hand, and a rinse that runs until the water is clear.

Drying

At home: The part home baths lose. A towel and a quiet dryer leave the undercoat wet for hours, which is where smell and skin trouble start.

At our visit: A forced-air dryer, section by section, for as long as it takes to dry the undercoat at the skin. On a husky this is the longest step.

Nails

At home: Active huskies on pavement wear some down. Dewclaws do not wear at all, so check them.

At our visit: Included in every wash, clip or grind, dewclaws too.

Ears and paws

At home: Upright ears are easy to check. Look between the toes after trail days in foxtail season.

At our visit: Ears cleaned and paws washed between the pads at every visit, included.

The visit

What a bath-and-brush does for a husky, step by step.

01
Coat check
Hands into the undercoat before any water, to see how much is loose and whether coat blow has started.
02
Pre-bath brush-out
Surface coat and loose tufts come out dry. It shortens the dry and lets shampoo reach the skin.
03
Wash to the skin
Warm water and shampoo worked through by hand. A husky coat repels water, so this takes deliberate work, not a quick soak.
04
Rinse until clear
Leftover shampoo trapped in a dense undercoat is a common cause of itching after a bath.
05
Nails, dewclaws, ears, paws
Nails clipped or ground, dewclaws checked, ears cleaned, each paw washed between the pads.
06
The long dry
Forced air pushed down to the skin, section by section, until nothing is damp. The loose undercoat blows out in sheets here, in the van instead of in your house.

Rinsing a black dog with a handheld sprayer in our blue portable wash tub — The rinse, on a black mix from one of our visits. On a husky the rinse runs long, because shampoo left in the undercoat is what itches later.

Both hands scrubbing shampoo into a German shepherd's head and ears — The wash step on another double coat, a german shepherd: shampoo worked in by hand, not poured over the top.

Husky problems

Damp undercoat, coat blow, and foxtails.

Damp undercoat. Almost every husky grooming complaint traces back here: the smell after a bath, the itchy patch after a rainy week, the hot spot after a swim. A husky that is dried to the skin every time rarely has any of them.

Coat blow. Twice a year the undercoat lets go in tufts for two to six weeks, the fall one starting around September. Brushing alone cannot keep up. See fall shedding for what to expect in the Bay Area.

Foxtails. Dry-season grass awns work into the feet, ears, and the dense coat of trail dogs. Check between toes after hikes. A foxtail you cannot see but your dog keeps licking at, or a sudden head shake after a walk, is a vet visit.

When it is a vet question. Persistent smell on a clean, fully dry coat, red or raw skin, or hair loss in patches outside of coat blow point to a skin or ear issue a bath will not fix.

Price

$95 for most huskies.

Most huskies are our medium tier. Big males over 60 lbs are $115. Flat by size, and it covers the brush-out, wash, rinse, full forced-air dry, nail trim, and ear cleaning. Nails and ears are included in every wash.

During coat blow, add the $15 de-shedding treatment: $110 for a medium husky, $130 for a large one. How often to book, in and out of coat blow, is on the husky bathing schedule.

CALL: (408) 599-8317 Book Now

5.0 on Google · 32 reviews in total

Frequently asked

Husky grooming questions.

No. The double coat insulates against heat as well as cold, and it keeps sun off the skin. Shaving destroys that, the undercoat often grows back patchy or wrong, and the shedding does not stop anyway. No reputable groomer will do it, and we do not cut hair at all. A hot husky needs the dead undercoat cleared so air can move, which is what a de-shed does.

Because the undercoat did not dry. The topcoat feels dry within the hour while the layer against the skin stays wet, and warm damp undercoat grows yeast and bacteria. The fix is a dry that reaches the skin. If a husky still smells once the coat is genuinely clean and dry, ask your vet to check the skin and ears.

Yes, as long as the coat dries completely afterward. The risk is not the bath, it is a damp undercoat sitting against the skin for hours. At home that means a long session with a dryer on a warm setting. In the van it means a forced-air dryer and the time it takes.

Most of the year, honestly, not much. The coat stays clean on its own and brushing is a home job. Coat blow is where a pro visit pays for itself: a wash plus a forced-air dry removes the released undercoat in one session instead of weeks of vacuuming.

The husky breed guide has the schedule, including how it tightens during coat blow. The short version is that a husky needs fewer baths than most owners expect, and a better dry than most get.

How the full de-shed works is on the de-shedding page, and the rakes worth owning are in deshedding tools.

Washed to the skin. Dried to the skin.

Bath-and-brush for your husky at your driveway, $95 to $115 by size, nails and ears included. No shave, ever.

CALL: (408) 599-8317 Book Now

5.0 on Google · 32 reviews in total

or text us at (408) 599-8317

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Husky grooming

Husky grooming: never shave, always dry.

The coat

What you are grooming.

Coat

Double coat

A dense woolly undercoat under a weatherproof topcoat. It sheds steadily, then releases all at once each fall and spring.

Smell

Very little, when dry

A healthy husky coat is close to self-cleaning. When a husky smells, it is almost always undercoat that stayed damp.

Hardest part

Drying

The undercoat is dense enough to hold water long after the topcoat feels dry. A towel does not reach it.

Our price

$95 to $115

Most huskies are our medium tier at $95. Big males over 60 lbs are $115. Nails and ears included.

Rule one

Why a husky is never shaved.

Home or pro