New Puppy Checklist!

Here is a list of puppy essentials to have on hand before bringing home your new Bearded Collie puppy! All items are easily purchased on Amazon or other pet supply websites and should be ready to go before you bring your new puppy home.

✅ Dog Crate

• A 36” crate, also known as a size 400 is the appropriate size for most adult Bearded Collies. Wire crates come equipped with a metal divider so the crate can grow with your puppy. A crate that is too large for the puppy will cause him to sleep on one side and potty on the other. Ideally the crate will be just large enough for the dog to sleep in, which will teach him how to hold his bladder. Midwest iCrate is the model I recommend.

✅ Metal Exercise Pen

• A folding exercise pen can be used to block off areas of your home that could be dangerous to a young puppy. They are also a useful place to let your puppy eat and play when you can’t keep an eye on them. The 36” size is high enough that most young puppies won’t climb out. Teenage or adult dogs may need a taller size. Midwest Exercise Pen is durable and rust resistant.

✅ Nature’s Miracle Stain Remover

• Accidents happen! Keep an enzyme stain remover close by for puppy messes. Nature’s Miracle is a reliable one.

✅ Reusable Pee Pads

• Put this 48x48” washable puppy pad underneath your exercise pen to prevent leaks from water bowls and puppy accidents. Completely washable, it is more economical than disposable puppy pads and great for protecting your floors.

✅ Kong Dog Toy

• Fill the Kong with treats, canned food, or peanut butter. Pop it in the freezer and it makes a long lasting chew toy that will keep your puppy occupied when you need to step out. Distracting the puppy while you’re gone will help prevent separation anxiety

✅ Puppy Shampoo

• Tearless shampoo is recommended for puppies as they tend to wiggle around in the tub and may get soap in their eyes. Chris Christensen makes a great tearless shampoo that works well for puppies and can be used as a general facial shampoo for older dogs.

✅ Slicker Brush

• A good quality slicker brush will last through your dog’s life and is a good investment for maintaining Bearded Collie coats at home. A slicker with longer pins and a medium pin pad works best for their long coats. My favorite slicker is the Chris Christensen Big K brush.

✅ Detangling Spray

• Tangles are inevitable on a long coat. The best dematting spray I’ve ever used is Artero Mat X. It works well without leaving greasy build up on the coat. Pair it with the above slicker brush and tangles will be a thing of the past!

My Favorite Bearded Collie Grooming Products

Grooming products are a small obsession of mine, so I’m compiling a list of products I’m currently using that might help you while grooming your own Bearded Collie. My dogs are bathed and blown out every other week and I love to experiment with new products to find what works the best with their specific coat needs! This page contains affiliate links which help to support the cost of maintaining this website. Clicking on any image or the link will take you to a page where you can purchase the product for yourself.

Odor Eliminator Shampoo by Green Groom

If you use high quality shampoos and dilute and rinse them correctly, your Beardie should not have any skin issues from frequent bathing. Most gallons of shampoo are highly concentrated and made to be diluted. Always read the fine print before using! My current “everyday” shampoo is a soap-free Odor Eliminator by Green Groom. It has a fragrance that is not overpowering, it is cruelty-free and will not wash off any of your dog’s topical flea/tick medication. I find that it is easy to rinse, even in cool water. It does a great job of removing oil and product build up, and is not drying at all.

Ice on Ice ULTRA by Chris Christensen

Mats happen to the best of us! Even with regular maintenance, your dog will invariably end up with some clumpy matted hair in high friction areas, such as behind the ears, under the elbows, and in the loin area. Detangling sprays have come a long way in the past few years and can work miracles on a tangled coat. The best ones don’t leave an oily build up so they can be used on the coat after the dog is bathed. It’s not fun to spend all this time bathing your dog, only to have him feeling greasy from the detangler! This new and improved Ice on Ice Ultra by Chris Christensen is one of the best I have tried to date! It doesn’t leave any build-up after it’s dried meaning that you can use it after a bath and all week long to help work out any knots. I saturate the area and work it out with a slicker brush and the tangles come right out. If you have used the classic Ice on Ice formula, this is quite different. It doesn’t have that slippery silicone feel, and is a light aerosol. It’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Les Poochs Firm Slicker

If you’re trying to keep your Bearded Collie in full long coat, you have to be mindful of coat breakage when you are working out mats and tangles. Their hair grows about one inch per month, which means if hair gets torn out from the root, it will take 1-2 YEARS to achieve its full length again. For this reason, I don’t like using dematting rakes, coat breakers, mat rakers, or anything of that nature. They tear and break and pull coat out and that damage will take a long time to grow out. For dematting and detangling, especially in hard to reach areas, the best dematting tool money can buy is a Les Poochs slicker brush. It has a small, flexible head which allows the brush to bend and shape into the area you are working on, but is gentle enough that it won’t break or pull out hair. With proper technique and a good detangling spray, this tool is an absolute lifesaver for long coats!

Chris Christensen Big K Slicker

For all over brushing and regular coat maintenance, an all-purpose slicker brush is your very best friend. Slicker brushes for Beardie coats have been controversial because of their tendency to remove undercoat. Personally, I have found that the quality of the slicker brush, and your own brushing technique are the deciding factors on whether or not it is “correct” to use them on a show coat. Not all slickers are created equally! The Chris Christensen Big K Slicker is my hands-down favorite due to the quality, density and length of the pins. Each pin is rounded so that it does not scratch your dog’s skin or pull out hair it’s not supposed to! The longer length of the pins means that it does a better job getting through thick coats. The density of pins on the black Big K are just right for Beardie coats meaning it’s not going to drag out too much undercoat. Using light strokes and a picking motion while brushing, I can get through an entire dog with barely so much as a brushful of hair at the end. If you’re a slicker brush skeptic, this one might change your mind.

Wahl Bravura

Beardies need regular sanitary trimming for their health and cleanliness. Even on a full coated dog, clipping is necessary around the rear end, under the belly, and potentially even the paw pads. A cordless clipper is awesome because it makes very little noise and thus is more readily accepted by dogs who might normally shy away from a loud clipper. The Wahl Bravura is my favorite cordless clipper for maintenance grooming. It is fully rechargeable and comes with its own charging stand and cord. The clipper blade is adjustable from a #9 down to a #40. Replacement blades can be found easily at most feed stores. The Bravura is strong enough to handle light body clipping as well, if your dog is kept shorter all over, you can snap a comb attachment on top for all over trims.