Achieving the Perfect Bedlington Terrier Head

The Bedlington Terrier head should be narrow and rounded with a topknot crown. There must be no stop and an unbroken line from crown to nose without the “hourglass” shape. The eyes should be almond-shaped and small, and the ears triangular with rounded tips. The ear tips should reach the corners of the mouth and be thin and velvety in texture, covered with fine hair forming a small silky tassel at the tip.

Bedlington hair is soft and silky, sometimes a little bit “cottony”, and is the one of the most difficult breeds to groom. 

Tools needed for the groom include:

• Slicker brush
• Fine comb
• Clippers with #30, #10F and #15 blades
• Straight, long scissors
• Curved scissors
• Blenders
• Thinning shears

Before starting the groom, be sure to brush and comb the hair thoroughly.

Fig 1 To begin, shave the lower jaw and throat area with #10 blade in reverse and shave the lips with #30 blade. Also shave the sides of the cheeks from the upper corner of the ear to the corner of the mouth with #10 or #15 blade.

Fig 2 & 3 Then shave two-thirds of the ear leather with #30 or #10F blade in reverse. 

Shave the inner ear leather following the same pattern. And trim the tassels into a diamond shape.

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Fig 4 Use straight, long scissors to shape the sides of the head, forming parallel lines. Cut as close to the cheek bones as possible (red lines in Fig 4). Use curved scissors to shape the arched crown (yellow lines in Fig 4). 

Remember that a Bedlington head is long and narrow and the eyes should not be visible from the front view. From the side view, the eyes are triangular.

To finish, blend the shaving lines with fine thinning shears and smooth all scissoring lines with blenders to create a “plush” appearance. ✂️