How I Wash and Groom My Australian Shepherd (The Routine That Finally Tamed Fiona’s Coat)

This isn’t my usual content. I write about the Hill Country, beauty, and thrifted everything — not dog grooming. But this is genuinely the single most helpful thing I’ve figured out in years, and if you have a double-coated dog, I have to share it. My Australian shepherd Fiona had the worst butt fur — matted, packed down, impossible to brush through no matter what I tried. My late sweet Schmidt was exactly the same, and I never could figure out how to fix it. After a lot of trial and error, I finally landed on the routine below, and now her coat is soft, mat-free, and bath day takes a fraction of the time. Here’s exactly what I use and do.

First, the one rule: never shave a double coat

Aussies have a double coat, and it’s tempting to think shaving will stop the shedding and the mats. It won’t — it makes things worse. The double coat is your dog’s natural temperature control; shave it off and you break that system, risk sunburn, and often get patchy, strange regrowth. The goal is never less coat. It’s removing the dead undercoat that packs against the skin — that’s what mats into those painful clumps and can hide hot spots underneath. The fix is the right wash-and-dry routine, not the clippers.

My grooming kit (the tools that actually work)

The dryer is the single most important thing. If you have a dual-coated dog, a high-velocity dryer like this Flying Pig one is a must-have. It physically blows the dead, loose undercoat out of the coat — the exact stuff that causes mats — faster and more thoroughly than any brush ever could. This one tool changed everything for me.

A shower sprayer attachment. A dog shower sprayer that screws onto your showerhead shuts grooming time down by so much, because the coat repels water — without it, it took forever just to get her wet. This drives water down to the skin so the whole wash actually starts.

Shampoo and conditioner. The Nature’s Specialties Plum Silky shampoo is incredible — her hair comes out so soft, and it even gets all her eye boogers, even the hard crusty layer. I follow with the matching Plum Silky conditioner. I also keep their EZ Out deshedding shampoo to help release undercoat, and the gentle Pawpin’ Blueberry face and body wash for around her eyes and face.

Brushes, comb, and trimmers. A long-pin slicker and deshedding brush for working through the coat in sections, a wide-tooth metal comb to shimmy through tangles, a dematting and mat-remover tool for the stubborn spots, and a set of rounded-tip grooming scissors for a sanitary trim.

My exact wash-and-groom routine

1. Wet her to the skin. Using the sprayer attachment, I soak the coat all the way down — not just the top layer. This step alone used to take forever without it.

2. Wash and condition. I lather the Plum Silky shampoo down to the skin, use the EZ Out deshedding shampoo to help loosen undercoat, and the blueberry wash gently on her face. Then the Plum conditioner, and I rinse thoroughly — leftover product causes itch and mats.

3. Blow her dry. This is the magic step. I towel off the worst, then go in with the high-velocity dryer and watch the dead, stuck fur literally blow out of her coat. Dry all the way to the skin; never let a double coat air-dry, because trapped moisture leads to mats and skin irritation.

4. Work out the stuck fur as you dry. As the dryer loosens things, I use the wide-tooth metal comb to shimmy tangles loose. Anything that won’t budge, I switch to the mat-remover tool to break it up gently.

5. Section by section, then again. Once she’s fully dry, I go over her in sections with the deshedding brush, then blow dry again to clear whatever loosened, and keep running the comb through until it passes cleanly. That back-and-forth — brush, blow, comb — is the whole trick.

6. Sanitary trim. I finish with a little scissor trim around her back end — the butt-fur zone — to keep it manageable between baths.

The butt-fur fix I could never crack

For years I could not figure out why Fiona’s and Schmidt’s back-end feathering got so matted and impossible to brush. The answer: that’s dead undercoat packing against the skin, and brushing the surface alone can never reach it. The combination that finally fixed it — get her genuinely wet to the skin, blow it out with the high-velocity dryer, dematt the stuck spots, and keep that area lightly trimmed. Now it stays soft and brushable instead of a lost cause.

Keeping it that way

Between baths, brush a few times a week — and daily during a coat blow (the couple of times a year they shed out the undercoat). Ten minutes a few times a week beats a two-hour dematting session later, every single time.

FAQ

Should you shave an Australian shepherd?

No. The double coat regulates their temperature and protects their skin. Shaving can cause sunburn, patchy regrowth, and doesn’t reduce shedding — focus on removing dead undercoat instead.

What’s the most important grooming tool for a double coat?

A high-velocity dryer. It blows out the loose, dead undercoat that causes mats far better than brushing — it’s the tool that made the biggest difference for me.

How do you get mats out of a double-coated dog?

Wet the coat to the skin, blow it out with a high-velocity dryer to release the undercoat, break up stubborn spots with a dematting tool, then comb through in sections. Trim only if a mat is truly stuck — never yank.

How often should you bathe an Aussie?

Roughly every 4 to 8 weeks, or when she’s actually dirty — over-bathing dries the skin. Regular brushing matters more than frequent baths.

Like I said — not my usual lane. But if this saves one person the years of frustration I had with a matted coat, the detour is worth it. Give your pup a scratch for me.