The Wash Table · A text course
Learn to groom a dog at home, in order.
Grooming a dog at home is a set of small, checkable routines: reading the coat, brushing, bathing, drying, nails, ears, and knowing when to stop. This course teaches those routines in order, coat by coat, with a stop-and-refer list wherever a lesson can go wrong. It teaches home maintenance and introductory reference only. It does not teach professional breed cuts, and it never replaces a groomer or a vet.
How this course works. Each course is a set of lessons. Each lesson starts with a direct answer, then works through the questions in order, and ends with what to check next. Start at Course 1 even if you have groomed before: the safety checks and the stop rules in the first course are the base for everything after it.
Start here, in order
Grooming at Home, From the Start
What home grooming covers, the space, the kit, the schedule, and how to read the dog in front of you.
Course 02Reading the Coat
Coat types, undercoat, and how to check condition before choosing any routine.
Course 03Brushing and Combing
Brushes, combs, section work, and routines a dog can accept.
Course 04Bathing
Preparation, shampoo choice, washing order, rinsing, and what to check on the skin.
Course 05Drying
Towel drying, high-velocity dryers, and drying each coat fully and safely.
Course 06Clippers: An Introduction
What clippers do, how blades and guards work, and the honest limits of learning from text.
All 20 courses
Grooming at Home, From the Start
What home grooming covers, the space, the kit, the schedule, and how to read the dog in front of you.
Course 02Reading the Coat
Coat types, undercoat, and how to check condition before choosing any routine.
Course 03Brushing and Combing
Brushes, combs, section work, and routines a dog can accept.
Course 04Bathing
Preparation, shampoo choice, washing order, rinsing, and what to check on the skin.
Course 05Drying
Towel drying, high-velocity dryers, and drying each coat fully and safely.
Course 06Clippers: An Introduction
What clippers do, how blades and guards work, and the honest limits of learning from text.
Course 07Scissors: An Introduction
Straight, thinning and curved scissors, safe holding, small trims, and when to stop.
Course 08Blades, Guards and Tool Care
Blade numbers, guard lengths, cleaning, oiling, storage, and when a tool is done.
Course 09Nails
The quick, light and dark nails, grinders, and what to do when the quick is cut.
Course 10Ears
Checking, cleaning the outer ear, drying, and the signs that belong to a vet.
Course 11Face, Eyes and Paws
Eyes, muzzles, paw pads, sanitary trims, and keeping short work calm.
Course 12Teeth and Mouth
Brushing only. What to check, what chews can and cannot do, and why scaling is veterinary care.
Course 13Matting and Tangles
How mats form, the brush-out, split, cut-out or refer decision, and prevention.
Course 14Shedding and Undercoat
Normal shedding, blowing coat, deshedding tools, and when shedding needs a vet.
Course 15Double Coats
The yearly cycle, brushing without breaking guard hairs, and why clipping is usually wrong.
Course 16Curly and Doodle Coats
Why these coats mat fast, brushing routines, bathing, drying, and keeping them between grooms.
Course 17Long and Silky Coats
Daily and weekly routines, brushing without breakage, feathering, and burrs.
Course 18Short and Smooth Coats
The routine short coats still need, skin checks, shedding, and tool choices.
Course 19Wiry, Terrier and Mixed Coats
Wiry coats, hand-stripping as a specialist job, terrier patterns, and mixed coats.
Course 20Troubleshooting and Getting Help
When a session goes wrong, the stop-and-refer list, finding a groomer, and how training and voluntary certification work.
What this site will not do
- It will not tell you a diagnosis for a skin, ear, mouth, or nail problem. It lists the signs that mean a vet should see the dog.
- It will not teach anal-gland expression or dental scaling. Both are outside home grooming.
- It will not claim that reading text alone qualifies anyone to groom professionally, handle a fearful dog, or cut a breed-standard shape. Hands-on teaching is named wherever that limit applies.
- It does not use affiliate links, and it does not sell courses, checklists, or bookings.