Can You Cut Dog Hair With Human Clippers? 5 Major Differences You Must Know
It is on a weekend, you are sitting in your backyard looking at your dog and thinking his hair needs to be trimmed. Then it hits you that you got all the time to do it yourself instead of calling your regular dog groomer. Even better, you could save some money.
You get on your feet feeling useful only to realize that you only got human clippers. So it gets you wondering, should you buy special equipment or can you cut dog hair with human clippers?
So, Can I Use Human Clippers On My Dog?
Human clippers can get the job done if you have to. Otherwise, there are specific clippers that are made for your dog’s hair. These are what professional groomers use on dogs.
When you resort to using human clippers to shave or trim your dog’s fur, you have to be extremely cautious. This is because human clippers are not designed to be used on your dog. Therefore, there is a chance that you could damage your dog’s skin if you are not careful.
The kind of injuries that you might inflict on your dog with human clippers includes cuts and abrasions. Given that dogs have sensitive skin, the use of human clippers may irritate your dog’s skin.
Additionally, human clippers have a motor that vibrates and produces a distinct sound when shaving. This noise might turn out to be disturbing for your dog. Besides being unsettled, your dog may start jerking and this increases the chances of him getting hurt. By the time you are done, your dog is likely to be stressed.
If you’ve got to cut your dog’s hair with human clippers, you might want to use clippers with a light motor. Such motors do not make a lot of noise and thus bearable for your furry friend.
Most dogs fur tends to be thick. For this reason, the hair might be tugged on the clipper blade from time to time. The human clippers may also get stuck in the thicket of the fur. This is painful for your dog and you will have a hard time trying to untangle the hair from the clippers.
Dog Clippers vs Human Clippers
In terms of appearance, human clippers may look just like the dog clippers. However, upon a closer examination, you will notice that they are different. Since some differences are not obvious, we are going to comprehensively differentiate them for you.
Here are some of the main differences;
Blades
The blades of human clippers have teeth that are close to each other. For this reason, they are somewhat overwhelmed by dog’s fur. If your dog has thick hair, it can easily get entangled in the blades, resulting in the clippers jamming. You also shouldn’t be surprised if your dog’s tough hair breaks the blades.
On the other hand, the dog clipper blades are engineered in a way that leaves considerable spaces between the teeth. This makes them fit for their purpose; they can trim thick fur without getting stuck. Besides having a robust build, they are equally powerful. Their blades are sharper and come in different sizes. For this reason, dog clippers tend to be versatile. Be it a thick or rough dog’s coat, these clippers get the job done quite efficiently.
Motors
Grooming a dog is a demanding task. Whichever clippers you choose to use, you can be sure that they have to keep running for a while. Though human clippers are effective, they probably run for a shorter time. Therefore, the motors in both human and dog clippers are undoubtedly a bit different.
The motors in dog clippers can run longer without being turned off. However, the motors in human clippers may not have such capacity. This isn’t a problem since the human head is shaved for a shorter time. So they are turned on and off at intervals.
If you run the human clippers for a long time without turning off, there is a chance of them overheating. This makes it harder for you to keep cutting your dog’s hair as the clippers get hot in your hand. You might even want to give it a break.
Dog’s clippers have lighter motors that don’t overheat easily. Also, they don’t have a strong vibration and neither are they loud. Human clippers have a heavier motor that produces noise that’s loud enough to startle your dog.
Human clippers tend to have finer blades; such blades are not suitable for a dog’s fur. This type of blade will get stuck in the dog’s fur, and your furry friend will feel as though the hair is being pulled out. This is an extremely uncomfortable feeling for your dog.
Clipper Accessories
When you buy a set of either human clippers or dog clippers, you get an accompanying kit which is packed with additional accessories. If you settle on human clippers and intend to use them on your dog, you are going to miss out on some accessories. This might prove to be costly as you might need them at some point.
The accessories that come with human clippers are relatively small and suitable for human hair. One of the areas that you might find the human clippers lacking is the set of blades. If your dog has thick fur that demands a larger blade, then you are going to miss out big on that.
Neatness
The same way your human clippers cut your hair neatly is the same way you expect to shave your dog. It is, however, impossible to achieve the same level of neatness on your dog with human clippers. You might struggle to trim your dog nice and clean. One may argue that it all depends on the type of your dog’s hair. While that’s true, you will have a hard time trimming a dog with thick fur using clippers made for humans.
On the contrary, you may be able to cut your puppy’s soft fur with utmost ease using human’s clippers.
Compatibility
When looking at human clippers, you need to ask yourself whether they could be compatible with your dog’s hair. Think of them as a makeshift instrument that can probably cut your dog’s hair. In this line of thought, the dog clippers are best suited for the job.
If you’ve never used dog clippers, you may think that the challenge is similar to what you’d expect when using human clippers to cut your dog’s hair. This isn’t true. As we have already established, you can use human clippers, but not without facing some difficulties.
First of all, human clippers don’t move as smoothly on the dog’s fur as they do on human hair. You should expect to take a longer time to complete the task. Moreover, you should approach the task with much patience and caution.
Dog’s clippers feel more comfortable in your hand. They move on the fur without a problem. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that cutting your dog’s hair with these clippers is not only easier but faster.
Bear in mind that if you want to get your dog’s fur to a particular uniform level, you probably won’t achieve that with human clippers. Dog clippers come with extra blades, which means that if you want to leave fine hair on your dog, there is a blade set aside for that.
How to Find the Right Clippers For Your Dog
There are a variety of dog clippers on the market. This way, you might get confused while trying to pick the best. But this shouldn’t be a difficult task as dog hair and fur varies. If your dog has fur, then it helps to know that you will encounter two coats (the topcoat and the undercoat).
A dog with hair only has one layer, which is usually soft and easy to groom in terms of cutting.
Thinking about getting the right clippers for your dog? The first thing you need to consider is your dog’s fur or hair, then you can tell what kind of clippers are appropriate for your dog. Thick fur calls for strong clippers, while hair needs standard clippers with a few blades.
If you have several dogs, then you want to ensure that the clippers you choose comes with a variety of blades. This means that once you are done with trimming your soft-haired puppy, you can change the blade and shave the larger dog with a thick coat.
Final Thoughts
As much as you can use human clippers to cut your dog’s hair, the chances are that they won’t do an excellent job. That is why there are clippers that are specially made for grooming your dog.
There is no need to use make-do human clippers on your dog while you can get the ultimate clippers. Given that grooming your dog’s hair should be done regularly, you are likely to have an easier time using the right tools. Most important is knowing that you will be treading on eggshells using human clippers to cut your dog’s hair as it is dangerous.
