How to Adjust Dog Clippers

Making sure your dog has a clean and well-groomed coat is an integral part of his health and happiness. Using clippers to groom a dog's coat is often essential to your routine. Having a set of good dog clippers as well as knowing how to adjust and clean them is vitally important. Not having a properly adjust set of clippers can mean more than a misshapen cut. It can also end in nicks or burns of your dog's skin.

Things You'll Need

  • Clippers
  • Towel
  • Screwdriver
  • Clipper brush
  • Clipper oil
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clean your clippers before adjusting the blades. Use a paper towel to wipe the blades and remove any remaining hair.

    • 2

      Determine how your clippers adjust. You may need to adjust a set of screws on the bottom of the clippers, or some may have a sliding lever that adjusts the blades up and down.

    • 3

      Decide just how much your blades need aligning. To do this, your front set of blades and back set should overlap by the width of one blade tooth. You need to make sure this is correct, or they can nick your dog's skin.

    • 4

      Slide the lever up until your blades become aligned. Check to make sure the blades move back and forth when you move the lever by sliding and locking them into position.

    • 5

      Take a screwdriver and loosen the screws and adjust blades. Make sure that the tooth farthest to the left on top overlaps the leftmost tooth on the bottom. When you're finished, re-tighten the screws.

    • 6

      Apply a few drops of oil to the blades, and turn the clippers on.