Border Collie Grooming Berlin: Double Coat, Knots and Ticks

You should brush a Border Collie once or twice a week with a pin brush, and daily during the shedding seasons in spring and autumn. Their double coat is not clipped; the loose undercoat is brushed out. Here at GroomRoom in Berlin Charlottenburg, we groom Border Collies from Tuesday to Saturday by appointment. A Mini Groom, including a wash, blow-dry and comb, starts at 59 €. Depending on size and coat, our booking system schedules 60 to 180 minutes.

What kind of coat does a Border Collie have?

A Border Collie has a medium-length double coat that comes in two varieties: rough and smooth. Both varieties are dense and weather-resistant. The American Kennel Club classifies the Border Collie, along with the Australian Shepherd, as a herding dog with a medium-length double coat.

The double coat consists of two layers, each with its own job. On the outside is the topcoat, also known as guard hair: long, strong hairs that repel dirt and water. Underneath sits the undercoat, a soft, dense layer of shorter hairs right next to the skin.

The undercoat keeps the body warm in winter. In warm weather, it holds cooler air close to the skin. The topcoat sheds less frequently than the undercoat and gives your dog much of its visible colour.

How often should you brush a Border Collie?

Brush your Border Collie once or twice a week with a pin brush to keep the coat free of knots, tangles and dirt. During shedding season, brush daily. In between, the American Kennel Club recommends combing through the double coat two to three times a week.

A pin brush has long, rounded pins that glide through the topcoat. A slicker brush has fine, curved wire bristles and removes dead hair from dense areas. An undercoat rake has long teeth that reach right down into the undercoat.

Here's how to brush:

1. Get your pin brush, slicker brush and a wide-toothed steel comb ready.
2. Brush section by section, working your way from the head to the tail.
3. Use the slicker brush on areas with particularly dense fur.
4. Gently tease out small tangles with the wide-toothed steel comb before you continue brushing.
5. Discard combs with bent teeth, as they can damage the coat.

When do Border Collies shed the most?

A Border Collie sheds more heavily mainly in spring and autumn. According to the animal welfare charity PDSA, they are less demanding than some other breeds in this regard. During these weeks, it's mostly the undercoat that loosens, as it falls out more frequently than the topcoat during the seasonal coat change.

Dog owners often call this heavy shedding of the undercoat a "blowing coat". How severe it is depends on the breed and coat type. Plan for a short daily brushing session during this time, so the loose wool doesn't get matted in the topcoat.

We show you how to generally remove old fur from dogs with an undercoat in our guide Dog shedding: how to properly remove the undercoat.

Where do knots form on a Border Collie?

Knots form on a Border Collie where the coat is particularly thick and the loose undercoat gets trapped. On a Border Collie, these areas are often called the ruff around the neck and the trousers on the hind legs. Weekly brushing prevents matting and gets the loose hair out.

Depending on the breed standard, some owners trim excess hair on the paws, the hock, and the pastern. The hock is halfway up the hind leg, and the pastern is the lower part of the front leg just above the paw.

If the coat is matted anyway, we don't pull on the knots. We carefully loosen the mats by hand and work step by step. Minor knots are included in the price; for heavily matted coats, we charge 15 € per 15 minutes started. You can find out how to avoid matting in the first place in our guide Preventing matting.

Can you clip a Border Collie?

We don't clip Border Collies at GroomRoom because we always groom breeds with an undercoat by hand. Clipping removes both the undercoat and the topcoat at the same time. Both layers grow back at different rates; the undercoat can overtake the topcoat, leaving the coat uneven.

Even in summer, clipping doesn't cool them down. Dogs regulate their body temperature mainly by panting and through a few sweat glands on their paw pads. Without the insulating layer, a dog can overheat more easily and become more prone to skin problems and parasites like fleas and ticks.

Regular bathing, brushing, and combing removes the loose undercoat and lets more air through the fur. This helps your Border Collie more on warm days than clippers do. Add to that shade, fresh water, and less exercise during the hottest part of the day.

What to do about ticks after a walk in the woods?

After a walk through the woods, long grass, or meadows, check your Border Collie's coat thoroughly for ticks. Ticks live in forests, on lawns, and even in the city. Pathogens can be transmitted just three to six hours after a bite, so it pays to act quickly.

In a thick double coat, you often only see a tick when you part the hair. Here's how to remove it:

1. Part the coat until the tick is clearly visible.
2. Grab it with pointed tick tweezers as close to the skin as possible.
3. Pull it out slowly and evenly, straight upwards.
4. Don't twist or yank, otherwise the mouthparts can break off in the skin.
5. Clean the area with alcohol, wash your hands and disinfect the tweezers.

Never remove a tick with your fingers, because squeezing it can push additional pathogens into the skin. A tick hook is easier for some owners to use than tweezers. If there is redness, swelling, broken skin or pain at the site, check with your vet.

How we groom a Border Collie at GroomRoom

For the medium-length double coat, the Mini Groom is usually best. It includes washing, drying, combing, light thinning, nails, eyes, paws and sanitary trim. Thinning means lightly thinning out the coat with special scissors without visibly changing the length.

We bathe them in the Hydra tub using pH-neutral natural products from LT and Ecopets, chosen according to coat type and skin condition. When blow-drying and combing, we remove the loose undercoat layer by layer. Height-adjustable grooming tables save your dog from being lifted: the table is lowered, they step on, and then it moves up to working height.

Border Collies have a lot of energy and, according to the PDSA, need at least two hours of exercise a day. A walk before the appointment therefore often helps them stand calmly. We let every dog settle in first and take breaks; the process is described on our page How an appointment works.

Thick coats and dematting are among the specialities of Nata, our Master Groomer. You can read more about her in her profile Nata on the team. You can watch from the outside through the shop window during the groom.

How much does Border Collie grooming cost in Berlin?

Our Mini Groom for a Border Collie starts at 59 €, and the Full Groom at 79 €. Both are starting prices including VAT. We'll give you the final, binding price before the appointment after assessing your dog in person.

The Full Groom also includes ear cleaning and a breed-standard cut. You can also book individual services separately: nail clipping from 15 €, paws from 18 €, ear cleaning from 18 €. For heavily matted coats, dematting is added at 15 € for every 15 minutes started.

Payment is on collection, in cash, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. If you cancel less than 24 hours in advance, we charge 70 percent of the price. You can find all packages on the Prices page, and you can choose your preferred slot right here: Book an appointment online.

Case studies from the salon

Real appointments from GroomRoom, prices as charged (as of September 2026). The final price depends on the coat condition and will be confirmed before we start.

Pomeranian

Before

Pomeranian after six months without a salon visit, undercoat matted in places.

Treatment

Full Grooming with dematting and Pomeranian surcharge: brushing out the undercoat, bath, blow-dry, styling without clippers.

Duration

2.5 hours

Price

165 to 180 €

Groomer

Team GroomRoom

Example image

Golden Retriever

Before

Very anxious Golden Retriever, first salon visit, lots of loose undercoat.

Treatment

Full groom with breaks and a second person: bath, long blow-dry with deshedding of the undercoat, paws, nails, ears; no clipping of the double coat.

Duration

around 3 hours

Price

209 to 240 €

Groomer

Team GroomRoom