17 Best Dog Brushes And Combs In 2024

Today, with hundreds of different dog grooming brushes and combs available on the market, it is easy to get lost and end up buying the wrong things. Some dogs owner just have a habit of buying any dog brush or comb without knowing exactly what is the function of the brush or comb.

You know, it’s really important to know exactly what kind of dog grooming tools that you are looking for, what is the function and what is the goal that you want to achieve from every grooming session.

In this article, you are going to learn different types of dog brushes and combs, what are their uses, and which ones are the best dog brushes and combs.

1. Dog Brush

Dog Brush is an indispensable tool for grooming dogs. There are so many benefits that you can get from doing regular brushing such as:

Removing loose hair
Smoothing fur
Making your dog’s skin shine
Reducing excessive shedding

Today, you can find different types of dog brushes available, they are varied in sizes and shapes and made from different materials.

2. Dog Bristle Brush

The bristle brush can be used for all coat types. It is designed to remove loose hair and dander, smooth fur and help spread healthy skin oils for the high luster and shine. Typically, a bristle brush is used on a short-haired dog with a sleek coat.

In general, if you have a long-haired dog then you should use longer and widely spaced bristles, but if you have a short-haired dog, you should use the shorter and tightly bristle.

3. Pin Brush for Dogs

A pin brush is used to remove tangles and mats in fur. Most pin brushes are made of wooden brushes and wire pins, that’s why some people call it “wire-pin brushes”. The pin brush also has a protective ball that is used to prevent scratching.

A pin brush is the best dog brush used for long-coated and double-coated dogs.

Few popular breeds to use the pin brush on Miniature Poodle, Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Afghans Hound, Schnauzer, Bichon Frise, Bolognese, Setters, Yorkshire Terrier, Bedlington Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier.

What are the mats?

Mats are nasty entanglements of hair that have formed knots tight enough so it is difficult to brush and comb. Mats tend to form on dogs with thick, long, curly, or double-coated dogs and can be found in the areas with longer hair such as ears, paw, armpits, tails, and base of the legs.

4. Double-Sided Brush for Dogs

As you might have already guessed from the name, a double-sided brush is a combination between the bristle brush and pin brush. It offers the benefits of pin brush and bristle brush all in one package. A double-sided brush is useful for medium to long-haired dogs.

Best Double-Sided Brush For Dogs

The For Your Dog Combo Brush offers the benefits of pin brush and bristle brush in one package. It features a pin brush on one side for de-tangling and loosening dead fur and a bristle brush on the other side for removing loose fur, dirt, and debris and spreading healthy skin oils for creating shine.

It features an ergonomic handle for extra comfort and control. The price of the brush is a steal when you consider the quality and durability. I have seen other brands sold for as much as twice the price with the same benefits if not less!

How to Brush Your Dog

Now, it’s time to learn how to brush your dog. The video below will teach you everything you need to know to brush your dog.

5. Dog Slicker Brush

It’s very easy to spot a slicker brush. The brush has a flat or slightly curved base, and the base is covered with fine, short wire bristles. The bristles are often bent at an angle halfway down or have protective nubs to prevent damage to the skin.

A slicker brush is usually used after brushing session with a bristle or pin brush to remove knots, tangles, and smooth the coat. The brush is also effective to remove mats, trapped dirt, and dander from the dog undercoat.

A slicker brush is the best dog brush for a medium or long coat dogs, dogs with curly coats, and dogs that shed a lot.

Remember to be gentle when you use the slicker brush and not to apply too much pressure since the fine wire bristles can scratch the skin.

Best Slicker Brush for Dogs

The Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is my top pick for the best slicker brush for dogs. You can remove this brush to remove mats, loose hair, eliminate tangles, knots, dander and trapped dirt.

Two things that I like about Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is the bristles and the easy to clean feature. The bristles are fine bent wires. This design ensures deep penetration into the coat without scratching your dog’s skin.

And the easy to clean feature is a handy feature to remove all the hair from the brush. All you need to do, just click the button, and bristles retract back into the brush, making it really easy to clean all the hair from the brush after each brushing session.

6. Curry Brush (or Rubber Brush) for Dogs

Curry brush is a multi-functional brush made of rubber or plastic. The name of a curry brush comes from the fact that you need to curry or rub the brush over the dog’s coat. Curry brush is best used for short hair dog that sheds a lot.

The brush is used to loosen dirt, remove loose hair and helps massage the skin to produce and spread natural oils, making it shiny. Remember, always choose a curry brush that is made of rubber teeth.

Why?

Because the rubber material works like magic to attract loose hair.

Best Curry Brush for Dogs

The FURminator Curry Comb is made by FURminator, a well-known pet company that makes dog grooming tools. Aside from the basic functions such as removing loose hair, the comb also features molded rubber teeth and antimicrobial plastic.

The molded rubber teeth are used to stimulate your dog’s skin to produce natural oils, making the coat healthy and shiny.

The comb is wrapped with anti-bacterial plastic that helps to protect you and your dog from germs and bacteria. FURminator Curry Comb also features ergonomic handle to make it secure and comfortable.

7. Rubber Brush for Dogs

A rubber brush is a brush that is completely rubber. This brush is great for use as a shampooing brush for bath time.

Best Rubber Brush for Dogs

The Kong ZoomGroom is great for use as grooming and shampooing brush. It removes loose hair easily since the rubber material attracts hair like a magnet, and stimulates capillaries and skin to produce natural oils.

The Difference Between Brush and Comb

At this point, you might be wondering what is the difference between a dog brush and comb. Brushes are used for maintenance activities such as removing dirt, mats, and dead fur. While combs are used for more essentials stuff such as removing excessive fur, and big fleas.

So you can view brush as a daily vitamin to maintain your condition, and comb as a medicine when the problems become severe.

8. Dog Metal Comb

Dog metal comb is useful for a dog with a thick overcoat such as Afghan, German Shepherd, or Schnauzers. The metal comb is useful to untangle knots or dead hair in the areas that are easy to miss such as toes, between toes and tail.

A metal comb is usually combined with a slicker brush as a second time combing. The slicker brush is used for brushing the outer coat while the metal comb is used for brushing the inner coat. However, you should be careful when you use a metal comb because it can be rough and scratch your dog’s skin.

9. Flea Comb for Dogs

Flea comb for dogs is used to get rid of fleas, debris, flea dirt, and eggs. The teeth are designed to be extremely close together so they can pull out fleas and debris out of the fur effectively.

A flea comb is used as a first aid to treat fleas infestation. If you suspect that your poor dog has fleas, the first thing that you should do is to run the flea comb through the fur.

How to Use A Flea Comb

Before we continue, it’s obvious you need to get a flea comb first. There are several options out there but I would recommend Safari Flea Comb with a Double Row of Teeth.

Best Flea Comb for Dogs

The Safari Flea Comb is used as an early warning tool to detect fleas and identify skin and coat problems. It has two sets of metal teeth to catch fleas and debris when you use it to comb your dog.

There are 5 reasons why you should use Safari Flea Comb:

Safari Flea Comb is a useful tool to remove fleas, debris and dandruff flakes to keep your pet well-groomed.
It helps to detect fleas early and reduce the possibility of larger fleas infestation. The comb is used to reduce stray dog hair around your home.
It can reduce knots, shedding, and matting.
It can be used for all dog breeds.

Prepare A Bowl of Hot Soapy Water

Before you begin combing, you need to fill a bowl or bucket with hot and soapy water. The soapy solution is used to kill fleas that you find when you comb your dog. You need to make sure that the bowl is deep enough so no flea will be able to escape.

After you finish preparing the soapy solution, the next step is to prepare the comb location. I would recommend combing your dog outside to keep any flea eggs away from your home.

Let’s Begin The Combing

The video below will teach you everything you need to know to start flea combing your dog.

10. Dog Stripping Knife

Stripping knives are most often used to show dogs such as terriers and schnauzers. The knives are used to hand stripping the dogs and tidy up their appearances, they work by pulling out the longer hairs by the roots.

There are four types of stripping knives namely extra-fine, fine, medium, and coarse.

Extra Fine is used for head, ears and detail work.
Fine is used for the head, neck, and general finishing.
Medium is for general body stripping.
Coarse is for body stripping on large breeds or extra-coarse coats

Best Dog Stripping Knives

Tamsco Stripping Knives Set of 4 are my favorite stripping knives. You can get four types of stripping knives in one package. The knives feature extra-long clamp curved, foam handles, and zipper case.

Watch the video below to learn how to use stripping knives to hand stripping your dog.

Some Tips to Remember:

Don’t bathe your dog before stripping. Bathing your dog will prevent you from getting a good grip on the hair.
Use grooming chalk on the targeted area where you will be pulling out the hair to help you get a better grip.

11. Dematting Comb for Dogs

If you have a long-haired, dense coated dog with dreaded mats and tangles problems then it’s the time to use a de-matting comb.

Best Dematting Comb

GoPets Dematting Comb works to clear all sorts of mats and tangles. The comb is designed to work with dogs of all sizes, with different coats and different breeds.

The comb features sharp teeth to prevent pulling hairs and rounded ends that help to make the comb safer if your dog has sensitive skin. The comb also features double-sided comb with lower density side is used for stubborn mats, and tangles while a higher density side is used for thinning, and de-shedding.

12. Grooming Comb for Dogs

Grooming comb is usually used for combing dogs with thick, wooly, and curly fur. The comb is recognizable by its wide-spaced teeth. The wide-spaced teeth allow you to untangle knots without causing breakage.

Best Dog Grooming Comb

Andis Pet Steel Grooming Comb is a very sturdy comb ideal for dogs with a thick overcoat. The comb is available in two different sizes: 7 1/2 and 10 inches.

It is useful to remove tangles, mats, loose hair, dirt and stimulates skin and hair follicles to produce skin’s natural oils.

13. Moulting Comb for Dogs

Moulting comb is an ideal tool for removing hair and knots for double-coated dogs. The comb is easily recognizable by its unique shape featuring two pin lengths, as you can see from the picture above.

The long pins are useful for removing knots by penetrating the topcoat, while the short pins are helpful to collect the molted fur.

Best Moulting Comb for Dogs

Moulting comb for dogs by Rosewood is our favorite moulting comb. If you need moulting comb, just look for this one.

14. Matt Splitter

Matt splitter is a tool used by groomers to slice a large mat into narrower pieces.

Best Matt Splitter for Dogs

Master Grooming Tools Mats & Tangler Splitter is designed to effectively pierce through tough tangles and slice them away. It’s a strong and durable tool that will last for years.

15. Mat Breaker for Dogs

Mat Breaker is a grooming tool used for removing dog hair knots. The tool is recognizable by the design of its sharp blade. The sharp blades will slice through the dog’s hair and break large mats of hair into manageable sections.

This tool is a lot better than cutting tool as it preserves the length of your dog’s fur. However, you need to be careful not to damage your dog’s skin when you are using this tool. Don’t use this tool on smooth-coated dogs.

Best Mat Breaker for Dogs

Alfie Pet by Petoga Couture – Devin 6.75-Inch Mat Breaker can quickly and easily remove loose hair, mats, and tangles. Alfie Pet is also equipped with a grip handle for ease of use and maximum control.

16. Shedding Blade for Dogs

A shedding blade, also known as shedding comb, is a looped piece of metal with short, dull teeth on each side to remove any loose hair. This tool is best used on dogs that shed a lot. Regular grooming with a shedding blade will prevent you from having to continuously clean up your home from falling dog fur.

The shedding blade is completely safe and will not cause any harm to your dog. Just make sure you purchase a shedding blade that is appropriate for your dog size.

And don’t forget to watch the video below before using the shedding blade on your dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8euu42n8E

Warning

Don’t use the shedding blade on sensitive areas such as the dog’s face, legs, tails, and ears, as well as any other areas that have been injured before.

Best Shedding Blade for Dogs

Safari Dual Sided, Stainless Steel Shedding Blade is designed to remove any loose hair and debris that would otherwise be shed off and fall to the ground. Featuring dual-sided dog shedding blade with coarse and fine edges.

17. Deshedding Tool for Dogs

Deshedding tool helps to reduce shedding in dogs by removing a large amount of loose/dead hair in one session. Often times, the decrease in shedding is noticeable after just one or two sessions. The de-shedding tool is best used on double-coated dogs or dogs that shed a lot.

Whether you are professional groomers or regular dog owners, you must have this tool.

Best Dog Deshedding Tool

Furminator is the leading brand in the de-shedding tool industry. The tool is a little bit expensive compared with some of the basic dog grooming tools, but it does a great job to reduce shedding and remove excess hair from double-coated dogs. Furminator is also quite safe and easy to use with a durable and comfortable design.