Clippers

[Dogsfevr]

Clip on combs don't stop the risk of cutting the dog any of the blades/tools can cut the dog if used incorrectly .

Clip on combs are great for some coats but not all & clip ons require the coat to be matt free,you can occasionally skim over the matts & go from there but this is rare.

Clip on are an additional purchase & depending on what people are grooming a blade of similiar length will be better value as the clip ons require buying a set & they don't last for ever like blades

Blade wise

#50 is a poodle #40 is surgical or we use it on schnauzer ears

Then you have blades like #10,15 that do short cuts

#8.5,9 ,7 is a tad longer

# 4 are longer & then you have ones after that.

What is used depends on the coat ,whether the dog has a good undercoat or very little

Also whether the coat is matted also determines in the end what blades will even go through the coat

[Crazy Daisy]

Also I can't seem to get my head around the blad lengths as everyone seems to discuss different kinds (from 30# to 4F). And when you're discussing coat length, how long is short? I get my dogs clipped fairly short (well I think anyway) and from looking at a ruler I approximate their coat to be about 20mm long after clipping.

I would estimate that that would be approx a 4F or 3F.

F after a blade stands for finishing blade and much safer than a skip tooth if you are new to clipping. I personally suggest people starting out have a 7F for summer and a 3F for winter.

[Darkrai]

Ideally the cliipers you use are personal preference, as is the blade length, also a #50 clipper vac'ed lowchen bum is the best length and witht he clipper vac the clipper blade usually remian cool ;) - But clipper vacs are costly and take some getting used to lol :D

Just a question for the OP, do you know what is causing your dogs skin allergies? Clipping down short and then washing in a treated shampoo etc can help, but finding the main cause helps more...