Do you always feel like you’re short on time? If so, then you’re probably looking for a canine companion that doesn’t require hours of brushing and careful trimming to keep them looking good. You also don't want to clean up tufts of dog hair.
Which dogs are low-maintenance and low-shedding?
Here’s the list:
- Vizsla
- Miniature Pinscher
- Papillon
- Cane Corso
- Pudelpointer
- Corgipoo
- Boston Terrier
- Italian Greyhound
- Whippet
- Saluki
- Basenji
- Rhodesian Ridgeback
- German Shorthaired Pointer
- American Staffordshire Terrier
- Affenpinscher
Ahead, I’ll talk more about these fascinating dogs with the no-maintenance fur, including what little care you must commit to as well as how little they shed.
Let’s get started!
1. Vizsla
The Vizsla, also known as the Hungarian Pointer, might have great hunting instincts, but he's a sweet, companionable breed and one worth considering.
The coat of the Vizsla is very close-cropped and single-layered. When you add to that the fact that the Vizsla doesn’t shed seasonally either, you have one low-shedding dog despite that the Vizsla is a bigger breed.
Maintaining the coat of your Vizsla requires only a rubber brush or bristle brush combing every week. If your Vizsla is shedding a bit more heavily, which can happen during periods throughout the year, then you could ramp up the brushing to several times a week.
The Vizsla will maintain the cleanliness of its coat on its own through cat-like licking. You should still bathe your dog, but only after several months or when he gets stinky.
The Miniature Pinscher is an adorable pup with a huge heart and a fearless streak that belies its small size.
Like the Vizsla, the Min Pin’s coat is smooth, short, and single-layered. That means you can follow a similar maintenance routine, brushing your canine maybe once a week with your trusty bristle brush. A rubber brush also does the trick.
Regular grooming should help the Min Pin control its already low rate of shedding. Since this dog is so small, when it does shed, you’d be hard-pressed to notice it. You certainly won’t have to vacuum your furniture all the time, that’s for certain!
At first glance, the Papillon looks neither low-shedding nor low-maintenance, but I promise, it’s both.
The sweet Papillon has a long but single-layered coat. The lack of an undercoat prevents this dog from shedding seasonally, although Papillons will still shed throughout the year as any dog with fur will do.
Longer fur on a dog can make you wary about its maintenance requirements, but it’s not hard to keep your Papillon looking good. Brush your dog maybe twice per week so the Pap’s coat is tangle-free and shiny. Use a metal brush or slicker brush for best results.
You might have to trim your Pap occasionally, especially around its butterflied ear hair, but this isn’t difficult to do. The dog’s hair grows the way it’s supposed to be displayed, so trimming is about controlling length if anything.
Bathe your Papillon when she starts to smell, so maybe once a month or more infrequently.
From a teeny-tiny dog to a huge breed, the Cane Corso is next on my list. This hulking canine from Italy is a guard dog, hunting pup, and a wonderful family member thanks to its kindness and obedience.
I know what you’re thinking. How in the world is a Cane Corso a low-shedding dog? That’s due to this breed's short coat.
Admittedly, that coat is double-layered, so you should expect to see an uptick in shedding around the spring into the summer and then again around the fall into the winter. Other than that though, for such a large dog, the Cane Corso sheds remarkably little.
Even better is that grooming a Cane Corso requires hardly any effort. Use a rubber or bristle brush up to twice per week on your Cane Corso to remove dead fur and keep its short coat looking luminous.
When the Cane Corso begins shedding seasonally, it’s not a bad idea to increase its brushing frequency to about every day.
Here’s another large but low-shedding and low-maintenance dog, the Pudelpointer. This German hunting dog is a crossbreed of the Pointer and the Poodle.
It’s that Poodle lineage that’s part of the reason why Pudelpointers shed surprisingly little for their size. They shed more than their Poodle parents, but not to excess. Seasonal shedding will ramp up the Pudelpointer’s rate of shedding somewhat, so be ready for that.
Bathe your Pudelpointer once every couple of months. Weekly brushing suffices for this breed as well, but like the Cane Corso, increase how often you brush the Pudelpointer during seasonal shedding spikes.
I like using a slicker brush on the Pudelpointer, as it’s a good tool for removing dead fur and spreading skin oils across the dog’s body.
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6. Corgipoo
Another crossbreed, albeit much smaller than the Pudelpointer, is the Corgipoo. This half-Corgi, half-Poodle mix might be a teeny-tiny dog if one of its parents is a Miniature or Toy Poodle. Otherwise, he’s about regular size.
The amount of hair a Corgipoo sheds depends on which parent the dog takes after more. If your Corgipoo is more Poodle, then it will shed virtually nothing. A Corgi-dominant Corgipoo could shed more.
However, since the Corgipoo isn’t a seasonal shedder and it’s not a large dog either, its rate of shedding won’t be astronomical.
To groom a Corgipoo requires brushing and washing infrequently. You should only have to brush your Corgipoo a few times per week. The longer the fur of your Corgipoo, the more careful you must be when brushing, as the dog’s hair can get matted or tangled easily. Use a pin brush or slicker brush.
7. Boston Terrier
The Boston Terrier is one of many of the Terrier breeds I’ll discuss today that are low-shedding and low-maintenance to boot.
Boston Terriers are a small United States-based dog that’s intelligent, spirited, and friendly around people. Their coats are cropped very, very close to their bodies, so when they do shed, it’s like a sprinkling of dog hair.
Well, for the most part, anyway. Although they’re clearly single-coated, Boston Terriers might still drop more hair around seasonal shifts to bulk up or shed their barely-there coat.
When it comes to grooming that cropped coat, you have to do so little that you almost won’t believe it. Boston Terriers require brushing once per week to several times a week for seasonal shedding. A soft-bristle brush or rubber brush won’t hurt your Terrier’s skin as you brush their thin coat.
Bathe your Boston Terrier several times per year and voila, you can consider your dog well-maintained.
8. Italian Greyhound
The Iggy or Italian Greyhound is a tall, statuesque dog with a coat very much like the Boston Terrier.
That coat is single-layered and cropped close to the body. Seasonal shedding isn’t something you’ll have to deal with as an Iggy owner. Their small size also is to your benefit, as it controls their rate of shedding. The Iggy is the smallest Greyhound around!
Maintaining a hair-free home requires you to brush your Iggy with a soft-bristle brush or rubber hand mitt about weekly. If you feel like it, you can brush your dog’s coat twice a week, but you shouldn’t have to do it more often than that.
Iggies are quite clean, so bathing might not happen more than once or twice per year. Be sure to trim their nails and brush their teeth using doggy-approved toothpaste regularly.
9. Whippet
With a tall, sleek profile akin to the Italian Greyhound is the Whippet. Medium-sized, this gentle, kind dog is a wonderful companion.
You might love Whippets even more due to their easy grooming. With your favorite dog-grooming brush, comb your pup about once a week. I recommend a bristle brush especially.
That’s it? That’s it! Brushing is a great way to control shedding in any dog, but the Whippet doesn’t shed much to begin with.
Their similar profile to the Greyhound is more than just a coincidence, after all. The Whippet is related to the Greyhound, so it sheds like that breed.
In other words, your Whippet should shed minimally throughout the year since the dog has a very short, single-layered coat. That being said, seasonal shedding will occur, so it’s never a bad idea to brush your Whippet more frequently then.
10. Saluki
As one of the lowest-shedding dogs on this list, the Saluki is one to pay attention to. This large sighthound is speedy on its feet but still incredibly loving and loyal.
Salukis can have two different coats. The first is short but with longer fur around the tail, legs, and ears. The second coat style is shorter throughout. Both coats feature a soft, silky texture that’s very touchable.
Whether your Saluki has some longer fur or a short coat across its body, it won’t shed all that much. That’s great news for you!
Even better is that the Saluki is not known to develop that odorous dog smell. You know the one. You might be able to go longer before bathing your Saluki.
Use a bristle brush on your Saluki’s coat one to two times every week and its coat will look shiny and remain tangle-free.
11. Basenji
The African hunting dog the Basenji is strong, smart, and low-shedding. Does it get any better? Yes, they barely need grooming!
Allow me to explain more. The Basenji has a super close-cropped coat that grows short. This breed will shed for the winter and the summer, blowing its coat for several weeks during those two seasonal periods.
Other than that, you won't have to clean up much Basenji fur if you welcome this unique breed into your home.
The shortness of the Basenji’s coat lends well to quick, easy maintenance. You can’t go wrong with a bristle brush, which you should use to comb your dog several times per week. Their already smooth coat will feel even smoother.
Like the Saluki, the Basenji is beloved for its lack of dog odor, so bathing can likely wait a few months unless your dog had a fun, muddy romp outside.
12. Rhodesian Ridgeback
Large and loveable, the intelligent Rhodesian Ridgeback is named that due to the ridge of hair on its back that grows in the opposite direction of the rest of its coat.
I know that sounds complicated, but grooming your Rhodesian Ridgeback is about as simple as can be. Brushing with a rubber brush about once a week will maintain the appealing gloss of this big breed’s coat. You’ll also pull out dead fur and prevent mats and knots.
Rhodesian Ridgebacks have short fur. Although they’re larger dogs, due to their coat length, their rate of shedding is not nearly as egregious as a similarly sized dog that has longer fur or is heavier-shedding.
13. German Shorthaired Pointer
The next Terrier on my list that’s low-shedding and low-maintenance is the German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP). A hunter and pointing dog first bred in the 1800s, the GSP has a coarse and thick coat.
You might think that spells bad news for its shedding propensity, but it doesn’t! Their coat is short, so when it sheds throughout the year, there’s not a lot of cleanup required.
That said, the German Shorthaired Pointer is a double-coated breed that sheds seasonally. By brushing your dog every day (even during lesser shedding periods), you can control excess fur.
A rubber hand mitt, fine-toothed comb, or firm bristle brush are ideal tools for navigating the thick, coarse texture of a German Shorthaired Pointer's coat.
14. American Staffordshire Terrier
The American Staffordshire Terrier or AmStaff is a Pit Bull breed that can fulfill your wishes for a dog that grooms easily and barely sheds.
AmStaffs have a wiry, short coat. Wiry-haired dogs are usually low-shedding, and that’s true of the American Staffordshire Terrier as well. The close-cropped hairs are no big deal to sweep up when they eventually come out.
You won’t have to worry about seasonal shedding in the AmStaff, which is another plus!
Every week, use a soft bristle brush to collect dead fur before it can drop. You can then use a moist cloth all over your AmStaff’s body to improve the shine of its coat even more. This is optional, but many AmStaff owners swear by it.
Bathe your American Staffordshire Terrier about every three months. There should be no need to pick up the dog-grooming scissors often either.
15. Affenpinscher
I know, the Affenpinscher seems out of place on this list since it’s a lot fuzzier than the other dog breeds I’ve talked about. Yet, believe it or not, the Affenpinscher is low-shedding and easy to groom!
A tiny fuzzball of a dog hailing from Germany, the Affen will undergo seasonal coat changes. Since it’s a small dog, you won’t have to clean up heaps of dog hair. An Affenpinscher is a relatively short-coated breed too, as its fur only grows an inch in length!
Grooming your Affenpinscher isn’t difficult nor time-consuming. Brush the coat twice per week with a slicker brush during non-seasonal periods and four times a week when seasonal shedding occurs.
You will have to trim your Affen, especially around its face, where you’ll slice at the hair until it makes an inverted V. If you’re short on time, you can always bring your dog to the groomer’s to do this precise trimming.
Bottom Line
A low-maintenance, low-shedding dog might sound too good to be true, but these breeds are out there, and they come in many shapes and sizes.
Although the dog breeds I discussed are ultra-compatible for busy people, you still must take some time to groom them, not to mention you’ll have to free up your schedule a bit to exercise your dog.
Since these breeds are known for being low-shedding, if your four-legged friend is shedding more than usual, I’d recommend a checkup with the vet to rule out allergies or illnesses.
You can also see our comprehensive guide to managing shedding if you want to learn how to keep your home as hair-free as possible.
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