Ibizan Hound Grooming Guide

Two Coat Varieties

Smooth vs Wire Coat Ibizan Hounds

The Ibizan Hound comes in two coat varieties with different but equally low maintenance requirements:

Smooth coat: Short, close, and slightly glossy. Sheds very little. A weekly rubber mitt or hound glove wipe is the entire grooming routine. This is one of the lowest-maintenance coats of any large breed.

Wire coat: Rough, slightly longer (1–3 inches), harsher to the touch. Also low-shedding. Needs occasional brushing and periodic hand-stripping or trimming to keep tidy, particularly around the face and ears.

Tools Needed

Smooth coat: Rubber grooming mitt, dog shampoo, nail clippers

Wire coat: Slicker brush, wide-tooth comb, thinning shears or stripping knife for occasional tidying, dog shampoo, nail clippers

Routine Care

Weekly and Monthly Grooming

Smooth Coat: Weekly

Run a rubber mitt over the entire dog — against the grain first to lift dead hair, then with the grain to smooth. Done. This takes 5 minutes and removes essentially all loose hair. Bathe every 6–8 weeks or as needed. The smooth coat dries very quickly after a bath.

Wire Coat: Weekly/Monthly

Brush through the coat with a slicker brush weekly to prevent any matting in the longer areas. Check the face and ear fringes — these areas tangle most easily. Every 6–8 weeks, tidy the face and ear areas with thinning shears or hand-strip to maintain a neat appearance. The wire coat does not need to be stripped as aggressively as a terrier coat — occasional tidying is sufficient.

Ear Care: Both Varieties

The large, upright ears have good airflow — unlike pendant-eared breeds. This reduces but does not eliminate ear infection risk. Check ears weekly: pale pink, minimal wax, no odor is healthy. Wipe with a cotton ball dampened with ear cleaner during routine maintenance. Increase frequency if the dog swims. See your vet promptly if you observe redness, dark discharge, or odor.

Cold-Weather Considerations

Skin and Cold-Weather Care

Ibizan Hounds have very thin skin and minimal body fat — a characteristic of the sighthound type. In cold weather, this means the dog genuinely needs a coat for outdoor exercise. A dog coat that covers the torso down to mid-body provides meaningful warmth for cold-weather walks. This is not optional comfort equipment — it's temperature regulation for a breed that lacks natural cold insulation.

The thin skin also means cuts and abrasions from rough terrain are more visible on an Ibizan than on heavier-coated breeds. Check the dog after any exercise in rough or thorny terrain. Minor abrasions typically heal well; deeper cuts in this thin-skinned breed can be slower to heal.

Nails: Trim monthly. Sighthound nails can grow quickly and affect gait. Use standard dog clippers — the nails are not especially thick.

Dental: Brush 2–3 times weekly. The sighthound jaw tends toward thinner bone structure, making dental health particularly important to maintain.