Airedale Terrier grooming in Gloucester, MA

The breed standard asks for a coat that is hard, dense and wiry, lying straight and close and covering the body and legs, and notes that some of the hardest coats crinkle or are slightly waved. At the base of that stiff hair sits a shorter growth of softer hair, the undercoat. The colors follow a fixed plan: a tan head, ears, legs and underside, and a black or dark grizzle saddle. A soft coat is among the faults the standard says should be severely penalized.

The AKC describes a long head with a sporty beard and mustache, males about 23 inches at the shoulder and a weight of 50 to 70 pounds. That is a lot of terrier to trim. The furnishings, the longer hair kept on the legs, the beard and under the chest, are what gather mud and burrs, and the beard soaks up whatever was in the water bowl or the tide pool.

The Airedale's schedule surprises owners of smaller terriers. The AKC says a full grooming, with a bath, a brush and a strip or clip, should be done three or four times a year by the owner or a professional, and that the short wire coat otherwise needs relatively little maintenance. Weekly brushing does the rest, keeping the coat looking good and taking out dead hair that would otherwise land around the house. If you like a crisper outline, book more often; that is a style choice, not a need of the coat.

Skipping the weekly brush is what costs money. The AKC advises breaking up any mat found during the weekly session with your fingers and then teasing it apart with a comb. Left for a season, the leg furnishings, the beard and the armpits can knot, and dematting is $15 per 20 minutes on top of the full service, assessed at check-in. A bath between full grooms, $65 or $75 by weight, handles a salty or muddy coat without a haircut.

A slicker or pin brush over the jacket and a metal comb through the beard and legs, once a week, is the routine for most of the year. Wash and dry the beard when it smells of dinner or low tide. The AKC's ear advice matters on a dog that pushes its head into every hedge: look inside the folded ears for seeds, sand and wax, and take anything red or smelly to your vet.

Cape Ann gives an Airedale plenty to push into. From April to November the leg hair and beard collect ticks on Dogtown Common and in Ravenswood, so make the weekly brush a tick check. In the off season The Trustees open Crane Beach in Ipswich to dogs from October 1 to March 31, free for member dogs and $5 for a nonmember dog, at the time of writing; after a run there, comb the sand out of the legs and beard once they are dry.