This is a specific conversation about Dog grooming tools — what you actually need — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A short-coated rescue Pitbull and a long-coated Lhasa Apso in the same house — that's about as far apart as two coats can get, so I completely understand wanting to avoid buying a separate kit for each. The good news is there's more overlap than you'd expect. Before I point you in any direction though: how long is the Lhasa's coat right now — kept long and flowing, or trimmed into a shorter puppy cut? And is the Pitbull showing any skin sensitivity or just needs general maintenance? That changes things a bit.
The Lhasa is kept in a full long coat, she's a show dog so we maintain it properly. The Pitbull is just a short coat rescue, no known skin issues, but he does shed a surprising amount for a short-haired dog.
inparticular.ai
That's really helpful — a full long coat on a Lhasa needs very different things to a Pitbull's short dense coat, but the area of overlap is a good quality slicker brush. For the Lhasa it's non-negotiable: you need it to line-brush through that coat section by section, especially at the armpits and behind the ears where mats form. For the Pitbull, a slicker actually works surprisingly well to lift dead undercoat hairs and stimulate the skin, better than most people expect on short coats. What you do NOT want is a deshedding blade or Furminator on the Lhasa — it will snap and thin the coat out. Does the Lhasa have any current matting you're working through, or is the coat in good condition?
Coat is in good condition, we're pretty on top of it. So you're saying one slicker brush could work for both?
inparticular.ai
Yes, with the right one. Not all slickers are equal — the pin length and pad flexibility matter a lot. For a full Lhasa coat you need longer, slightly flexible pins that can reach the skin without scratching. A stiff, short-pin slicker won't penetrate the coat and you'll just be brushing the surface. My recommendation is the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush — it's what most serious Lhasa and Shih Tzu owners use, and it's big enough that it won't take you all day on the Pitbull either. The curved pins are gentle enough for long coats but firm enough to shift the Pitbull's dead short hairs effectively. It's expensive compared to a pet shop brush, around £35-40 on Amazon UK, but it's the one tool that genuinely crosses over between these two coat types without compromising either.
That's more than I expected to spend on a brush but if it's truly doing both jobs I can see the logic. Is there anything else I'd need or is that really it?
inparticular.ai
Honestly for day-to-day maintenance, the Big G is the workhorse. The one thing I'd add — and it's cheap — is a greyhound comb for the Lhasa. After you slicker brush, you run the comb through to confirm there are no tangles hiding underneath. The comb catches what the brush misses. A basic metal greyhound comb costs about £8 on Amazon UK and it'll last forever. That's two tools total, both do their jobs properly, and neither of them touches the Pitbull's coat in a way that would cause any issue. You don't need a separate shedding tool for the Pitbull — the Big G handles it.
Perfect, that's exactly what I needed. I didn't want to end up with a drawer full of brushes that only work on one dog.
inparticular.ai
That's the right instinct — most people overbuy because packaging makes every tool look essential. For your two, it really is just the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker and a greyhound comb. The Big G in particular is one of those tools where once you use it on the Lhasa you'll understand why the show dog community swears by it. Good luck with both of them.
