Wahl Thick Coat Pet Clipper (#9787-300) Review: a serious corded clipper for thick, stubborn fur

I picked up the Wahl Professional Animal Thick Coat clipper (#9787-300, the pink one) because my cheap pet-store trimmer was basically bouncing off my dog’s coat. I’ve got a small doodle with dense, curly hair and a long-haired cat that mats if you look at him wrong. I was tired of paying for grooming every 6–8 weeks, so the idea was: get one solid, corded clipper that can actually cut through thick fur without jamming every 10 seconds.

Right away, this thing feels like a proper tool, not a plastic toy. It’s heavier than the cordless budget stuff but still manageable, and when you flip it on you can tell the motor means business. It’s not whisper quiet, but it’s less whiny and annoying than the cheap clippers I had before. My dog noticed the sound but didn’t freak out like she usually does with the little vibrating bricks I used to use.

Important detail: this comes with a #7F blade, not a #10 like a lot of basic kits. That means it leaves the coat a bit longer (around 3.8 mm), and it’s meant for going through thicker coats. Also, that 7F blade does not take clip-on guide combs, which is something Wahl doesn’t make crystal clear in big letters. If you want different lengths, you’ll be buying extra blades, not snapping on plastic guards like human clippers.

After a few full grooms, my quick summary is: it cuts very well through thick, clean fur and saves a lot of time, but it’s not idiot-proof. You need to learn about blade heat, coat prep, and how to handle mats safely. If you’re expecting a magic wand that just erases months of tangles on a dirty dog, you’re going to be disappointed and you might hurt your pet.

Price-wise, this Wahl Thick Coat clipper sits clearly above the usual Amazon no-name pet trimmers and even above some of Wahl’s own entry-level dog clippers. You’re paying for a corded, high-power, 2-speed motor and a proper 7F blade that’s meant for thick coats. If you’re only doing a quick paw trim once every few months, this is overkill. For that, a cheap cordless unit is fine, even if it struggles a bit.

Where the value shows up is if you’ve got: 1) a dog with a dense, curly or double coat, or 2) a long-haired cat that mats and needs regular sanitary and belly trims. In those cases, the time saved and the reduced frustration are real. I went from dreading grooming day to just blocking off half an hour and getting it done. If you’re currently paying a groomer every 6–8 weeks, this clipper pays for itself in a few sessions, assuming you’re willing to learn the basics and accept that your early haircuts might look a bit uneven.

On the downside, the kit is bare minimum. You’ll likely need to buy at least one more blade for a different length, plus coolant spray and maybe a brush or comb if you don’t already have them. Also, the fact that the included 7F blade doesn’t work with guide combs means extra cost if you want more versatility. So the real “system cost” is higher than just the clipper price.

So in terms of value: for casual users with easy coats, it’s probably more than you need. For people with thick-coated pets who are fed up with weak clippers and grooming bills, it’s a solid investment—as long as you accept the maintenance and learning curve. It’s not cheap, but it actually does the job it claims to do, which is more than I can say for a lot of the cheaper stuff I’ve tried.

Design-wise, it’s fairly straightforward. The housing is a pink (more like orchid) plastic body with a simple slider switch in the middle for off/low/high. No display, no battery indicator because it’s corded, nothing fancy. It fits reasonably well in the hand; I don’t have huge hands and I can hold it comfortably for a full groom. It’s about 7 inches long and under a pound, so it’s lighter than it looks, especially compared to older pro clippers.

The cord is long enough that I can move around my grooming table (which is really just a sturdy table with a mat) without constantly yanking it. It’s not super thick or heavily reinforced near the clipper body, and this is where a lot of groomers warned about cord wear. You can tell that if you twist or bend it a lot at the base over time, it might eventually fail. I ended up doing what one reviewer suggested: I wrapped a bit of electrical tape around that area as a cheap reinforcement. Doesn’t look pretty, but it gives me some peace of mind.

The two-speed switch is easy to flip with your thumb while you’re working, which is nice when you hit a thicker patch and want a bit more power. The downside is, if you’re clumsy, you can also bump it accidentally. It didn’t happen often for me, but once or twice I switched to high speed without meaning to. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. The body doesn’t get very hot; the heat issue is almost entirely in the blade.

Noise and vibration are moderate. It’s not silent, but compared to cheap cordless pet clippers I’ve used, the sound is deeper and less buzzy. My dog tolerated it better than the smaller clippers, and my cat, who’s usually suspicious of anything that hums, handled a sanitary trim without panicking. So from a design standpoint, it’s pretty functional, no-frills, and clearly built around the motor and blade more than looks or fancy ergonomics.

From a user comfort point of view, I’d say it’s pretty solid, but not perfect. The weight is light enough that my wrist didn’t complain, even after doing a full dog and then a quick tidy-up on the cat in the same afternoon. The body shape is simple and doesn’t have a ton of rubber grip or anything, but it never felt like it was going to slip out of my hand. The main thing you feel after a while is a bit of vibration, especially on the higher speed, but it’s not extreme.

Noise-wise, it’s quieter than my cheap cordless clippers but louder than a basic human beard trimmer. It’s a low mechanical hum rather than a high-pitched whine. My dog was mildly wary at first, but after a couple of minutes she relaxed. My cat is more sensitive, and it took a slow introduction—turning it on away from him, giving treats, then bringing it closer. Once I actually started trimming, he tolerated it better than the old, weaker clipper that used to snag his fur.

For the pets, the big comfort factor isn’t just noise and vibration, it’s whether the blade tugs. With this Wahl, as long as the coat is clean and brushed, I didn’t feel any pulling. The cat, who usually bites when something snags, didn’t bite once. That’s a big difference compared to the cheap trimmer that would jam on his undercoat every other stroke. However, the comfort drops quickly if you let the blade get hot. That’s on the user, not the machine, but it affects the overall experience a lot.

The cord is both a plus and a minus for comfort. On the plus side, no worrying about batteries dying mid-groom. On the minus side, you do have to manage the cord around the table and your pet so you don’t spook them or tangle it around their legs. After a couple of sessions I got used to it, but if you’re coming from cordless, it’s something you notice right away.

I haven’t had this clipper for years yet, but based on a few months of use plus what pros report, the motor and body seem built to last if you treat it like an actual tool. The housing doesn’t flex or creak, and there’s no rattle when it’s running. I’ve accidentally knocked it over on the table once—no damage, no weird noise afterwards. It doesn’t feel fragile at all.

The two main durability concerns I see are the cord and the blade maintenance. The cord, like many people mention, is the weak spot over time. All corded clippers eventually have issues if the cord is constantly bent at the same point. This one isn’t worse than others I’ve seen, but it’s not heavily reinforced either. If you’re a pro using it all day, you’ll probably need a cord replacement at some point. As a regular pet owner using it every few weeks, I’m just being careful not to twist it hard and I added that tape reinforcement. So far, no issues.

Blades are another story: they will dull, and they will heat up. That’s normal, not a defect. The included 7F is from Wahl’s Ultimate Competition line, which is decent quality, but you still have to oil before and during use, clean it after, and occasionally get it sharpened or replaced. If you skip oiling, the blade will wear faster, run rougher, and overheat even more. That’s on the user, not the product, but it affects how long the whole setup feels “like new.”

Given the 2-year limited warranty and Wahl’s history with animal clippers, I’m fairly confident the clipper itself will handle home use for a long time. Just don’t expect it to be maintenance-free. This is not a plug-and-forget gadget; it’s more like a power tool. Take five minutes to clean and oil it after each session, and it should keep performing well. Ignore that, and you’ll probably join the negative reviews about it pulling or running hot.

This is where this clipper actually earns its price. On a clean, dry, brushed-out coat, it goes through thick fur very easily. On my doodle’s curly coat, with the 7F blade that comes on it, it felt like cutting through soft foam instead of fighting every inch. I went from roughly an hour and a half of struggling with a cheap clipper to about 30–35 minutes for a full body clip, including a few breaks to check blade heat.

On my long-haired cat, same story as one of the Amazon reviewers: sanitary area and belly trims are way faster and there’s no tugging if the fur is brushed and not matted to hell. The design of the blade and the power behind it means the hair actually falls away instead of getting packed into the teeth. With my old trimmer, I had to stop every pass to pull hair out of the blade. With this, I can go several long passes before needing to brush the blade clean.

Where people get into trouble is mats and tangles. This thing is strong, but it’s not magic. If the coat is badly matted to the skin, you can’t just ram the blade through and hope for the best. I tried it on a couple of small mats on the inside of the legs and quickly saw how easy it would be to catch skin if you don’t keep the skin pulled tight and let the blade do the work. For serious matting, I honestly would rather pay a groomer or vet than risk slicing my pet because I got impatient.

One critical point: the blade heats up fast, especially on high speed. After about 5–7 minutes of almost continuous clipping, the blade was already pretty warm. You absolutely have to check it on your forearm or wrist and use coolant or swap blades. If you’re lazy about this, you will burn your dog or cat. The motor itself has plenty of power and never bogged down on thick but properly prepped fur, so in terms of raw cutting ability, it’s strong. Just understand that the performance is tied to good prep and regular blade maintenance, not just pressing harder.

Out of the box, the kit is pretty bare-bones but focused on the clipper itself. You get: the clipper with a #7F Ultimate Competition blade already mounted, a small bottle of blade oil, a cleaning brush, and a basic instruction booklet. That’s it. No fancy grooming scissors, no combs, and, importantly, no guide combs because the included 7F blade simply doesn’t take them.

The instructions are short but at least they explain the two-speed switch: center is off, one side is low, the other is high. There’s nothing complicated there. What the booklet doesn’t really hammer home is how fast blades heat up at these speeds. Based on the reviews and my own use, you really want to add to this kit yourself: cooling spray, at least one spare blade, and maybe a ceramic tile or something similar to rest hot blades on. Without that, you’ll constantly be stopping to let the blade cool.

I’d call this a professional-style clipper sold to regular owners. The packaging and description kind of gloss over the fact that this is closer to what groomers use, not the usual DIY pet trimmer. The Amazon page brags about being for thick coats and heavy-duty use, which is accurate, but it doesn’t clearly set expectations about the learning curve. If you’ve never used real animal clippers, you might think it’s plug-and-play. It isn’t. You have to prep the coat and learn to check blade temperature.

Overall, in terms of what’s included, it’s pretty minimal but focused on quality of the clipper itself. If you’re used to those big “all-in-one grooming kits” with a bunch of cheap plastic accessories, this is the opposite: one solid tool and a couple of basic maintenance items, and you’re expected to figure out the rest or buy extras.