[Dollydog]

I used to be a dog groomer and would hand strip terriers. Just wondering how many people out there with West Highland White Terriers and the like, actually had them hand stripped these days, or do you just go for electric shearing?

[thegroomingpad]

I groom dogs and never have westies for hand stripping, only border terriers, welsh terriers, airdales and irish. I think that the owners consider it too much up keep, only seems to be the show dogs
Ann

[Dollydog]

I thought as much really.

Most of the Westies I see nowadays look as if they have been clipped. Trouble is the undercoat stays in and a few weeks into the clip they start to look like a pillow losing it's stuffing!

A shame really, cos a well stripped westie is a smart little dog.
Mind you, I do have a soft spot for the others you mentioned as well!

[Staffi Lover!]

Can I just ask what is hand stripping? As I've never heard this term before and I am interested in knowing what it means.

Thanks

[bandit_starr06]

Do all groomed dogs benefit from hand stripping? I don't know what it is, but the comment about the undercoat sounds alot like my husky... We've taken him to a professional groomer before and within a couple weeks he had white underfur all over the house and me. I know it's from the undercoat because his whole back and the upper half of his legs are dark colored fur, not quite black but close to it. I worry about his undercoat because the summers here frequently reach 100+ degrees daily. I don't want him getting too hot and getting sick.

[Dopeydawg]

It's where you actually pull the dead coat out with your fingers or by using a stripping knife. It's not actually a knife more like a very short toothed small comb.

Most terriers can be hand stripped, because they have a coat that would normally fall out or be pulled out when working.

It is more beneficial because it takes dead undercoat with it rather than leave it behind when electric shears are used.

I think you will find that with dogs like huskies, their undercoat will shed a couple of times a year, a lot worse than the rest of the time. A heck of a good brushing is needed on a regular basis.
If you are bathing him as well, then you are constantly loosening it and bringing it to the surface, so you sort of get on a treadmill...

[bandit_starr06]

Thanks for the info... We do brush him frequently, and I've noticed he seems to shed worse at certain times of the year. I was wondering if anyone's bought that Shed Ender advertised on TV? I've been thinking about getting it for him, but it looks so small, I'd probably be using it all day.

[phoebelee]

All terriers could have this done? So my JRT should have this done, even though she's a short-hair JRT?

[Dollydog]

No, you don't need to do it to a short haired terrier. A good brushing and combing with suffice in that case. It's the longer haired ones that you can strip. You shape the length of the coat. People with show dogs still do it, but as you can see from the comments on this thread, not many pet owners do.

[phoebelee]

Gotcha. Thanks, Dollydog!