Stripping my cairn terriers

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JenJen
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:31 am
Location: Kentucky

Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by JenJen »

I'm needing to strip my cairns and I've never done it before. I've always groomed my cocker but that was easy. Any tips on hand stripping? The best tools for a beginner? Videos that explain it better? Any info would be great. I've been reading a lot and watching some videos but still not grasping it. Think I might have a good idea tho. lol guess ill just have to get in there and try it. Hey I have 2 cairns so the first one will be a guano pig. Lol
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by Erica »

No personal experience, but here are some previous discussions you might find helpful. I'm sure people who know terriers/grooming more than I do will be along shortly!

Stripping vs Clipping
Stripping a Schnauzer (Schnauzers are different from other terriers, but the discussion there is relevant)
Stripping a Border Terrier

The Mars Coat King might be of interest to you. Here's a page with some before/after pictures. It's not the same as stripping but is apparently easier to learn/use.

(now I'm worried about what kind of robot ads are going to come up with all this "stripping..." haha!)
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JenJen
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:31 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by JenJen »

Thanks

Yeah I was surprised I hadn't ran into anything crazy when I was searching "stripping my dog" lol that could end badly lol
gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by gwd »

a mars coat king is a great tool for speeding up the job ......but really you can do a TON of the work with nothing more than a metal comb and your fingers.

i dont think i'm going to describe this very well but i'll give it a go. if you comb the hair straight up, you'd see that there is longer hair (usually red tipped) and then other coat that is about an inch or more shorter. the shorter stuff is the good healthy coat and that's what you're wanting to leave. take your thumb and forefinger and pluck out the longer stuff. ........this won't hurt as this hair, if you examine it, is VERY thin at the root. it's the dead coat that isn't growing any more. you'll find that your boy will look darker and his coat color will look richer after you work on him.....you might even see some of the black hairs that he probably had when he was a little guy.

the beauty of rolling the coat (which is what this is called) is that once you get it all done, a quick weekly go over should keep your boy neat and tidy. it is kind of a big job the first time but don't feel like you've got to do it all in one sitting.......

i'll see if i can find a youtube which will do a better job of explaining it than my written word will........if i find a good one i'll post it.
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gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by gwd »

ok, i did find a good youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp74hwGn6PI

and here are the mcclellen strippers that she was using.

https://www.a1petsupply.com/secure_html ... lellan.htm

i have that same set and they're at least 30 years old.......this is something you'll have for a lifetime, there is nothing to wear out. same with the mars coat king. .......

i don't know where you live but if you can tell me what city, i can look up some local dog shows in your area and those are great places to shop. even within a breed there are different coat textures and a tool that works wonderfully well on one dog may not work as well on the next.......all of the vendors at the shows will have demo tools that you can 'test drive' which is great because then you don't end up wasting money on something that doesn't work.
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bendog
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by bendog »

Proper terrier breeders (border terriers at least) won't touch the coat king.

I have one for my welshie because her skin is bad so I can't strip her, but the others are hand stripped. I tried doing it myself but some coats aren't that suitable for rolling and I always make a mess of it so now I tend to do the lakie myself and get the borders done by a groomer every six months (who will also tidy up lakies eyebrows for me at same time)
gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by gwd »

bendog wrote:Proper terrier breeders (border terriers at least) won't touch the coat king.
you're absolutely correct. hand plucking and stripping is the proper way to maintain the jacket however, the coat king is a great tool to make the job easier and if it keeps people from resorting to clippering down a terrier, i'm all for it because it's a way better option than using clippers which some pet people ask for.

i have a coat king (it does cut some coat) and i use it on some friends dogs that i've gotten roped into grooming ........nothing worse than having someone want you to turn a dog who hasn't been done in 6 months into a well groomed coat. ........
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JenJen
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:31 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by JenJen »

Thanks for the info gwd
I definitely don't want to shave them. My boss does that with his cairn and she is soft feeling. I want to keep that ruff coat. And with what I've read that's about the only way u can keep it ruff.
I found this site that has an interesting diagram.

http://www.cairnrescue.com/general/groom.htm#strip
(It has a picture with colors)
RED = Strip this area all the way down to the skin. Do NOT save any coat: everything goes!
BLUE = Strip this area 3-4 weeks after the RED area is stripped.
GREEN = Strip this area 3-4 weeks after the BLUE area is stripped.
PINK = Keep this area clean at all times.
ORANGE = The ears; they are kept short at all times.
Blend all the areas together about 3-4 weeks after the GREEN area is stripped, so that you have an even coat.

After this, you can keep the dog in a show coat by grooming one time a month and keep the dog free of any extra hair. Pay special attention to the areas around the shoulders and keep the coat on the head and legs going!

So if you go by this u don't have to worry about it all at once. Kinda like what you were saying.
I think I'm just going to try it with my fingers the first time and see how it goes.
I've been pullin a chunk of hair up and I see how there is 2 different layers. They are just 7 months but its about time for it i think. I'm going to need to do something soon because in May me a Finn are going to be Dorothy and Toto for the local libary for the kids and I want him to look his best lol
(I'm a dork and dress up to help work with the kids. Wonder Woman next month. Dorothy will be a first for me and Finlay lol)
JenJen
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:31 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Stripping my cairn terriers

Post by JenJen »

I finally got a chance to set and watch tht video and that's a good one thanks
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