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Angus hasn't been stripped for more than two years. My friend brushes him now and then and once in a while she trims the hair over his eyes. His coat is very harsh on top and lays close over his thick soft undercoat. It is thickest over his shoulders. This is a working cairn's coat I always think. The coat of a cairn who runs in the mist and rain and digs into a tunnel to chase out its usually angry resident. He can run in any weather and his skin never gets wet. Snow and rain cannot pierce that thick cover. It always smells so sweet like no other dog's coat I've known.  Of course there are many kinds of coats on our cairns softer, longer etc. Many modern cairns are much larger than in the past and have much longer outer coats which may need attention. There's no one way - they are all so different. Here's Angus when I stripped him regularly and nowadays. His coat is darker red now and he's got a lot more muscle on him with all that hunting and running. Then he was a pretty young fellow - now he's real (fairly) tough guy!  

welcome, so glad you are getting into cairn world. and congratulations on your lovely noodle. she is going to take you for a raucous ride. congratulations!

Congratulations on your newest family member! This is a great site for information that you'll be searching for throughout your adventure with Noodle. I agree with Dianne! No Cairn forum introduction is complete without pics because...well, because we here, all love looking at pics of Cairns. Especially Cairn puppies!

If one really thinks about it Mother Nature never meant us to “strip” or alter our Cairns coats very much as why do we alter so many breeds appearances?  Would a good brushing not do? Are we just doing all this fussing about not for the animals sake but for our own idea of what a perfect Cairn looks like?   PS.... I am chuckling because I am pretty sure Chuck(Idaho Cairns) would have jumped into this conversation, posting pictures of his fluffy pups Sammi and Bonnie. 

Still love the "yak" look.  Always tell our friend who strips the boys to "leave it long on the top."  And she never does...sigh...