Stripping in the Winter

[kjwarnold]

Kirby is a hairy yak right now and in need of stripping. He's got a great outer coat but virtually no undercoat. I'm afraid if I strip him right now, he'll freeze without that thick outer coat to keep him insulated. What do you do in the winter? Do you just let them run around shaggy and wait until it's warmer or do you you strip? We don't show him, so that's not the issue.

[Hawkeye]

Bailey has the same coat as your Kirby...not much of an undercoat. So I've been stripping a little at a time. I must confess I didn't keep on top of it for a while so the coarse hair got to be all one lenght, so I've been doing a little at a time to get the different lengths again and not take all of the outer coat off. Also I'm putting him out with a winter coat to keep him warm.

[Tracy A.]

I'll confess that I will roll a dead coat just to keep from stripping a dog naked. I would just strip off the very longest hairs and just tidy the dog up a bit... this is where using a comb and pumice stone come in handy.

[Tracy A.]

I'll confess that I will roll a dead coat just to keep from stripping a dog naked. I would just strip off the very longest hairs and just tidy the dog up a bit... this is where using a comb and pumice stone come in handy.

Oh and grooming the face and legs always do wonders to improve the look.

[Nikki]

I rolled the coat a lil the other day...it is still a lil more shaggy than the last time tracy stripped Angel

I also cleaned up the face and cut the crazy bangs scotty has

[2crazycairns]

I had this question run through my head about 10 days ago too. Gus is just 11 months now and still working on a 'real' coat so I was loathe to strip too much off of him when we hit that really bad streak of single digit weather. He looks kinda dreadful but we do keep him brushed and clean.

We're taking him to get a Cairn cut for his first birthday the end of January.

[JimS]

Well... I'm new to all this and lost. I have no idea what you folks mean when you say "stripping".

And.. "pumice stone"?

As you can see my guy looks like the dog in Nikki's avatar. Is his coat somehow wrong or in need of some sort of change?

He has his first grooming appointment on Jan 15 but his groomer is not a Cairn expert or anything so is there something particular to a Cairns coat that we need to know?

[Tracy A.]

Well... I'm new to all this and lost. I have no idea what you folks mean when you say "stripping".

And.. "pumice stone"?

As you can see my guy looks like the dog in Nikki's avatar. Is his coat somehow wrong or in need of some sort of change?

He has his first grooming appointment on Jan 15 but his groomer is not a Cairn expert or anything so is there something particular to a Cairns coat that we need to know?

Hi Jim,

A picture is worth a thousand words.... here is a link to a post from earlier this year with stripping photos Home Hand stripping

My perfered method is to use a comb and pumice stone, other like to use finger cots... it comes down to what your comfortable with.

[Nikki]

this is my before and after grooming with Tracy on Angel the dog in my avatar before and after photos

{that photo is from Jan 2009 she was defiantly looking like a yak...but a cute yak }

[Tracy A.]

{that photo is from Jan 2009 she was defiantly looking like a yak...but a cute yak }

And I was worried that I might have offended you when (pre grooming) I called her a Yak! LOL

[Nikki]

lol no you didn't she was REALLY shaggy then

[kintra]

I still like to keep up on stripping Zach's coat in the winter - to keep it in condition and so it's more water repellent. I usually try to take his leg hair/belly hair even shorter than normal to help with the "snowball effect". I stay close to the door when he's out in the yard so I can let him in as soon as he starts to get chilly. My "weapon of choice" is a medium stripping knife, but I will resort to finger pulling when I start getting nit-picky

[kjwarnold]

I like the idea of stripping the leg hair short to avoid so many snowballs on the legs. I'll have to follow up on that, especially since we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow night.

[hheldorfer]

Buffy has the "hairy yak" look right now, too. I've been stripping a little at a time because I'm always afraid I'll take too much coat. After 30 minutes of work, however, she still looks the same. If I strip a lot of coat off, how long will it take to grow back? I don't want the other dogs to be laughing at her when we go to the dog park!

[bradl]

Coat grows at different rates on different parts of the body. I've heard about 1/2 inch per month offered as a rule of thumb for the jacket. Seems about right.

[MacFluff]

If I don't strip Sully & Sarah regularly, they look like wild things-- a cross between Hairy Yaks and lizards from Jurrasic Park (the ones that shoot out their scary sideburns before they spit and attack). Sarah looks like lizard girl now. They have good undercoats, though.

I use a tool that a groomer friend told me about. I went right to Dressler's and bought it. Now, of course, I can't remember what it is called. I'd have to go home and look. It is metal and it looks like a rake. It strips the hair great. They don't seem to mind it so much as using the stripping tool. It is more like brushing them.

Gracie -- now 6 months! -- is just trying to get her cairn coat. She looks more like a cross between a teddy bear and a lion's head. lol She makes me laugh just looking at her. Just getting her used to the rake and the grinder on her nails.

Puppys. Gotta love 'em.

[dinib]

lizards from Jurrasic Park (the ones that shoot out their scary sideburns before they spit and attack

That is EXACTLY how I described my Gracie (11 mo)! Lately, I've been calling her Darth Vader or bucket head because her helmet head hair is a mess. I've been trying to work on her head, but she is still too squirrely for me to get too much off at one sitting.

[bradl]

Oh dear. Good description -- eerily familiar