Lots of undercoat

[mikey_lover]

My male carin Mikey has a lot of undercoat and not much of the hardcoat. The only hardcoat he has is on his back. His undercoat curls and he looks more like a bear than a carin! We try and keep him groomed as best we can, his nailed ground and teeth brushed. We would like to try and take care of the undercoat issue ourselves but don't quite know how to go about it. We have stripping knives and I have heard that using that can help strip out the undercoat. We have tried to pull it and it does not react to pulling like the dead hardcoat does. What do you all recommend?

Thanks,

Jim

[PFlynn006]

I have found that taking a silver comb and going "against the grain" works on our Cairn.

Patty

[kjwarnold]

Packy has a lot of undercoat, too, and I've found that the Furminator works pretty well to thin it out. A flea comb seems to take it out, too, but takes longer.

[lindasue]

I use the stripping knive on Pegi (the one w/7 teeth). It works great; although it definitely is NOT her favorite thing. I have to keep a handful of treats available....and try to do it when she's had a very busy day and is kind of tired.

[Tracy A.]

I use a fine tooth stripping knife and a furminator... and a flea comb... and the mars coat king for undercoat. Mettwurt has a very thick dense undercoat! A groomer showed me by using the coat king in very short strokes then using a fine comb you can really get a massive amount of undercoat out.

[jimnconnie]

Bailey has a heavy undercoat too. At every brushing session I start with a pin brush, and brush in the opposite direction that the coat lies (back-combing). Next I use the wide-toothed end of the metal comb, again back-combing. Next I back-comb with the other end (finer teeth) of the comb. Finally, I comb in the direction that the hair normally lies. Each step removes more & more undercoat. Thorough & vigorous brushing/combing will remove lots of undercoat, and leave the dog's coat cleaner, fresher smelling, and stimulate new coat growth. Of course you can buy tools that remove undercoat, but you can accomplish a lot with just a pin-brush & comb.

Jim

[kintra]

To use a stripping knife to remove undercoat, you must comb it through the coat. It is different from stripping where you're pulling the top coat out.

I personally use a combination of brushing, combing w/ the stripping knife, and a Furminator to control undercoat.