Does he have to be stripped?

[bradl]

Looking good!

I'm somewhat partial to a ruff. Gives a varmint something to grab onto other than actual neck

Recent trends seem to be toward shorter coats, with the head seemingly blended more sharply into the neck, so a nice scruffy ruff is rarer than it used to be. I like 'em.

Splinters of Twobees b. 01/15/33.

Brindie of Twobees

[Hillscreek]

I'm glad you think he's coming along OK Brad. Thanks.

Yes I kinda like the ruff but hadn't seen it on any dogs. Those pics show it well. I guess I'll keep it. It is a wheatenish color with black tips to the hairs. Pretty handsome I think!

[Hez]

My breeder told me it comes from wearing a collar. it is supposed to be worst with a flat collar and can be reduced by using a rolled leather one. I got Gus one from place in the US, but he still has it a bit even with his new collar and coat.

[Hillscreek]

The flat collar compresses the coat so there appears to be a ridge or ruff on the neck.

However the real ruff is longer hair that grows round the neck and forms a distinct line or ruff.

Angus wears a flat leather collar much of the time and the hair underneath in flattened or compressed. When I take his collar off there are two lines one from the collar and one from the actual ruff.

Perhaps all cairns do not grow them and as Brad points out above they are generally pulled to show off the neck better.

Maybe I can get a pic to show this when his jacket grows a bit longer.

[Hillscreek]

Can I tell how long his coat will be and how long it will take to come back fully? I saw something about this somewhere but can't find it now.

Should I start to roll? If so where? His shoulders are the longest. They are what I started with. The longest might be 1 1/2 inches.

[Hillscreek]

Ready to roll?

It's a bit blurry but you can see longer hairs sticking up. Pull 'em out?

[bradl]

Yup!

It may be blurry, but that's an excellent (useful) picture.

[Hillscreek]

I'm trying to roll. Can you see any layers? Head is a mix of old and new. Ruff growing below his ears. I'm keeping that - for a while anyway. There's a line below where his collar lies.

There's always some long hairs and I'm becoming slightly obsessive about this. I guess I could have him back to his underwear if I don't restrain myself!

[bradl]

Wow ... nice! That looks like a beautiful tight coat.

I was reading an article in our local newspaper about the gardners at our (stunning) local Japanese Garden. One of them was describing how he had learned to not focus so much on total completion, but look at the bigger picture:

Sada, as everyone calls him, tells Kondo and the other gardeners to "wash over everything," meaning look at the big picture and don't spend too much time on one plant. Kondo needed the advice.

"I could spend a couple of hours on this boxwood," he says. "Sada trains our eyes. He will go through an area quickly. I'm still learning. Before, I would get in and get all the dead ones, but not now. I'm getting the shaping and actually, it's more satisfying because I get to more plants."

Gardeners always feel their work is incomplete, Sada says. "There are different levels of incompleteness. Even 20 lines of a sketch can be complete."

--

http://www.oregonliv..._of_nature.html

Let's say you go over the dog lightly once a week and pull maybe 10% of the coat. By the tenth week, you will be getting back around to hairs you haven't touched in two, almost three months.

Knowing is one thing; doing another. I tend to veer back and forth from doing too much to doing nothing at all. Getting the rhythm of just 'washing over' the dog every week or two weeks, lightly, is hard for me. I may not be temperamentally suited to it.

[Hillscreek]

That's a great quote Brad. Just what I need to help get a grip (so to speak!)

I don't really understand Angus's coat. What does 'tight' mean? He's never seemed to have a coat like ones I see when I look at pics here and elsewhere. It looks so smooth. It is about an inch or an inch and a half depending where you look. It is coarse and great to feel. It lies very close to his body even though it seems to me fairly thick.

Some people are telling me it will take till Sept or later for the full coat to come back after a total strip. So maybe it will look more what I thought of as 'normal' i.e.shaggy, by then?

Edited July 9, 2012 by Hillscreek

[bradl]

It looks so smooth. It is about an inch or an inch and a half depending where you look. It is coarse and great to feel. It lies very close to his body even though it seems to me fairly thick.

That's what I mean by tight As opposed to this, which might as well be my Echo

(source)

[Hillscreek]

:lol: That's what I thought he was supposed to look like being Highland Scottish and all!

[cairnsby3]

I'm impressed you don't have any holes, I always seem to have holes on light colored ones, my dark one, the holes didn't show.

[Hillscreek]

Thanks Cairnsby. I'm sure I will have holes at some point when I get too fixated on one spot. I do have what you might call a 'shallow' spot. I can't get a good enough pic to post.

I hope I can keep this up because it has taken so long for his coat to grow back after the complete strip. It is coming in fast now at last and hopefully by Sept he'll have a decent looking rolled coat.That's my aim any way!

[Hillscreek]

Here's Angus at 11months. I'm still trying to roll his coat.

His coat is about 1 1/2 inches most places. Very thick and close to his body. I am keeping the ruff. I read somewhere that the banana tail was once called a scimitar tail. I like that name. Little warrior going to war - and with the scream if needed. He holds the tail high when he's on alert. The tail hair is thick but close to the skin also.

Wondering if his coat will grow any longer. Have to wait and see I guess!

Edited August 13, 2012 by Hillscreek

[bradl]

It looks very dense. Nice. It will grow longer, given time.

My problem is usually I decide it looks great and decide to give it some time to add some length ... then by the time I get back to paying attention again I've waited so long it's all dead and I have to start over. I guess I have poor time management skills.

(Note to future employers -- I have *excellent* time management skills.)

[Hillscreek]

And what about his tail? Shall I pull out the long hairs underneath. I can only find help for carrot tails.

I was just thinking I'd leave it alone Brad! Maybe not. It is a very dense coat. It has taken so long to grow back this much since March.So I guess I want to avoid a total strip again if I can.

[bradl]

His tail looks fine. Regardless of the the crook (pretty common, as we've seen) it can still be groomed carrot-like in cross section, thick at the base tapering to the tip.

A show groomer might attempt to soften the appearance of the crook in the tail slightly by letting some hair on the front side of the tail just below the nook of the crook grow into the space. Sometimes the hair in that area of the tail is a bit coarser and sometimes even slightly sparser, as well as being a slightly different color. I'm told there is some kind of gland in the tail at about that spot (possibly a scent gland).

[PeppersMom]

I am teaching my 10 year old daughter how to hand strip for 4H. She is a lefty so she can't use my stripping knife, but she can pull by hand. She spent about 1/2 hour yesterday working on our youngest Cairn, and she could not believe how easy it was or how much of a difference it made in appearance.

[Dempsy's Mom]

I think Angus looks great!

[Hillscreek]

Thanks for comments Brad. I appreciate all the help I've had.

Glad you think he looks OK Dempsey's Mom. He's striving to became a biker's buddy

[PLGD]

Angus looks awesome!

[Idaho Cairns]

I found an interesting article from the October 1st 1934 edition of the AKC Gazette about the need to rethink the "standard" of the Cairn Terrier due to what the author called a tendency for either oversized Cairns or "Toy" versions of the breed. The discussion was lengthy and I didn't note too much of it except for the following about "coats" and Cairns. Interesting how "things" have changed in regard to Cairn coats and grooming during the intervening 80 or so years!

"IN one other respect, a cairn has some differences from other terriers, and it is one of the breed’s distinctive features: Coat. Mrs. Dixon writes: “A true cairn has two coats: a very soft, thick undercoat, and a harsh outercoat , about one and a half to two inches long, sufficiently wiry to throw off moisture. They are very easily kept in order. A good brushing and combing daily does wonders. With regard to trimming, I think a better word is ‘tidying’ as trimming is misleading and makes you immediately think of the wooden images one sees, trimmed until they resemble toy dogs which have lost their little green stand.

“‘Tidying’ means keeping the ears clear of long hair and the feet also; and only allowing a little feathering on the tail, leaving enough to balance it. Otherwise, leave them alone, and keep them hardy, shaggy, lovable, varminty , little terriers, one of the few remaining breeds which are shown as nature made them.”"

I like that "hardy, shaggy, lovable, varminty, little terriers" description a bunch and I agree.

FYI, the article quoted provided by the Cairn Terrier Club of America in case you wish to read this interesting insight into a long ago discussion somewhat similar to those held today.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Idaho Cairns

[bradl]

The aforementioned long article: http://www.cairnterr...rg/standard/why

[Hillscreek]

Interesting article. If only we could show them as they are and not fixed up. Alas cairns and all show dogs are judged on looks. It's a beauty contest that's all.