Newbie groomer needs help with tool selection

[DemiSheep]

Help!

We want to buy a Mars coat king for doing some stripping of Attila and Tessa and don't know which one to buy.

I've seen some which have the blades spaced out and some with the blades very close together - whats the difference?

What tool is good for the outer coat?

What tool is good for the inner coat?

Isn't there some sort of "Grooming cairns for dummies" thread?? We want to take care of our puppies grooming ourselves.

Tessa is turning into a puff ball!

Are the mars coat kings sold at any pet stores?

Edited July 22, 2012 by DemiSheep

[DemiSheep]

Ah, it seems furminator is good for undercoat...

[Hillscreek]

What's in your grooming kit?

in Grooming

If you follow the grooming link below the title of this post there's lots of help re grooming. But I guess you know that DemiSheep.

I only use brush, slicker and comb. I'm afraid I'll cut the coat if I use anything else.

I stripped Angus at six months and now am trying to roll the coat. Slicker brings off the undercoat.

I love the sleeping pic! She is so sweet.

[DemiSheep]

I did some forum searching before posting. My problem is that post doesn't tell you what each tool is good for.

What does it mean to "roll" the coat?

I forgot to mention. That picture is Attila. I took it while he was sleeping the other day he was really sleepy.

(null)

[Idaho Cairns]

There has been a bit of discussion about the Mars on the forum and I think the general consensus is that anywhere from a ten to a sixteen will suffice for a Cairn. However, go easy with this tool, if overused you can really cut the coat down too far.

I ended up buying my Mars over the internet--Amazon.

[DemiSheep]

Is the MARS Coat King good for outer coat only or both inner and outer?

[Idaho Cairns]

Both--it will take a bunch of inner coat out but it will also cut the outer coat as well. Probably the best use of the Mars is for preliminary grooming prior to hand stripping the coat. I guess this is the case as I do not hand strip my Cairns.

[Ivy & Lucy's Mom]

I use the sixteen for Ivy. I use it on her when she begins to look like a yak. As Idaho said, you do have to be careful not to overuse it but I do like it.

[Hillscreek]

re rolling and the whole coat experience. I'm keeping a record. Go to Does he have to be Stripped? in the grooming section. I record what I do with pictures and have got lots of feedback and comment and what to do.

Apologies to Attila. I should have noticed it was a little boy pic! Don't tell him!

[DemiSheep]

Using the Mars coat king, do you end up with the same results as hand stripping with a pumice stone or finger cots etc or is it just a short cut method that doesn't give you the same results? I mean when they say it's a stripping knife is it the same kind of "stripping"?

[Idaho Cairns]

If you want an image that will explain the difference between a Mars King Coat and hand stripping, think of raking your yard in the Fall as opposed to picking up the leaves by hand and your getting close to the proper picture.

[bradl]

I like Idaho's analogy. (I'm a sucker for analogies )

Here's another way to use that analogy. If hand-stripping is keeping the yard/coat tidy by plucking leaves by hand as they fall, the coat king is like picking up leaves in the fall using a lawnmower with a bag attachment. Some of the leaves will be lifted up and out whole, but some will also be shredded and left behind. The coat king pulls some coat, but cuts other coat. The result is a mix. It is a compromise and an alternative, but not equivalent to handstripping.

The curved dull finger-tips of the coat king will rake out some undercoat. As the rake is pulled through a big overgrown outer coat, the long hairs will wad up in between the fingers of the rake, and some of the long jacket coat will get yanked out, just like running a comb through mats in your own hair might yank some hairs out by the root. But the inner curve of the "elbow" of the coat king fingers are very sharp. Coat that is funneled into those sharpened blades by the fingers of the rake will be cut, just the same as by shears, or by a knife used incorrectly. The cut coat that is left behind is still dead, just shorter. But a few hairs will have been pulled out by the root, leaving a space for a new, live, healthy hair to grow in its place. For some dogs, there's just enough turnover to keep the skin healthy, while the cut coat keeps the look reasonably tidy.

[DemiSheep]

Thank you for the visual and in depth explanations.