Stripped by harness?

[Blaketto]

Hello! First post and still trying to figure out Cairn grooming...

I have not done much with Georgie and she is about 1 year old. She has a very light, wispy coat that is getting quite long. I prefer not to have her clipped as I'd like a more classic wiry coat. We've used the MCK a few months ago. I've been reading a lot about hand stripping but haven't done much yet. I feel like she only has this one layer of hair so I'm not sure what to really strip. If i pull out the long seemingly "dead" hairs, it doesnt seem like anything will be left!?! But I'll figure that out...

A few months ago we noticed that her walking harness was rubbing away her back hair big time! We stopped using that harness, but now notice that this patch has grown back with a more wiry texture and with nice color variation. Did the harness actually strip her?!? Is this what I should be doing by hand? Perhaps this picture will explain what I mean. (Love a sleeping pup!)

Lots of questions so just trying to get some answers. Thanks!

[Lynn in TN]

"Is this what I should be doing by hand?" The answer to that is yes. If you are not going to show your dog in a show, it really doesn't matter how much you pull out. I am no expert and I don't show my girls, I mainly strip them to keep their skin healthy, and a harsh coat. I found a topic in the grooming section that will explain a lot so read every post in this particular topic.

here is the link http://www.cairnterrier.org/forum/topic/13332-does-he-have-to-be-stripped/ I hope this helps.

[Hillscreek]

I also learned to strip my Angus with help from the forum. There is no groomer near where I live who knows how. It's not as hard as it seems. When the old hairs are ready to come out they pull out easily.I do this not for show but to keep his harsh coat as it is so good for protection. 

Also I believe some cairns may have little undercoat at first but it can grow in later.

[MegsMom]

Grab a wad of her coat and hold it backwards, enough that you see a part (doesn't have to be straight) all the way to her skin.  Holding the coat about halfway between skin & ends, do you see what appears to be a thicker/denser coat area, of about an inch long nearer her skin?  (If you could post a pic, that would great--a 'part' on her side, right behind her shoulder blades would be a good location) 

 

Your pic is almost good enough that I think I see some undercoat, but that's in the 'center stripe' area, which even it seems, poor-coated dogs do have a good undercoat.  (And I have one of those weird undercoated ones, shoulder area, nada undercoat, hip area, whoops- super dense, soft & tangles like crazy.)  Being that she's barely a yr old and it's hot outside now, it may be that her undercoat seems thin--they can 'shed' or grow a less dense undercoat due to weather conditions.  And it may be that her coat just needs some grooming enticement to come in more like you'd prefer. 

 

What tooth is your MCK since you say you used it several months ago?  Mine's several years old, I can easily use it weekly w/o overdoing it. 

[Blaketto]

Here's a pic from her shoulder area. Is this clear?

12 blade MCK.

Thanks everyone!

[MegsMom]

Great pic! Yep, there is some undercoat there, but it is thin--that's why you see so much skin where you've lifted the hair. But as I said, it could be because of the hot weather or her age (or has she had a case of itchies lately & yanked some out?). Some coats do need some 'encouragement' grooming to thicken up and harshen up. [i know, mine w/o undercoat on her shoulder area? I've worked on for over 4 yrs, and she can grow lovely harsh hair there, and oddly, really, really long hair. She's not 'normal' coat-wise at all, in fact really a poor-coated cairn; I've simply adapted to grooming her to a more cairnish looking coat--which includes simply whacking some off with thinning shears to achieve the look Vs my boy, who has a good harsh coat on his body, but his leg hair is too soft--I don't work hard on it, at 12yrs he deserves comfy grooming.]

 

Fairly good tooth spacing on your MCK; I prefer a 16-blade for regular grooming. Yet when I've got one that needs a serious grooming I do prefer the 12 blade; then I switch to my 16. What might work better for you right now and it does seem that she has some blown (dead, past ready to come out) coat from your harness descrip, is to use a slicker brush on her. They do a nice job of 'grabbing' hair, esp loose/ready to come out coat, on thinner coated dogs. Using that may also stimulate her skin to grow more coat, and 'cleaning & stimulating' the skin is a huge part of cairn coat care. And it keeps down the frequency of bathing when the full depth of the coat is kept clean. I happen to prefer a cat slicker (or that size from the cat supply dept) they're smaller and with a denser tooth count, so it grabs the loose hair better, not to mention being easier to manipulate (for me) in size--my preference is a 4inch wide.

 

Also do know that bathing with a baby or regular pet shampoo will soften a cairn's coat. It's the formulation that causes that, so a shampoo for wire or hard-coated dogs is a better choice, plus it doesn't totally strip all oils off cairn skin to the point of over-dryness, since they're low-oil coats/skin anyway.

 

Oh, and in your first pic...is that dark hair her ear fluff? If so, start yanking that out, all around her ear edge & down 1/3 of her ear edge. I do mean yank, just pull it off-- literally. She may jerk back on you, with a 'what are you doing look', but I guarantee you it Does Not hurt them--I've yanked many an ear fluff on never-groomed cairns, and never had one yelp. Gotten the 'looks' from them, but never a 'hurt' complaint. [i do have thing for neat ears; my fingers itch to neaten ears ] Hold close to the edge of the ear leather with one hand and just yank that fluff hanging off, out with the other hand. Or if you want, a Conair Palm Pro is a mini shaver that's wonderful for doing right along ear edges and the teeth are so close you absolutely can't get their ear edge caught in the teeth. It's also fantastic for doing between pads; but do watch the super-thin webbing between the toes, but in between the center & outwards towards the toes, so easy to quickly do. I also use the mini shaver to keep that so-easy-to-snarl area on the inside of the back legs and the 'sanitary' area shorter.

 

I haven't found a decent replacement pair of small blunt-nosed grooming scissors since mine bit the dust, & now use a quality brand pair of small blunt-nosed sewing scissors, that do a nice job. And I can't live without thinning shears for doing fast touch-ups. Thinning shears make a 'blending' cut, sort of like layering, so you don't have a 'blunt' cut line in the coat that really shows.

Edited August 2, 2013 by MegsMom

[silverado6809]

Wow, what super good advise for grooming. I didn't know all that stuff. Thanks

[clairebear]

Hello~

 

I read through the forum and found it very helpful. I mainly joined this site for grooming help. Conan is 10 months old, not a show dog, but  I want to keep his coat natural and healthy. I purchased the following grooming tools:

MCK 10 blade

coarse and fine stripper knife, aaronco

groomer stone

medium stripper knife

 

I mainly have used the MCK blade. The problem is Conan's fur in some areas is soft and does not have that wirey texture. I was scared that the MCK blade was cutting the hair and not stipping. After reading the forum, I now think maybe it is dead hair, that I am not stripping him often enough?  Are certain tools better for certain areas of the body? I love the bonding experience of grooming. I also have a lhasa apso that I personally groom and always get compliments and questions on who does my grooming? Now I want to be able to have that joy with Conan. Does anyone recommend a book that breaks this down? Bottom line, I just want him to have a healthy coat and skin.

 

Blacketto, how is Georgie's coat doing? Is it getting thicker and more wirey?

[clairebear]

I am definitely going to add a slicker brush to the list. Varitey of combs, but not one quite like that. Thanks for the post MegsMom!