Need grooming help!

[margaretmcdavid]

My little Fergus is 4 years old.  For his first 2 years or so we had him stripped by a professional groomer, but this guy was mainly into show dogs, and Fergus is just a pet.  Having read everything I could find on Cairn grooming I was determined not to shave or clip him, but I am at the end of my rope.  His hair is very thick, both the under and outer coat, and grows at an astonishing rate.  I've spend untold dollars on tools: Mars King, Furminator, thinning shears, stripping knives, harsh-coat powder--you'd think I was opening a shop.  But it's always ahead of me, and it takes forever to get him looking decent, like an hour a day for a week or so, every 4 to 5 months.  That's 6 or 7 hours, with touch-ups every other week. The Furminator works only on the undercoat, the Mars King doesn't even work at all, and so it's brushing and hand stripping all the way, except scissoring his underside and legs.  Fergie and I are both so tired of it! 

 

I'm to the point of getting him clipped and my question is this:  If a Cairn is clipped, how does it affect the health of his skin and coat?  I know it will grow back soft, but what about the hair that will eventually need to be pulled?  If all one does is clip, and he doesn't shed, how does any new hair grow in?  Do you still have to strip to some degree?  His skin and coat are very healthy at present and I hate to do something that will cause damage in any way.  Should I suck it up and keep hand stripping, or maybe just strip his back and let a groomer do the face, legs, feet and bum?  Or just brush and let him be a shaggy little beast?

[Idaho Cairns]

Being the owner of two very shaggy little beasts, I guess my question is, "What's the problem?"  If the hair and skin is healthy, the dog is clean and the hair without matting, why not just trim Fergus up and let the work and worry go?  I can spend enough time just trimming and shaping the face, ears, and head to make me feel like I am "grooming" my Cairns without putting them and me thru the irritation of stripping.

[kjwarnold]

Yep, I've got all the same equipment and probably go at them about the same frequency. I don't take an hour a day for a week, I just go at it for about 90 minutes (over a day or so) and that's it. I do brush them frequently and I don't consider them all that well-groomed. I just consider them adequate. But, their skin and coats are healthy and they rarely need baths.

Now compare that to my first Cairn, who was groomed (clipped). I had to take him there every few months, it cost a lot more money than what I've spent on equipment and I had to give him a bath a lot more frequently. He was very soft and I know some people like that, but I prefer the harsh feeling of my boys. So the time I spent on grooming was about the same or more, plus I spent more. And I like to think that my boys and I bond with the time spent together talking!

Many Cairns do very well with clipped coats, so you just have to decide what works best for you. Maybe a combination of a little stripping and just regular brushing? Good luck!

[Macdaddy]

Am I understanding this correctly......our Mac, hasn't been hand stripped. He's been to the groomer probably every 3 months. He looks like a Cairn and is a Cairn, but doesn't have the hard coat. So I suppose I'm asking.....the hard coat is gone forever??

We're adopting his sister (he was part of a litter of six, 4 males, two females) and one of his sisters was kept by the breeder but doesn't like showing she was made available to us and we're heading up to see her and take her home, if they get along, this Sunday :-)

She's been hand stripped regularly, but if we don't continue it, and have her groomed, the hard coat goes by the way side ?

They'll both be two on January 8th, 2014 :-) :-)

[Hillscreek]

It's my understanding that once the coat is clipped it is soft and the hard coat will not return. You just keep clipping the same hair shorter.

With stripping you pull the old hair out. I think from what I have learned that the soft coat is harder to take care of- gets dirtier easier, needs more baths and so on.

It's pain but I strip Angus to keep his harsh coat. I think it is more protective. If stripping gets too much for me then I think I would just go with regular brush, slicker and comb. Use scissors round the private parts. 

There's quite a variety of coats on our cairns. What works for one may not work for another.

[_whits_]

My Addie is a bit of a shaggy beast. I don't strip or clip her. I brush her regularly with a brush, slicker and comb (I usually have a hamster worth of hair afterwards) and trim her privates with scissors. Her coat and skin are healthy, she's happy not being subjected to the stripping or clipping, and my wallet undergoes less damage. She looks a bit like a wild animal, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 

If you don't mind, I don't see the problem with brushing and enjoying a shaggy little beast. 

[nclar0523]

I did alot of research and based on that research was using a mars coat king and pin brush along with hand stripping- Rory is also by no means a show dog and he still got little knots in his fur which was super frustrating. Now it's a cairn cut at the groomer's and a once over with a flea comb every two days which takes out the dead hair. I'm no expert but it's a ton easier and he looks natural, and I think his coat and skin are healthier.

Edited November 12, 2013 by nclar0523

[jnee95]

nclar,

What is a "cairn cut?" Does the groomer cut the hair?

[Macdaddy]

Nclar0523,

We did that with Mac when we first decided to take him to the groomer. We showed a picture of what a Cairn looked like. Brad from the forum posted it. It was funny

It was something like 3 pictures with captions that said, "not a cairn", "not a cairn", and "a cairn"

The groomer actually appreciated it.