What to do with fur after hand stripping

[Guest Drcys Mom]

I know this may sound crazy but what do you do with your Cairn's dead fur after you have hand stripped and where do you put it? I have tried putting her on a sheet in the floor but she gets distracted by our other dog checking to see what it going on. We don't have a basement set up for stripping and I don't yet have a grooming table. I try to do it outside when weather permits, but its been so wet and cold lately and Darcy really needs to be stripped now. Her chest hair has grown very long as well as the fur on her legs. Also, some of you have mentioned that you strip yours while watching TV --- on the couch? on the bed? where do you put the fur without it flying all over the place? Or do I just need to take her to the vet and let them groom her (not with clippers) with scizzors?

Thanks,

Sandy

[bradl]

Do you have a garage? We've used the garage before. When inside we groom on a table in a hallway with a linoleum floor. We put most of the hair in a plastic bag and sweep/vacuum up the rest. A grooming table helps an awful lot.

[Milopup]

Hi,

I hope you don't mind if I ask a tangential question about this issue.

How long did you let your pup go without grooming or clipping before you hand strip? I brought my pup to get stripped when we were living in California, but the groomer couldn't do it because it had only been 2 months since he was clipped, and there was nothing to strip.

How long does it usually take before the hair is long enough to strip? Is it possible to "go back" and get stripped even if he has been clipped before?

Thank you.

[Guest posting as: Darcys mom]

Brad, I don't have access to any vinyl floor except in the kitchen and I'm not crazy about doing her in there for the obvious reasons. We do have a garage area but it is so full of my husband's stuff that there really isn't room in there either, but thanks for the thoughts.

Milopup, her fur on her chest is about 2 to 3 inches long and very stringy looking even tho I brush and comb her often. She was at the vet's for touch up (face, ears,) about two-three months ago but she really needs a good hand stripping. You can tell when the fur needs stripping, it starts looking very dead and lilfeless. I use a Mars Coat King on her back/sides areas but it does no good anywhere else on her body.

[bradl]

Some other ideas we've used (from least to most expensive)

Lay a flat sheet on the floor.

Lengths of thin ribbed or flat rubber/vinyl runner from Lowes/Menards/Home Depot, etc.

Thick clear plastic floor sheeting (chair protectors) from Office Depot (I get static shocks from these with some shoes - but they are so easy to sweep up).

[Apollo8it]

Milopup: Apollo accidently got clipped by the groomer at the vets this past spring. The groomer apologized profusely but still I was very distraught. Our breeder who strips Apollo asked us to bring him by for a look. He determined that he could not strip Apollo until late spring of next year. My guess is that it will take 1 to 1 1/2 years to get Apollo's coat into shape.

Milo was the name of my mini Schnauzer!

[Milopup]

Apollo is gorgeous - how old is he? So do you hand trim around his face while you are letting his coat grow out, because it certainly does not look scraggly.

BTW - my pup has those same bowls, though the bottoms of his are scratched from when he thinks we are a bit too slow with putting the food in them.

[Guest Guest]

We put our Liddy on top of the washing machine. Our breeder suggested it. She acts completely different when she is up there, like she is all business about the brushing. We have our groomer hand-strip her, but I think if you put an old towel on top of the washing machine and then the dog on top of that the hair would stick to the towel. Just a suggestion!

[Guest posting as: Darcys mom]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I guess if you're not equippd properly, it's gonna be a mess any way you look at it. Darcy is not one of those well mannered Cairns that will sit still for very long and she turns around and won't let me touch her tail area. Guess it's back to the vet for her.

BTW, Apollo is just precious, I love the clip even though they clipped him to look like a Schnauzer (sp?) I bet he's a well mannered gentleman dog, unlike my little terror. His face is just so handsome!!!

[Apollo8it]

Apollo will be 3 on December 30th. I do the best I can on Apollo's head between strips. Sometimes we have to visit the groomer at the vets to clip specific spots, if ya know what I mean. Also, I gave up on trimming his nails a loooooong time ago.

As for being the gentleman... He's a typical terrier and I love him for it.

[hallswel]

My husband and I differ on what Rebel should look like, I like scruffy full face with the ears neat and he likes him neater. Since he does not do the stripping I win.

I signed up for a grooming class at the local school and when I got there they did not teach hand stripping. So I do what I can to keep him neat. I don't have a table but it is on my Christmas list so we use a small table in my sunroom or outside if possible.

I have gone some of the local dog shows and seen Cairns and wish Rebel would look like that but thats ok he is my pet and he is cute enough for me!! I am just thankful he has full undercoat since he didn't when he was a puppy.

[Guest posting as: Darcys mom]

If you like the scruffy look, you would love Darcy. You would probably want to get ahold of her and start stripping and neaten her up. But like I said, she just will not sit still for that, as I have tried grooming her on the deck bench (a little too low) and she will stay still for approximately 2 minutes and then our other dog comes up to see what's going on and off Darcy jumps and that's it for the day. I really wish these pet supply places would carry the grooming tables, etc. but I have checked every one here and no luck. Have to order it on the net. Right now my pocketbook won't allow for that. The groomer at my vet's office does an okay job on her but I took my Mars Coat King the last time Darcy was groomed and she was amazed - said she's never seen one and where did I get it cause it would work great on other breeds as well. You would think a groomer would know about these things althoug she said that was the first time she'd groomed a Cairn and she did pretty good for her first time. Didn't take too much hair off and trimmed her little face up and her ears. She looked pretty good.

[kayharley]

The Cairns are supposed to have that "round" furry face and the shaggy but tidy look......at least that's the look I'm seeing in dog shows and Cairn pics of breed standards and what I've seen in the dogs my breeder had.....and she had 20 of them, all gorgeous!!

I do not use a local groomer because they just do not want to do what I ask. Even with a pic of a championship Cairn, they will argue with me that she needs to be clipped/thinned and will come out looking like a cocker spaniel.(sometimes a touch of schnauzer mixed in...no offense to either breed)

I do it myself and although none of my dogs will make it to Westminster, they are not mistaken for another breed.

I will either do the deed on the table or in the bathroom on the tile floor (compact room, easy to vac) and I found that the fur makes a wonderful nesting material for springtime birds.....there are species that will actually swoop down and pluck fur from dogs/cats/horses for their nests. I try and make it easier for them

The Mars is great, a little pluck here and there and everyone's happy.

[Milopup]

Kayharley,

Do you only use the Mars tool, and is that enough (except for tidying around the face), or do we need something else? My problem is that there are no groomers near me who will hand strip, and I have asked over 20 of them. I do have the Mars tool, but since my pup has been clipped versus stripped, I am letting the hair grow in (since August) and hope to try again after the Winter.

Thanks.

[hallswel]

I use the Mars tool on Rebel body and clean up the face with the stripper tool. What I love is the beautiful red that comes in after he is stripped.

[Milopup]

What is the stripper tool? I know about the Mars tool but is there something specifically for the face area?

[kayharley]

I pretty much use the Mars on the body too and a small stripping knife on the face. I do clip the top of the ears (the hair, not the ears ) because it's really hard to pull those small outside hairs.

Sometimes I'll also clip the underside and backside under the tail....it's just too sensitive an area to be pulling.

[Guest posting as: Darcys mom]

Your Cairn really allows you to use a stripping tool on her/his face? I can't imagine Darcy sitting still for that. How lucky you are to have a baby that will let you do just about anything grooming related to her/him. Darcy lets me know pretty quick by her growling that I've overstepped my grooming with her if I try to even comb her face or tail area. She just won't have it at all. Like I said, back to the groomer, its just much better on my nerves and probably hers too.

Sandy

[Milopup]

How have y'all managed to find groomers near you who will hand strip? I have spent a lot of time calling groomers in my area, looking up things on the Internet, and just cannot find anyone who will hand strip my pup for me.

(BTW, if anyone here is from Queens or Long Island, NY, and has found someone to handstrip their dog, please please let me know.)