Need Grooming Advice

[Charlie'sMom]

Hi Everyone!

I need some more advice from all of you wise Cairn owners.

My dog Charlie is 10 years old and while I have been taking him to the groomer every 5 - 6 weeks,

it turns out that our plan for grooming him wasn't working.

Although he had the best of intentions, my groomer was only stripping the outer coat and was not

thinning the undercoat. I began to notice Charile's outer coat getting thinner, like a bad come-over.

This last time when I picked Charlie up from the groomer he told me that he wanted to shave Charlie because

his hair was too matted. As I began reading up on grooming Cairns I began to realize that his coat is blown due to

excessive undercoat. The outer coat that Charlie has left is really dull and lifeless and should be stripped. I'm wondering

if I should fully strip his outer coat even if it means that there is none left and thin the undercoat or should I thin the undercoat

and wait until there is more growth of his outer coat before I strip him.

After all these years I'm having to learn to do it myself as there is no one in my area that will do it for a reasonable price. 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Laura

[bradl]

Yes, if the outer jacket is dead removing it is the way to make room for a new one. That does indeed leave you with a nearly naked dog. Some years we didn't roll our dogs' coats and instead simply stripped them them once a year or so; a complete strip leaves them similarly naked.  I joke that I started with Cairn but ended up with a cat. 

It grows back, although never as fast as we'd like  

 

[Charlie'sMom]

Thanks for the advice. We're undertaking this scary thing of stripping him ourselves so it's good to have a resource.

Approximately how long does it take to grow back? More than a couple of months?

[sanford]

We are having a particularly cold winter here in the east. If the same is true for you in Wisconsin, would it be better for you to wait a month or so before doing a "complete strip, leaving you with a nearly naked dog"?

[bradl]

4 hours ago, Charlie'sMom said:

Approximately how long does it take to grow back? More than a couple of months?

Really depends on the dog. For the fastest growing parts of the jacket, maybe 1/2 inch per month. Ideal length is theoretically 2 inches or thereabouts. So maybe 4-6 months as a guesstimate.

[Flatpick]

I'm not sure what I'm missing here but we have a 2+ y/o female, Piper.  All we have done is brush her with a soft brush 2-3 times a week with a furminator brushing once a month. Her fur/hair is shinny, healthy and thick, both inner and outer hair.  She smells good too.  She lives at the coast and gets vigorous outside adventures with rain, wind, sea water, mud, etc. We occasionally pull out some of the long guard hairs but the Furminator seems to strip out these on the monthly brushing.

She has grown accustom to this regular brushing and has become quite polite and well-behaved during the "ordeal". 😬 We also trim her nails and face and foot hair regularly.  We still haven't adopted the teeth brushing!

Not understanding how stripping or anything a groomer could do to make her hair any better! We like the fact that her coat is weatherproof, warm and smells good (even with wet!)🤓

 

steve

[Kathryn]

Charlie's Mom -- please check your messages.  I do have some info about someone chose to you who could probably help/teach stripping, or help you find a groomer.  She is a breeder of cairns and shows widely in Wisconsin, so I will not post her name here.  I did get one of my cairns from her though!