Stripping

[Sam I Am]

So I started to think of why we strip or clip terriers coats. We all do it but I wonder why it started...was it the show ring? When did we decide that a coat was not healthy if left it in a natural form ?  I can’t imagine my Scottish highland ancestors sitting down by their peat fires stripping their terriers coats. On the farms and in the damp rain Cairns and Scottie’s and other terriers probably looked like yaks and were probably protected from vermin bites, cold and burs. I tried to google when this practice started but can’t find any information.  If Mother Nature bequeathed thick coats on our terriers why is there an understanding to not strip is to not keep our dogs skin healthy. It’s a mystery to me but it would be interesting if  someone could find the history behind all of this.

[bradl]

No history or documentation to offer, just idle speculation. I suspect the crofters of old likely *did* do some stripping but no worrying about a specific shape like we might. Perhaps like the way one might brush a long-haired dog to keep tangles and mats down.

I suspect it derived from observation dogs self-stripping in the field. The coat tears out so easily someone had to have noticed dead coat hanging from a bush after a dog passed through, or wondered why their dog seemed to be scratching itself by rolling around and squirming onto a thorny bush.

Or perhaps it started from observation of a dog at rest by a crofter's foot or side. It's obvious that the outer coat dies somehow starting at the skin. You can see without even plucking a hair that the tip of a long hair starts out thick and bright with coat color but then turns colorless, thin, and crinkley at the base. As the hair somehow continues to grow the live-looking part remains the same short bit while the dead-looking part just oozes out until the hair is mostly all wisp.

Whether by nature or by crofter, it's clear to me that coat is intended to come out as evidenced by it popping out so easily compared to a shorter live hair. It practically jumps out. I can't stop myself from idly plucking a few dead hairs as Dundee sits beside me monitoring the TV for unauthorized violence. I can imagine a crofter giving a dog the occasional once-over to give a bit of relief. 

While they no doubt often looked like yaks you can still have an untidy unshaped coat of many layers. A  multi-layered live thick coat is likely to be more protection from both weather and teeth than a thin scraggley wisp of coat made of dead hair. 

I believe in the beginning nature stripped the dogs. I *suspect* crofters started helping that along out of kindness or the spirit of keeping a tool sharp. I don't live in the highlands working the land, so my dogs are not getting all that much exposure to harsh elements. I'm also not plagued with badgers in my suburban back yard, so the useless wimpy soft coat of my clipped senior dog seems unlikely to put her at serious risk.  

JMHO. 

[Sam I Am]

A good observation of self grooming. Horses definitely do the same as do all animals that grow winter coats. They roll, rub against trees to free themselves from these itchy mats.  If Cairns and other terriers were left with  [natural] coats while roaming the highlands would their winter coats differ from their summer. ? 

I am sure Sam if he had the chance, would rather rub against shrubbery as plucking out hair is not appreciated. Would be great to see old old pictures of Cairns and Scottie’s while working for their masters. The pics I have seen, are Cairns and Scottie’s with naturally short coats? Did we breed the, for more luxurious ones?

[bradl]

5 minutes ago, Terrier lover said:

would their winter coats differ from their summer.

Weather seems to affect the density of undercoat. There seems to be some shedding of excess undercoat in the summer.  Breeders of Cairns in hot places sometimes say they have difficulty getting or keeping a thick undercoat as would normally be expected on a Cairn.

[Hillscreek]

My experience with retrievers spaniels and terriers has been that all shed most of their winter undercoats in the spring and grow thick ones back in the fall. This living in the Chicago/Indiana/North PA area

Regarding stripping cairn's coats: I saw the difference between when Angus was stripped and now that he is not. Look at these pics taken eighteen months apart. He has had unlimited freedom during this time and has gained weight and muscle so it is not only more coat that makes him look bigger. The only thing my friend does for grooming is brush him now and then. The dead hairs come out and also as he runs through brush which I have seen my self. His hair has always been thicker over the shoulders - protective I have thought considering the job they did.

Regret I don't have the book or quote to hand but I remember reading in an earlier book (1930'S?) about cairns that regarding preparing for showing cleaning and brushing should be all that was needed.

Think the ancient cairns were likely working dogs living outside and not generally kept as pets. Something like the working sheepdogs in the mountains in UK today. Or the terriers that run with the hunt. I was told by a friend's uncle who was a shepherd that dogs who are pets don't work as well.

You can see Angus's coat has not grown very much longer - just thicker. There may have been cairns with longer softer coats in ancient days but the pics I have seen show a dog with a shorter harsher coat than we often see today.

But however coats may change spirit and independence seemed to remained the same!

 

[sanford]

He's a beauty, no matter which end is facing the camera!

[Bach's Momma]

Hi guys & galls, I'm new here and in search of some serious guidance about grooming and (hand)stripping my Cairn. My almost two-year-old Cairn named Bach (he'll be 2 mid-April) has had some trouble with his coat. When Bach was a puppy, I handstripped him as instructed by the breeder, but he always had quite soft hair and that became difficult to hand strip as he grew. He was always a BIG shedder, which came as a shock to me as Cairn shouldn't shed much and also my 12-year-old Westie (clipped, soft coat, needs a lot of brushing and mats easily) doesn't shed at all. His skin seems to be healthy and I've been adding salmon oil to his food every day for about 6 months.

Bach got clipped once at about a year old, quite short (1 - 2 cm on the body, longer on the legs, face, tail, and ears), but since then I've only combed him about every week or two and shortened the hair on his ears and around the eyes with scissors. He still sheds a lot though and I feel like he just doesn't have the right shape or density of his coat for a Cairn. But a breeder told me that when a Cairn sheds it's when it needs to be stripped ...

So a few days ago I decided to use a Coat King on him, which the groomer advised, and it seemed to do an efficient job on the back, but not the legs, face, and tummy, where his coat is considerably smoother and softer. How do you strip that hair, which seems too soft? Also I think I might have taken a bit too much of the coat out on a single spot on the back (he has a very uneven coat, denser at the base of the tail and neck, and thin in the middle). Will the hair grow back, where I might have stipped too much?

I'll be super grateful for your advice. A photo of my crazy Cairn bellow. :)

[Sam I Am]

Welcome Bach’s Momma...he is gorgeous!  

[sanford]

2 hours ago, Bach's Momma said:

...a Coat King seemed to do an efficient job on the back, but not the legs, face, and tummy, where his coat is considerably smoother and softer. How do you strip that hair, which seems too soft? Also I think I might have taken a bit too much of the coat out on a single spot on the back... Will the hair grow back, where I might have stripped too much?

Don't worry... The hair always grows back... to the relief of all of us who've been there, done that! (After a while, the area will start to fill in, even before growing to its full length; it becomes less and less noticeable).

Legs, face and tummy, as you describe, seem to be softer on some cairns, including mine. Like you, I found that the Coat King is not effective in these areas; it just slides right through the hair. The skin also seems much more sensitive in those places, so stripping there is not an easy option either. I've resorted to scissoring on an angle, with the scissor carefully pointed toward the skin in order to prevent blunt cut marks, and I also use thinning shears - not the kind which have one smooth blade and one blade with teeth, but have both blades with teeth. These seem to make a faster, easier job of it and of course, thinning shears leave no cut marks.

Edited February 26, 2019 by sanford

[Bach's Momma]

@sanfordthank you! Your advice makes me feel a lot better! I thought I was just super bad at this. I'll certainly try the thinning shears, I have those at home and I guess it can't hurt. He's in a desperate need of a trim on his legs and neck.


I'm so glad to have become a member of this forum, I'm sure I'll find a lot of precious information here.

[Pepper Bug's Mom]

Both Pepper and Brodie (especially Pepper) hate having their legs messed with!  I also use the Marrs Coat King and thinning scissors...Pepper has smooth hair and Brodie looks like Lon Chaney in the Wolfman old movie especially around his face!  What a difference in coats!