First strip - before and after

[Kathryn]

Took Angus to our groomer for the first time yesterday to get his coat stripped. I waited too long because I really loved his wavy blond puppy coat - but it had to come off. We start obedience school in July (no more puppy courses) and I didn't want him to look like the little five-year-old boy starting kindergarden with a ponytail...

Before and after!

[bradl]

He looks sleek and ready to learn  

[Kathryn]

Bradl - he is completely nude and without an outer coat...but I do know his coat will grow in much better because the puppy floof is gone.  I do miss messing with it though!

[Sam I Am]

It’s very interesting I find in the difference of a stripped coat vs a clipped coat. Sam can be out in all kinds of foul weather...he loves it, and when I dig through his coarse  hair down to the fluffy stuff and then his skin...he is totally dry. Rosie who is clipped hates even a mild sprinkling as she gets wet to the skin in no time.

[Kathryn]

Angus' puppy coat was so soft I am not sure how coarse it will be when he gets older.  Oban does have a coarser coat, but not anywhere near as coarse as our last cairn Allie. Still, he just shakes after coming in from the rain or snow, and only the outer coat is a little damp.

Angus is named after a cairn owned by a good friend and neighbor, Vern.  They were inseparable for many years, and the dog went with him to his art studio every day (and once caught a rat there -- cairn heaven!).  Vern lost Angus after 16 years, and for a long time he didn't want a dog.  Neighbors finally found and encouraged him to adopt an adult female king charles cavalier spaniel.  I ran into him walking the dog the first week he had her -- and he told me how surprised he was to return from a walk in the rain and discover that Chloe was WET!