Grooming Help - Please

[Milopup]

Hello,

I am sorry to have to ask this question but I have tried many ways to find this information to no success.

I am looking for a groomer that will be able to strip Bosco's coat for me. He received clips/haircuts once a month until he was 10 months old. At that point, we started growing out his hair so it would be long enough to strip. We are just about ready for it and we need help finding someone.

We live in New York, on Long Island. I have done various Internet searches, but you can all imagine (or maybe you can't) the weird and bizarre items we find when the search is "dog grooming stripping" "dog stripping" "dog coat stripping" "pet stripping". **shudder**

Does anyone have any suggestions for someone who can strip a cairn terrier's coat in New York (Queens, Long Island, etc.)

Thank you so much (and again, sorry to bring this to the board).

- Mp and Bosco

[Eliz222]

If you find one, would you send him/her to St. Louis? I'm looking for someone to strip my pups too.

[Milopup]

It is really frustrating. All the groomers I have asked, and the other dog owners I have asked, don't know anyone who does dog coat stripping. It is really truly frustrating because I have read that it is important that the coat be stripped.

Does anyone on this forum not strip their pups coat, but instead only clips?

Thanks.

[MikeC]

Hi Milopup,

You may have to do as I did. I called every dog groomer in the San Jose phone book until I found one that was experienced in both grooming Cairn terriers and hand stripping. She has done a wonderful job for me and Duffy really seems to like her. I spent over 2 1/2 hours making calls but it was worth it!

MikeC

[Milopup]

MikeC,

We have really tried, truly we have.

Between my mom, my brother and I, we have talked to dozens of groomers (small places as well as larger pet store groomers), and have interrogated all the dog owners we know. We even spoke to several veterinary offices about dog coat stripping. Alas, we still have not found anyone.

(When we were living in San Diego, it took us months to find 1 person who did dog stripping, but Bosco's coat was too short to strip at that time.)

[MikeC]

Well, I hate to even broach this scenario, but what I would do then is find some good instructions on how to hand strip, and do it myself. When we were living in Hayward, the lady who groomed Duffy there was going to show us how to do it but we moved before she was able too. The lady who grooms him now also said she would show us how and I guess I should learn but he barely lets us brush him without putting up a fight, so I'm sure that he would put up a major battle if we tried to strip him! Good luck Milopup, and think too that you may possibly become an expert on had stripping.

MikeC

[bradl]

Any way you can go to a couple of shows and see the Cairn folk prepping their dogs? Most will give a short demo if they are not pressed for time. Also, while you're there, pump them for contacts within driving distance of Long Island. I suspect you're more likely to find a breeder/exhibitor/handler who grooms on the side than you are a groomer who hand strips.

The Cairn Terrier Club of Greater Detroit also offers a grooming video that may be of some help. You can at least see it being done - in conjunction with the grooming booklet or the grooming chapters in one of the glossy Cairn books you can probably learn to do a perfectly fine job.

I can also guess some follow up questions Yes, your dog MAY act like you're killing him. No, you are not.

Edit: add grooming video link.

[Milopup]

Thanks for the suggestions - Bosco acts like I am hurting him if I even pick up a paw to examine his nails. It is weird - he doesn't mind us touching him and putting our hands in his mouth, but alas when he senses we are possibly going to semi-groom him, the whines are heard. He sometimes deigns to let us brush him, but anything more is a no go.

We have tried to find out about local dog shows to no avail; unfortunately we will not be able to visit the Westminster show, there would be some suggestions there I think.

Hopefully someone on this board will know someone in the New York area - I will keep searching as well.

[kayharley]

And there's always the option of using a Mars Coat King yourself. That's what I do.

My Cairns are not going in the show ring but I still want them to look like Cairns and not poodles, cocker spaniels or schnauzers.

The Mars is a wonderful stripping tool that will rake the undercoat and help with the outer coat too. Check out the CTCA booklet on grooming. A little tool here, a couple hand strips there and before you know it your Cairn is looking good.

[kerry]

wow! I wonder if I would have trouble finding one. I would like to see pics of a handstripped cairn vs non-stripped and see if I could tell the difference.

[Milopup]

Believe it or not I actually have a Mars Coat King. I have no idea what to do with it, and it looks scarily sharp. If I just use that on his coat (top and bottom) will that do the "stripping" trick? (gee that sounds weird, eh?)

[Guest webstar]

Boy was I lucky I know a girl that worked for a groomer she is great w/ animals and always got the difficult dogs to do. She said she would hand strip Molly for me at no charge anytime. And I can't take her up on it because w/ Molly's coat she don't need to be stripped. Anyway she called me today to tell me she is moving to NC. I will miss her, she was the only one I would trust to take Molly when we couldn't take her on vacation w/ us. MG

[suedelu29]

webstar, molly's coat doesn't need to be stripped because her undercoat never grew back right? Someone here said they would like to see one coat stripped and one not to see if they could tell the difference, so would I? I mean if you just went out and "happened" to buy a cairn, you wouldn't know that it would have to be stripped. You would propbably groom as a regular dog, right? Would this Mars thing be something we would use as a "brush" and this would be considered their grooming?

[Guest webstar]

So far the only grooming Molly ever gets is a good brushing every couple of days. Last night while she was on my lap I tried pulling some of the longer hair out on her hind end and for the first time they were loose so I was able to neaten her up a bit. She didn't mind it in the least. I did strip her ears once and they did look good but she was not happy about that. The fur is all back on her legs. Her coat is not harsh but not silky either. Her facial hair is soft. She has dark brown ears, coal black eyes and I guess you would call her color wheaten. Everyone says she is the prettiest Cairn they ever seen. To me she looks like all the beautiful Cairn pictures in the forum. MG

[n2cairns]

They are very hard to find. It is time consuming and expensive. I hear it is just as easy to do it at home.

SHOE if you find one in STL let me know. I live in St. Charles and no one out here does it.

[hallswel]

Where did you get your Cairn from???? I called the breeder I got Rebel from she is about 1 1/2 hours away and she gave me a lesson using Rebel as her subject. He did really good with her and once you get them stripped if you keep them up it's not so hard. Although he doesn't look like one of the show cairns I am happy with the way he looks.

[Milopup]

For those of us with a Mars Coat King, a slicker brush, scissors and absolutely no idea where to begin, is it possible to do this ourselves without buying a grooming table??

And at 16 months, and monthly clips for the first 10 months, is it too late?? Do most people here strip their pups coats except me? I am feeling like a bad cairn mommy again (sorry).

[hallswel]

I do not have a grooming table but saw I needed one after going to Kathy's so I went to home depot and bought this really nice plastic folding table that is a little bigger than a tv tray table and you can make it a little taller. All I need now is the arm and noose and it looks like one will fit....just waiting on extra $$ to order. He does ok on the table because of the height. It is hard to make him stand to get the rear area so I want to get the arm.

[suedelu29]

Milopup you are not a bad mommy!! Roxie, 18 months, or so has never been stripped either. And I have the slicker brush, pin brush, something called a "rake" and of course scissors, and I have not a clue what to do!! But I'm a good mom in other ways so it makes up for my lacking in the "grooming skills". Of course Roxie has always had a bad coat, so maybe it is my fault Anyone, what is a mother to do, my girls hair is stringy and flat!!!! (besides she see's the brush and is in the next room, but she does love to chew the ends, what am I talking about none of my brushes HAVE ends anymore!!!

[Carolinasmom]

Milopup, I am right there with you! I have learned a LOT about grooming on this board. Carolina is now 7 and I have clipped her coat every summer. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that! I am now trying to let her coat grow out. I did order the Mars Coat King and really like it. I have tried pulling the hair on her ears and back but it just doesn't want to come out, esp. on her ears, even using those little rubber fingers. I don't have a tableeither. I just sit on the floor with her and make sure I have her "cookies" nearby.

I have probably ruined her coat for life. I feel like a bad mommy too!

[Milopup]

Is the Mars Coat King enough? Do we just brush it through their hair and it picks up the dead hair?

[Guest Darcy's mom]

Milopup:

Use your search engine and type in Mars Coat King and it should bring up sites that deal with subject. Choose 1. and it will show you pictures, etc of the Mars Coat King. I had to order mine but I don't remember who I ordered it from. It is a really handy tool for use on any breed that has an undercoat and rough outercoat like the Cairn.

Sandy

[bradl]

I don't know exactly how other people use theirs. I do pretty much use it as a rake or brush. I tend to push the coat up against the 'grain' and make it stand up, then use the Coat King to brush it back down. (Cleaning the hair out of the blades each time if it's filling up.) As I've said before, it seems to cut some hair, pull some hair, and rake some undercoat, all the same time. So it's NOT the same thing as hand-stripping but it seems a reasonable compromise between that and ONLY clipping/cutting, especially for wild coats. Once the coat is in reasonable shape, the tool stops collecting much when raking through the coat. That's a good time to stop.

I also find it awkward to use on legs, etc. and I still use my fingers there and on the ears and for finishing the tail. It is terrific for taming a wild jacket from the neck on back, and for removing those 'pantaloons' they can get behind their rump.

I've learned how to sort of 'break' my wrist to deliberately use the blade parts to cut some of the wispy stuff that doesn't rake out. Obviously that's functionally equivalent to using scissors :ninja:

[suedelu29]

So that's what you call those things on their butt, "pantaloons". Here I thought Vinnie was just getting the spread like Roxie had. The butt waddles bigger than the head.

[wheezie23]

Normally I use the Mars Coat King on my boys b/c the thought of stripping them by hand has always intimidated me. However, this past Saturday the weather was so nice, we were outside quite a bit. I sat down with my rubber nibs on my fingers and was able to go over both dogs without any hassle. They actually both layed down in my lap and thought I was petting them! I've never been satisfied with how the area around their faces looked, b/c the Mars tool really doesn't get that area well. With a little patience, I was able to do both of them, including their tails and rears, and their legs without any real struggle. I really enjoyed it too!

Thela