Hand stripping recommendations in Mid-Atlantic region

[kcs719]

Hi everyone,

I have a 7 month old male cairn terrier that is in need of his first hand stripping session. I have been calling various groomers and vets in the MD-VA-DC-PA region and have yet to find anyone that has availability in the coming months or can accommodate new clients. I would try hand stripping myself, but worried about traumatizing my guy because I have never seen it done before.

Does anyone here have any resources or ideas that I could try? I am willing to drive a decent distance to find a reputable hand stripper that I can establish a relationship with so that I can begin to set up a regular cadence for hand stripping into the future. 

Thanks for all your insights and input, hoping to get some scheduled sooner rather later!

Best,

Kathryn

[Hillscreek]

Suggest visiting local dog clubs, dog shows, contacting cairn breeders or others with double coated dogs like cairns.

I live in a remote area where unable to find someone who strips. In the end I learned to do it myself with much help from people on this site.  Look in the grooming section. There's lots about coats there. I found that the dead hair comes out easily. Stripping takes a long time and for many groomers it's just not worth while. A frequent good brushing helps a lot.

[bradl]

Seconding Hillscreek's suggestions.

Your area is thick with Cairn breeders and shows. You might back into a groomer indirectly by seeking out recommendations from one or more of the breeders from the national club's directory (https://cairnterrier.org/index.php/Breeders/list-by-state).

And as Hillscreek mentioned, the stripping process itself is the same for all the double-coated terriers even if the end shape differs. Norwich/Norfolk, Westie, and Scottie folk are good bets. 

And learning to do it yourself can be satisfying (and economical ) but I definitely get the appeal. I'm perfectly capable of grooming our own dogs and used to do so, but now prefer to help fund a breeder-friend's retirement by giving her our two a couple times a year   

[sanford]

I also agree with Hillscreek...and with your decision to find a professional groomer for stripping.

 In the years ahead, it might not always be convenient to get to a groomer, so it's good to know how to do some touch-up grooming/hand stripping yourself. I'm attaching pix of grooming guide. It's not for hand stripping, but gives a good idea of shaping and other info. (I was able to enlarge the type for legibility on my computer screen and assume you can do the same)

A groomer once told me that you must only tug 4 hairs at a time to avoid making the dog uncomfortable. I was stunned to imagine how long this would take,  but she reassured me that it goes pretty fast as you develop more skill... Whaaat!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Edited July 21, 2021 by sanford
typo

[kcs719]

Hi everyone, just wanted to update that your suggestions were spot on! I wound up connecting with a lovely retired breeder who still does hand stripping in her off time. Great experience, reasonable price and my little guy is on a schedule now for hand stripping to keep his coat in tip top shape!