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Just out of interest i just wanted to know how many of you get your cairn clipped and how many handstripped? and also those who clip how is the texture of your dogs coat and is it easy to keep clean?

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I had Jeter, my oldest clippered two to three times since I got him at 5months. He is now just over two. I didn't like what it did to his coat so I bought a Mars Coat King and set of Maclellan Stripping knives and now try and do it myself. I do a horrible job but his coat seems to be getting more coarse again. My youngest Bernie has never been clippered and he has the best wiry coat ever! I just love it.

Jetersmom(and Bernie's)

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Winnie is my oldest at 14 years and not only was she clipped at the groomers years ago, she was shaved! (there was a mistake in the communication process when hubby dropped her off)

I now use the Mars on her and sissor the sensitive areas but her coat is very harsh/wirey....go figure!

I use the Mars on Madison and will clip the butt area, top of ears and thin the legs but her coat has always been soft. I could groom her at noon and by 1:00 she is looking scruffy again. :lol:

Remy has the start of a great coat at 6 months although there is still just a tad of puppy fuzz lurking around. I will admit that I cannot strip the belly and butt area but use thinning shears and a light sissor only because I know it causes discomfort.

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Learn how to hand strip..its worth it. I have had several lessons the last 3 years and paid a professional groomer and Cairn breeder last summer $50 an hour to teach me the finer points of stripping last summer. I took notes, pictures etc and it was well worth it. I am now grooming other people's Cairns and I think I do a pretty good job. At a recent earthdog event I got what I thought was a huge compliment from a person who breeds for show. He thought my dogs looked great..very much show groomed. Take the time to find someone who hand strips Cairns and see if they will teach you.

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Hey Pepper's mom, if you're anywhere near Apple Valley, MN maybe you would be able to give me a demo on handstripping. LOL. Actually the groomer who clippered Jeter has an extra table and she said I could come over and work on Jeter and she would give me some instruction while she does a dog. I just haven't taken her up on it yet.

She quit taking on any more handstripping clients just before I took Jeter over there due to a wrist injury from what else...handstripping. I guess the repetitive wrist action got the best of her wrist!

Your dog's haircut is awesome!

Jetersmom(and Bernie's)

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Thanks everyone, i want to learn to handstrip but there i cannot find anyone to do it here anyway he goes to the groomers next month and he gets tidied up with a mars coat king and it looks good so i'll just stick with that for now maybe until i learn, i was just curious as to what clipping does to the coat.

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I have had my 2 stripped for 3 years and this past summer I had them clipped. There coats are fine, just very soft. I think I am actually going to stick to the clipping. I also was concerned about their skin reaction to being shaved and they are fine. They look much tidier. I go a while in between clippings and probably won't have it done until after winter now.

I like both but I am perfectly satisfied with clipping. Just to give an idea of clipped looked. I also have another post with these pictures and a few more called Please look!

Monday right after being clipped

DSCN1731.jpg

DSCN1730.jpg

DSCN1725.jpg

Scooter after about 4 months of growing out

October003.jpg

Jess, Scooter, Sadie and Dozer

DSCN2419-1.jpg

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The guard hairs (the harsh outer coat) die at the follicle or skin end first. Clipping cuts the live-looking hair off the end, but leaves the dead or dying hair in the skin. Obviously, clipping a live coat leaves still-live hair in, too. Each hair will eventually die though. As a hair dies, it tends to become thin and colorless, beginning at the base. You can see this by plucking some hair and having a close look. The net effect is that clipped coats tend to get both softer and more washed-out looking than a live, stripped coat. If a dog is predisposed toward skin problems, then leaving dead coat in can exacerbate it. On the other hand, a dog with healthy skin and low genetic disposition to skin problems can seem to suffer no ill effects.

Curt Whall's excellent article on grooming and skin health gives a good description of the 'lifecycle' of a coat, using this picture.

groompic.gif

Stage 1 shows the resting hair follicle. The skin over it is unbroken. Stage 2 shows the growth of a new, healthy hair. This hair is thick, hard, shiny, well pigmented, and solidly rooted. This coat readily sheds dirt and water. As the hair continues to grow the follicle becomes less vigorous leading to stage 3. In stage 3 the base of the hair is thinner, softer, dryer, less well pigmented, and is now weakly rooted. The tip of the hair though retains its thickness which can fool you. On the outside the dog's coat appears to be in good condition even though in reality it is half dead. We call this stage a "dying coat" The weak rooting provides a channel for bacteria to enter the skin and cause skin disease. In stage 4 the hair is eroded to the point that its entire length is crinkled and has lost pigment. We describe a coat like this as "completely dead" or "completely blown". This coat becomes matted and tangled and holds onto dirt, water, dead skin flakes, water, twigs, and practically everything else. In stage 5 the hair has been mechanically removed but still remains tangled in the coat. The follicle, now though, is able to close up and return to the resting stage.

What are the implications of all of this? First, the dog with a healthy stage 2 coat is going to remain cleaner and better smelling than one with a dead coat. It is also resistant to bacterial infection and so less likely to suffer from skin disease. Its shiny, well pigmented coat is far more attractive. This coat then meets all of our three goals of health, hygiene, and appearance. The opposite is true of the blown stage 4 coat. Note that simply clipping the stage 3 and 4 coat doesn't buy you much. You still have a dead coat. Some people think that clipping the coat lightens its color. We now know better than that. All that was done was that the healthier tips were clipped away revealing more of the dead, unpigmented roots underneath.

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CRCTC: Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club 

 

 

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Since they are clipped I use a brush with bristles on it to take any dead fur out and they have very healthy skin. But I definitely see the hair staying in the follicles so I even try to pull the dead hair out.

Jess, Scooter, Sadie and Dozer

DSCN2419-1.jpg

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I am learning to strip Puddles. She actually loves it. Especially when I take her out for a run beforehand to tire her out enough to drape her over my lap. I am not ready to pull around her face and sensitive areas so i have been clipping her there. My reasoning for doing it this way is becasue I have heard the downsides of clipping. Puddles is on the verge of being a real live working dog. So i want her coat as close to her ancestors as possible. Its great when she takes a dip in the pond to come out shake off and be virtually dry. I love it!

I LOVE MY CAIRNS PUDDLES AND IRIS!

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Brad,

Thanks for posting Curt's article. When I saw this post the other day I started to do the same thing.

At the very least cairns should have a coat king used on them. In my opinion a cairn should never be clipped or shaved.

A cairn's skin is it's biggest body organ. A caring owner should consider learning as much as they can about their cairn's skin and coat and the health and vitality of the skin and coat. By nature a cairn is harsh coated and there is a reason for this. For me, there is nothing at all "cute" about a clippered cairn, in fact when I see one, I think it's sad. Take a good look at a healthy cairn who has a long blown coat. The hair has thinned out and it is no longer healthy and shiny .....and they get and stay dirty easier.

We've had personal experience with a re-home cairn who was clippered for over 6 years. He was bathed and groomed regularly. When we got him, his skin a bad odor and other problems. It was very hard to correct his condition. It took us over 2 years to get his skin and coat healthy, and his coat never did come in harsh like it should.

Working a cairn coat is not an easy task. I realize that for some, hand stripping is difficult or not possible. A Mars coat king pulled through a coat at least pulls out a majority of the hair and will keep the cairn tidy. Part of the purpose of a forum such as this one is to educated possible future owners about a cairn's health and upkeep. For all future cairn owners: please research this topic. There are many soft coated dog breeds. A cairn is not one of them. Again, they are designed to be a harsh coated scruffy dog.

Greg and Val Perry

Home of Kula RN CGC, Am. Can. Int'l. CH Cairngorm Coffee Tea or Me RA ME EE2/Can. SE NAJ NAS CGC (Kona), CH Clanmarr's Steele Princess (Hattie) and CH Scotchbroom Thistle The Patriot SE (Sully) Visit: CroftersDream.com

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Thanks again for the more info and especially curt's article (thanks bradl) i have known and realise that stripping is the way to go, i mean his coat is great never been clipped, just kinda scruffy so my main priorty is to learn to do this and with the help of a stripping knife i was trying some stripping on his tail and i cant believe how easy it is to come out, its just theres so much and there is a big difference to the texture of hair that the coat king takes out(soft) to stripping(harsh and long, different colour), you feel a sense of you are doing the right thing and it is relief for the dog.

p.s Jessica i think your dogs look gorgeous .

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I honestly never shaved them until this year, I have always had them stripped. It just became difficult to go to the one person who would strip (which is my breeder) because she is so far away. Their hair grows back and the wire returns in no time. I may start having them stripped again because I look the shaggy look but I am not sure yet.

Jess, Scooter, Sadie and Dozer

DSCN2419-1.jpg

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i'd love to see a video of a terrier being handstripped. I've googled and checked youtube and thought for sure i'd find some instructional vid's posted but no luck. maybe we have some members here who arent camera shy ;) hint hint

i havent attempted stripping nor will i try until i watch it being done.

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The youtube idea is a good one. I wonder how Buzz the Cairn and his humans are doing. Keegan had an awesome HD camcorder and probably knows how to do things like post youtube vids.

Cairn Terrier Club of Greater Detroit offers a video. (I haven't seen it.)

There is a Frank Edwards (RIP, Heshe Cairns) Canine Coat Care grooming video. Good, but probably not as fundamental as what you might want.

Meantime, the best, fastest, cheapest option in my opinion is to hie thee to a dog show and watch any or all of the double-coated terrier breeds get ready for the ring. If you can find a friendly Cairn exhibitor, even better! After they are done showing and able to relax a bit, you may get one to give you a quick demo of the pulling technique. If no Cairns are available, observe a Westie or Norfolk or Norwich, etc. Once you have internalized the basic concept, a picture of Cairn you like to use as a model is all you need to try. It's only hair. It grows back :P

AKC events search.

CAIRNTALK: Questions? Need help? → Support Forum Please do not use PMs for tech support
CRCTC: Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club 

 

 

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:thumbsup: I am learning to strip and so far Cassie has never been clipped. When I had an opportunity to take her in to be hand stripped by a pro

I did so and it looks like the hair growing in is lovely. Hope I can keep her looking good.

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