Hand-stripping Coat

Feugh

Well-Known Member
I have a HWV and she has turned out to be one at the fluffier end of the spectrum, which isn't really a problem although she can pick up some debris on a walk. I heard the other day that some folk hand strip the coat, or use a special grooming knife to strip out the longer hair and leave the wiry stuff behind. Is there any advantage to this, beyond aesthetics?
As ever, thanks in advance.
 
I did my WHV last summer as see was getting very hot.
I was too tight to take her to a groomer so did it with a hacksaw blade. Sounds brutal but if you do it right it works really well, just takes ages.
 
Hi.
I strip my paterdale by hand, because otherwise he looks like a peice of old wire wool walking round. He tends not to loose it quite so much I guess is the advantage.
My pointer I use one of the stripping combs you mentioned. Again helps with him not loosing so much of his coat as he lives in the house. They both look a lot better for it.
Cheers Daz
 
I tried again last week to hand strip my HWV bitch I found it damn near impossible ,I then tried the clippers again couldn't make any headway . Out came the scissors she looks like a cruelty case long bits short bits bald bits ,I know the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is two weeks so I hoped to keep her away from prying eyes.
Tuesday morning my mate rang to say he had lost a buck in some heavy cover and would I bring the dog and have a look .

I drove to his place then I got the dog out the pickup he went into fits of laughing , really ****ing himself I said I could always put her back in the car he said he would like to find the buck so I relented and cast the bitch of 3 or 4 mins she found his buck and he was a happy man ,his parting words were she might have a ***** haircut but what a nose she has.
His wife very kindly got her scissors out and tidied her up as best she could while we had a brew.
My mate said next time she needs a haircut stop being so ****ing tight and take her to a dog parlour. Well we shall see.

If I was you Feugh id take the dog to a pro.
 
We have a tool call " the furminator" google it, its a belting bit of kit

kjf
 
Hi,
just my 2 pence but cutting a wire hairs coat with scissors ruins the outter guard hairs that give the wire texture.
It makes the coat soft and hard to look after. It also doesn’t give the protection that it should.
I have a GWP that is on the fluffier end of the scale. It took till he was about 18mongh till I could strip his coat. The 1st time was a nightmare and took ages. After that 1st strip they have all been much easier and can be done in a few hours now, or gradually over time as I prefer.
This is only my experience.
Cheers.
 
Hi,
just my 2 pence but cutting a wire hairs coat with scissors ruins the outter guard hairs that give the wire texture.
It makes the coat soft and hard to look after. It also doesn’t give the protection that it should.
I have a GWP that is on the fluffier end of the scale. It took till he was about 18mongh till I could strip his coat. The 1st time was a nightmare and took ages. After that 1st strip they have all been much easier and can be done in a few hours now, or gradually over time as I prefer.
This is only my experience.
Cheers.

Totally agree and there is no need to hurry - do it it sections over a few days if that suits you and the dog. Clipping is certainly not good for a wire coat.
 
Any chance of before and after pictures? My HWV bitch is only 6 months and looking nice and wirey and not too fluffy yet so any stripping is a long way off but i love to see the transformations between long ungroomed and that fresh smooth look bht with the beard and lower leg hair.
 
I have also found with my Irish terriers that hand stripping retains the full color of the coat, whilst I have seen others who have been clipped get a much lighter coat.
 
I used to hand strip my wire haired Teckle. If you wait till the right time you can pluck out the old hair like plucking a chicken. As said no need to rush it. The teckle loved having his old coat stripped out.
 
I tried again last week to hand strip my HWV bitch I found it damn near impossible ,I then tried the clippers again couldn't make any headway . Out came the scissors she looks like a cruelty case long bits short bits bald bits ,I know the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is two weeks so I hoped to keep her away from prying eyes.
Tuesday morning my mate rang to say he had lost a buck in some heavy cover and would I bring the dog and have a look .

I drove to his place then I got the dog out the pickup he went into fits of laughing , really ****ing himself I said I could always put her back in the car he said he would like to find the buck so I relented and cast the bitch of 3 or 4 mins she found his buck and he was a happy man ,his parting words were she might have a ***** haircut but what a nose she has.
His wife very kindly got her scissors out and tidied her up as best she could while we had a brew.
My mate said next time she needs a haircut stop being so ****ing tight and take her to a dog parlour. Well we shall see.

If I was you Feugh id take the dog to a pro.

Ha ha ha brilliant.
 
I always get my Border hand stripped. If you cannot do it yourself I would have the dog groomer do it. Reason being, certainly on a Border, is that the hair structure is hollow with the new hair showing once the old hair is pulled from the coat. If you use clippers the structure of the hair is damaged and the roots off the old hair are not removed as with stripping and the coat can be damaged for good.

I was really miffed when I took my dog to be stripped and it was clear the groomer couldn't be bothered with the effort around the dogs neck and used clippers. This led to the dogs hair growing in an odd fashion for around a year in that area. Luckily as the clipping had only occurred once the coat recovered. But if a coat is clipped more than a few times the structure might not recover and the dogs coat might become fluffy, soft and tangled.
 
So out of interest, what would you do with a GWP that's managed to coat it's entire face & head with something that's like pine resin or similar?
 
I hand strip my GSD and god knows in this weather she needs it. I’m hoping I can train her to be a deer dog as she loves to track.
 
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