ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

Hand Stripping

What is Hand Stripping?

In order to be show in the conformation ring, certain dogs must be hand stripped. Beyond that, stripping encourages a dog’s natural coat, texture, and colour. Once a dog is clipped, the coat begins to soften and often the colour will lighten to a point where it no longer resembles the dog’s true genetic colour.

A stripped coat is harder, repels dirt and water, and does not mat as easily as a clipped coat. A properly cared for stripped coat will lie flatter, and can therefore be left to grow longer than a clipped coat which will often get fluffy and curly if left to grow too long.

Which Breeds Require Hand Stripping?

It is not necessarily the breed of the dog, rather the type of coat. When the undercoat is soft and dense but the topcoat is longer and wiry in texture, this requires being hand stripped. Dogs with wiry coats go through a certain growing cycle in which the hair becomes thicker and darker as it grows. Some breeds that have coats that can be hand stripped include: Airedale Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier, Schnauzer, and Wirehaired Dachshund.

What Tools Do I Need To Use?

Many tools can be used to strip a coat. It depends on the breed, coat texture, and the desired result. The flatwork, which is the head, cheeks, ears, jaw line and down the neckline. The jacket (the back and sides), and lastly, the furnishings (legs, beard, and eyebrows).

The following are the most common tools used:

What Technique Do I Use For The Body?

In order to successfully strip a dog, all one really needs is the rubber fingers and a strong arm.

Technique One

Stripping technique is simple. While stretching the skin taut with one hand, begin pulling small amounts of hair with the thumb and index finger. The skin can also be pinched between the thumb and index finger while pulling small amounts of hair with the other hand. Images are above of what this looks like.

Technique Two

A stripping knife. Make sure the knife is dull so there is less tendency to cut the coat or the dog’s skin

Key Point

The most important thing to remember when stripping, is to pull from the shoulder, keeping the arm fairly immobile.

Stripping is a very repetitive action and if done incorrectly can easily cause (or aggravate) carpal tunnel. Be careful not to twist the wrist. Always keep the dog’s skin taut when pulling, as the hair will come out easier.

And always pull the hair in the direction that it is growing, as doing otherwise will be painful to the dog.

Key Point

The coat should be blown or dead when stripped. This can be determined by gently tugging on the coat and seeing how easily their hair comes out. The blown hair will come out quite easily, while a coat that is more “alive” will not.

Pulling a dead coast should not bother the average dog.

What Technique Should I Use For The Head/Neck/Ears?

The hair is naturally shorter on the head, neck and ears. Therefore, use a finer stripping knife while using the same technique as the body. As illustrated in the diagram below, Section A being the flatwork is the “shorts” section.

It is recommended to do this section last because it requires the hair to be shorter than the body.

What Is A Rolled Coat?

A rolled coat is still a stripped coat, but unlike a regular stage stripped coat, in which each stage is basically all the same age and the length, the rolled coat is made up of hairs of varying ages and lengths (in layers).

For the most part, the coat is maintained on a weekly basis by pulling the longest hairs and it can be maintained in a constantly neat, good looking condition for years; unlike a stripped coat which only looks great for a few short weeks, then grows out, requiring it to be stripped down to the skin once again.

You need to know the basic pattern of a stripped terrier. The lines are the same whether the coat is clipped, stage stripped, or rolled. But with a rolled coat you will be working with a longer coat that blends into the pattern lines and those pattern lines will be easy to lose if you are not careful.

One important thing to remember is as long as you begin rolling a coat is that the coat will look a whole lot worse before it starts looking better. A nicely rolled coat does not happen overnight – it takes several months to get all those hairs rolling in the right cycle. It is not an overnight process. It is not a project to be tackled lightly. Give it a lot of thought before attempting to roll a coat.

There are a few cut and dried rules for working a rolled coat. Experiment to see which looks best with the dog.

Rule One

Never ever cut the coat with scissors; thinning or otherwise. Cutting any coat defeats the purpose of the rolled coat. Do it and regret it for months afterwards.

Rule Two

The coat must be worked religiously at least once a week

How To Work A Rolled Coat?

Step One

Rake over the entire coat using both the coarse, and then the fine, Mars Coat King strippers. This pulls out some of the undercoat and also some of the longer guard hairs that are more blown (dead). Do a thorough job here, and pretty much keep raking until nothing more is coming out.

Step Two

Go through the long parts of the coat using only your fingers. Catch up a small amount of hair between the index and middle finger of one of your hands (you will be able to see the layers in a properly rolled coat) and pull out only the longest hairs.

The starting point, either up near the occiput or around the withers, always works from the forward part of the dog back towards the rear.

Step Three

When all the finger work is complete, work on all the shorter areas with the stripper knives. The next and final step is to use the grooming stone and stone over the entire dog. This removes some of the longer hairs that may have been missed, and a bit more of the undercoat.

What If My Client Only Comes In Once a Year?

It is recommended to hand strip twice a week in small portions. Obviously, this is very unlikely for a customer to come into a salon to do so. If the client has never had their dog hand stripped, or only comes in once a year, this would be exactly the same result.

A dog that is regularly rolled has a shorter undercoat and therefore can be stripped closer. Whereas, if the dog is not regularly rolled, the undercoat has grown out as a longer layer. This means this cannot be achieved if the customer only comes in once a year. Explain to the customer that this is a lengthy process and takes times show results. However, if it is what they are after, at minimum a six-weekly appointment for a pet to be transformed into a hand stripped coat is ideal.

What Shampoo Is Best Used After A Hand Strip? And Should Conditioner Be Used?

Gentle shampoo is ideal as the skin can be a little irritated. For a pet, we recommend Plush Puppy All Purpose, as this will also bring shine back through the coat with the natural henna. If this was a dog being prepared for a show, use a crisp coat shampoo to keep all the hardness in the texture of a coat.

For a show dog, using conditioner will soften the coat which is not ideal. Whereas, for a pet, using conditioner is not an issue and will help further soothe the skin.

Glossary On Hand Stripping/Grooming

Breed Standard

The standard, agreed set of guidelines to help define the looks and characteristics of each individual breed. In grooming, the traditional look of the coat – its texture, and how it is clipped and maintained.

Carding

A grooming technique that removes loose undercoat hair to accentuate the dog’s coat condition and structure. Also completed for general coat and skin health and maintenance.

Clip Off

The process of clipping the whole of the dog’s coat. Typically, completed in hot summers, or in cases of excessive matting

Double Coat

When a dog’s coat features both coarse guard hairs and softer, downy undercoat.

Furnishings

Excess of coat on the head, face, legs, and tail. Typically groomed in a way that complements or accentuates the look of the dog’s coat – the eyebrows on Schnauzers, for example

Hand Stripping

The process of removing the outer guard hairs from the dog’s coat to keep the coat trim and healthy. A traditional grooming method for most Terrier coats.