i had my schnauzers hand stripped a week ago and i still put coats on if its cold which it has been. Does anyone else do this? i was told the undercoat is what keeps them warm but im never sure. i wouldnt mind but one of my bitches hates her coat!

Ive just got a rambler coat for Whistler my cocker who is suffering for the cold weather he needs it this week. He was stripped yesterday and is a bit chilly and a lot smaller.

I don't know anything about undercoats really but I'm still putting my lurcher in a jumper on the cold days at the moment, he is a big wuss though. He much prefers his fleece jumper to a coat so maybe your bitch is getting annoyed by any clips or velcro?

My chinese crested hates jumpers and coats. He would rather freeze but I make him wear his coat. He does like to get under the covers at night though and makes a great hot water bottle.

A handstripped schnauzer should have a perfectly good weatherproof coat of her own I'd have thought. If she's on the move and doesn't like wearing the coat, I wouldn't bother. My Cavs only wear coats if I'm at a show so they are sitting still in a crate for a long time - or if I've just bought the puppy a new coat and think she looks cute so want to show it off! :-D

My dogs all have fleeces to wick away the damp for when they get wet and muddy or even for left in their crate (the room is not really cold but it's far from warm). Even the tough guy loves his now, and I swear they like feeling snuggled--they are much calmer at being left, and their coats have stayed just as full as ever.

> My dogs all have fleeces to wick away the damp for when they get wet and muddy

Does that really work?  I only ask as I used to use those towelling ,dog dry bag thingamajigs when I had 2 BC x's. They didn't work very well as they restricted movement, but wasn't too bad after a 10+ mile hike as they were tired and would rest in their beds.  I don't need anything like that for my Elkhound [great weather/dirt proof coat] but with my, now old, BC the mud and wet takes ages to dry and I think she feels vulnerable and unsteady in her thingy. 
What are the fleeces like and where would I get one from, please?

Hi Heidi2006, in case I give the impression I am part of their sales team I will say now I'm most definitely not, I just sound like it :)

I buy Equafleece for mine, they are now on their second sets in 2.5-3 years and the dog jumpers are fabulous, see
http://www.equafleece.co.uk/store/dogs.html

I bought my oldest boy his first after we had a full working day in the most awful winter weather conditions (suffice it to say that even the dogs wanted to go home)--someone there had one for their dog and they swore by it. My boy  was a bit reluctant at first, but the other two adored them from the word go. All I have to do now for the three of them is say "In your coats" and they queue up.

All I would say is that it's worth looking at their list of events. I measured my dogs the first time, and last year the baby got his from their stand at a show. His fits best of all. The Equafleece people really know their stuff.

Thanks Jay = have had a quick look and seems just the job.  Will have a good look and measure up later.

Enjoy, both of you :) :) :) we will hunt them down at Crufts for new coats

Just like to second Jay Heidi, the jumper I have for Vic is the same brand as Jay's and it really is brilliant. I (Vic really) uses it so much I have to get another when the pennies allow, it fits so well and is so comfy he even does agility in it with no bother and when you wash it it dries in no time. Yay for Equafleece!
(off to collect my commission with Jay now :) )

Your handstripped Schnauzers will have a weatherproof coat that will keep them warm and dry.  And all the time their legs are working, their hearts will be working and they won't be cold. 
If you stand still and chat for half an hour while you're out, then things might be different! ;) :) :)

It always makes me laugh when owners pay to have their dog's coat clipped off and then pay again to buy a coat to keep them warm and dry!! :)  If their coats were stripped then they'd have perfectly functional coats of their own.

the problem is that now the coats are stripped obv the top harsh coat is gone and they look like they are in  their underwear thats why im worried that the undercoat is warm enough? obv in a few weeks it will have grown back a bit

Are they fully stripped a couple of times a year or are their coats rolled every 8 weeks?

fully stripped 3 or 4 times a year

I'm surprised.  It's not usually ready to all come out 4 times a year. 
Ask your groomer to roll their coats.  That's taking about 25% of the coat out each time and that'll leave enough top coat to protect them and they'll never look tatty and they'll never look short.  ;) :)

I think there's some confusion with my question.  I know many posts are relevant to breeds that need hand-stripping, though. But just to clarify - for my own older Border Collie X, I wanted to know if the Equifleece would work to help dry off my dog AFTER she's been out and got her own natural coat wet and muddy.  Particularly with her age [14] I don't want to be washing her down every time and she gets really muddy.

It might not look very pretty but my daughter puts a cut down sweat shirt (it covers most of her tummy too) on her very old Rough Collie lady before she goes out for a walk and then removes it before coming indoors.  She's clean, warm and dry underneath with just her feet to wipe. :)

Just got Whistler a coat called 3 peaks its like thinsulate inside and windproof. I had him stripped and its darn cold (Cocker Spaniel show type) he wore it in this morning its -2 here at the moment.(11;15am)

I have these (well not these I have the hotterdog ones, same product by the same people with a different name and less choice in sizes and colours but lower prices so good if they have what you need). One of my dogs has HD and suffers with the cold so can near on live in hers when the weather is bad. It doesn't bother her one bit and she moves just as she does when she is minus her fleece, so isn't restricted at all. The other comes home soaking wet having had a swim, and covered in mud. I pop hers on when we get home and it helps dry her off much quicker and keeps the mess a bit contained. My girl with HD even went swimming in hers, only a quick dip, but she came out bone dry everywhere the fleece covered. I should add, I have working ESS so they like to get mucky and wet and their coats definitely like to keep hold of it. Both my girls love getting their jumpers on and get excited if I look like I might be going to get them.

You can have a look at the hotterdog ones here: http://www.mekuti.co.uk/hotter.htm

Thanks Jess  = have had a look at the link and will definitely get one [at least].

:) if only, Pookin, a commission selling these would be terrific especially now that I have had my redundancy notice :)

Perhaps if she's having them stripped 4 times a year the groomer is more-or-less rolling? I used to have a border terrier whose owner wanted him stripped every 4 months when really 5 or 6 would have suited him better, so I was pretty much rolling rather than doing a full strip. For some reason most of my handstrip clients seem to prefer the twice yearly strip rather than rolling though.

Oh boo, that's bad news Jay :(

so I was pretty much rolling rather than doing a full strip.
Perfect - that's the way it should be rather than looking long and then bald!  The owners obviously knew what they were asking for. :)

Thanks Pookin, it's not great, but you know what they say: "at least you still have your health!" :) :) :)

For some reason most of my handstrip clients seem to prefer the twice yearly strip rather than rolling though.
I never offered that as an option.  All my clients came in for an 8 week trim whatever. :)
It's the way that I could make sure the dogs were always tidy, knot free and ready for all weathers, and of course, it gave me regular clients and income all year round.