I have 6 month old Wire Fox Terrier Sophie who attended her first show yesterday.  Well she came 3 out of 3 and I was sooo ashamed because her coat looked so awful compared with the other 2 who had immaculate coats.  OH and I are still confused and are groping in the dark (didn't realise what a difficult breed this is to groom) as you have to hand strip out all puppy coat in order for the hard wire coat to grow.  Some weeks ago I took her to my groomer who stripped her coat right back and since then we have kept her tidy but her white parts look sort of dappled and her face looks rather scrufyf, she also cut her leg hair too short!!   The other 2, one of whom is her brother, looked amazing with fluffy white legs and showy beards while Sophie (who is lovely) looked like a scruff bag!!! I got talking to the helpful lady next to me who owned Ruby who came first, the most wonderful little creature you have ever seen.  This lady is an international show judge of WFTs and she showed us how to strip her face which should be really smooth and gave us quite a few tips.  She said she thought our pup has a lovely long head which was cheering and was a nice shape.  However she told  us to spend an hour a day on the hand stripping (30 mins each time) so that the hard coat can come through properly.  However  Sophie's breeder who was there  has told me I should just let the hair grow back as it was too severely stripped by the groomer.  So I don't know what to do really.  I don't suppose many of you out there have got WFTs (wonder why LOL) but any advice would be helpful.

Not my breed at all but wouldn't the white parts be due to having been chalked? Is the breeder generally successful at shows, by which I mean championship shows? If so I'd listen to the breeder's advice. :)

Sadly some breeds for many judges is a hairdressing competition.

Me again! (With Welsh Terrier in tow :P )

I know EXACTLY how you feel!

Due to a poorly timed season my WT first show was bath champs, and we came 3rd out of three. I was heart broken because I had tried so hard but when my bitch stood against the others in the class it was a no brainer, she was a mess in comparison! At that point I had been teaching myself with pointers from someone in the breed club over email, but its impossible to read a "how to strip" and get it right! That was back in may, and I had been stripping since March. It wasn't until I met another really helpful breed club member at Bath (and since at other shows) that has given me practical advice on stripping. We recently went to Welsh kennel club, and although we didn't come last - I went thinking my grooming was spot on - but again she looked completely different to the first and 2nd placed dogs!

I would say take the practical advice of this lady that gave you pointers at the show. If she is judging then she knows what to look for, and she is obviously getting results from her techniques. This is what worked for me. I would love to go back to my breeder but she is hours away :( So have to just take the advice I get when I see them and other exhibitors at shows.

Since Welsh Kennel club my stripping "mentor" has told me to take my dogs shoulders head and neck completely bald and I have done - she almost instantly looks better! But I wouldn't have known to do that if I hadnt been told. I am now stripping almost very day, its a very laborious task! But it has to be done.

I often sit at the grooming table thinking "why didnt I just get something that needed toweling over once a day" Haha! Dont give up, its very rewarding once youve got there! Ive been stripping now for 5 months, (A drop in the ocean compared to people in my breed and groomers!) but there is still a wayyyy to go. So don't give up! :D

Thank you Sqwoofle,  you obviously had the same awful experience in the show as we did, had there been more in the class it may not have been so bad (I had thought there would be others in the class with inexperience in the breed).  Your words are exactly how I felt, it was horrid as I am a person who likes to get things right.

I have just spoken to my breeder who is very nice and who has now decided (like the judge lady) that I should strip as you describe every day and wants me  to put Sophie in the puppy class at the Champion WFT show in October.  She says I have to keep at it.  Hopefully there will be a change in her coat by then.  In a month (during which I will do my daily hand stripping) I am taking her over to see the breeder so she can see how it's going and she says that together we will master it.  I expect she was embarrassed to have to tell people that THAT scruffy little dog in the ring was one of hers!!!!

How is your WT looking these days?  Have you got to grips with it?

My guess when you say you were told your groomer had done too much is that she did a full pet strip - I've never done a WFT, but when I do Borders as pets I just have them in every 4-6 months and completely strip all the coat. I know that show people however 'roll' the coat ie take a bit at a time so the coat is never blown but never completely bare either, your groomer might need to learn how to do this, or if you're going to be doing it every day it'll be easier to just do it yourself. To be honest I wouldn't take her to a groomer unless it's one that actually shows or has shown a terrier. As you know, I'm a groomer who does show, but a completely different breed, and I wouldn't dare do a terrier for show, and most groomers don't even know anything about show trims for breeds, you did very well to find one who strips instead of clipping! I have people come to me from 15 miles away because I will strip their dogs rather than just clip off. :-)

How successful is the breeder compared to the lady who advised you who won the class?

Which is more experienced, and do they have similar or differing bloodlines?

Reason I ask this is because different lines may develop differently, and this may include coat (I have no idea if that is the case, but guessing it may).

Also yes the WFT is a real groomers breed, as are most terriers.

Dont worry, I dont think your breeder would have thought that at all! My dog is from one of our top breeders - and the night before Bath I had a horrible dream that I got there and the breeder was outraged that I would exhibit a dog so poorly groomed that had them listed as a breeder! Woke up in a cold sweat - and of course it didnt happen :) Im guessing they are just glad that someone is taking the time to show off their work!

Its probably very hard for your breeder if she isnt seeing your dog in the flesh right now - hair grows back at the strangest rate. Like Lucy said if it was too short from a pet style groom before it can easily grow back in weeks - so your would be right to start getting on top of it now rather than waiting for it all to come back long again, Ive learnt that its much easier to maintain short than it is trying to go all guns blazing every 6 weeks! Haha! Its great that your going over to the breeder now, I wish mine was close! But once she has seen the coat she will know how to tackle it from here on.

Everyone in my ringcraft club is always like "take your dog to so and so, shell will be able to groom her" but I wouldnt let anyone else get their hands on her now as they wouldnt know how to show strip for my breed! Only the select few from my breed club get to take a knife to her :P Im slowly getting there now! I change my type everytime I speak to my breed club friends and have recently invested in some very sought after and rare knives that are really doing the trick. Im trying to make my phone work so I can upload a few before, during and after photos but its being typical technology!

I well remember my first few shows with my first Bedlington pup.    She was easily the worst trimmed,  partly because I was still learning,  and partly because she was still growing her coat - her leg furnishings were non existent lol   Actually,  she never did grow the flashy fluffy white leg furnishing,  being a darker blue,  with a great jacket,  and grey furnishings which were whispy on the legs.   But being a working dog it isn't actually required,  so it didn't hold her back with judges who really know the breed :-)

At one show,  one exhibitor shouted "that dog' s got knees! " and that was my first terrifying introduction to a wonderful woman who not only retrimmed my dog that day,  to find her Ch bitch beaten by mine in the line up and then laughed about it!   But she also taught me so much about trimming Bedlingtons.   After that,  every show I went to,  experienced exhibitors and judges would give me hints tips and tricks,  and I kept on learning.  

It's a great way of making friends in the breed :-)    Lets face it,  no-one likes the know-it-all newby ;-)

Don't be down-hearted about your placing,  you took the best dog home ;-)

You will learn,  and pretty soon you'll be laughing about your first tentative attempts :-)

>It's a great way of making friends in the breed :-)    Lets face it,  no-one likes the know-it-all newby ;-)

I never thought about it this way but now I can see why sometimes people coming into a new breed as already seasoned exhibitors rub existing exhibitors up the wrong way for some reason.  It's probably because people expect newbies to a breed to be beginners, and need help.

Ditto! It's definitely a great way to make friends! :D

Lucy

I think you are right and one has to do this sort of show strip oneself.  Re the breeder,  she is not a big breeder which shows in the temperament of my pup who is not in the least snappy and is most affectionate (they can be a feisty scrappers so I am told LOL). Can be noisy though!!

The breeder  told me from the outset that she didn't regard herself as the best WFT groomer in the world but would help me as best she could,   however I was astounded when I saw how beautifully she had presented Sophie's brother and realised she had been hiding her light under a bushel!  He looked almost as good as the judge's WFT who won.   I have ordered some new stripping knives which might help. (Well maybe....)

By the way Dill there were some lovely Bedlington terriers at the show and I did think the grooming looked fairly tricky LOL.

I think Sophie's adorable! :-)

This what aggravates me at the shows, what about the confirmation, and if you are just starting out your showing, there is so much up the lead judging, did the breeder of your pup know you were going to enter a dog show. as if they did, I am surprised they were not helping you with the coat preparation. After all it does reflect [my opinion only] on them as breeders, if a nice pup is in the ring, not properly groomed.
I remember as a breeder of many years, trying to tell new owners not to over exercise their pets, they would fetch them back for me to see, all legs and long and lanky, my pup from the same litter, compact growing normally, just been in the garden playing for a bit then sleeping. I would ask them about the exercise and be told,they go for just for a little walk, then but the pup had a good friend and they would run and run in the park for hours, it all came out, you only get one chance not to over do it with a new puppy.

>This what aggravates me at the shows, what about the confirmation,

To be fair there are some breeds where the standard of trimming and show grooming really does make a huge difference to placings.  This cannot be 'done on the day'

On the other hand someone coming into my breed, as long as they are at least competent enough to allow the dog to be evaluated is likely to do well almost right away with a good dog.

I learnt an example of that at my last show - the bitch placed second was my bitches full sister (we were 3rd). When I spoke to the judge after to see what she thought - she Said the only thing separating us was the look of my bitches front when she moved, and it was purely because I had left too much hair on. So I think it did matter.

That day we also placed above a very reputable breeder which restored my confidence in actually having a good dog and not just judging who was on the other end of the lead :)

Do you live near enough to the breeder or the other lady who helped you that they could give you a grooming lesson every now and then? I do a fair bit of grooming on Scotties and often what I will do when teaching someone is groom one side of the dog with the owner watching then send the owner home to copy what I have done on the other side.

I definitely wouldn't recommend just letting the coat grow back. You need to keep working the coat as it comes back in, especially the jacket, otherwise the good quality coat gets choked by the older/dead hair and excess undercoat. The more you work the coat the better the coat you will get through in the long run, although it is also possible to overdo it so you may find that after getting the coat growing the way you want it you won't even need to do a full hour of grooming a day.