I have a six month old Westie whose coat has grown lovely but I was just wondering when should she have her first hair cut?

Asap, she needs to be got used to it while still small. Do you dry her with a hair dryer after you bath her - its a good idea to get her ok with it. When you take her I would make sure she is 100% combed and tangle free ( no offense intended) and bathed about a week previously, so all the groomer has to do first time anyway, is to clip her. Hopefully she is used to being stood on a table and behave well when she is being combed. Have a clip about an inch long in the shortest places ( neck shoulders, top of ribs and back)- except under the throat/ front chest where it can be shorter. Clipping too short can upset their skin and isn't good for them in this hot weather - the coat protects them from harsh sun/temperatures.

Hi there,

If you are interested it may be worth learning to hand strip your puppy yourself, there are many books and videos avaliable to help you and show you. Feel free to mail me and I can give you some book titles and links to videos. ( preidie@yahoo.com)

You could contact all the groomers in and around your area and ask if the hand strip or roll the coat of terriers, a lot don't but a few do.

Not sure where you are but there are a couple groomers on the site who may possibly know somewhere in your area or near you. If you can get someone to hand strip rather that the clipper this would be better for the dog as their is belief that clippering can contribute to some of the skin problems seen. Apart from this it is nice to see them in their natural state.

It is quite important to give the dog a good brush down daily with a slicker or something similar , removing all the tugs, this also helps remove some of the hair already coming out..

Hope this helps a little.

Pam

If your Westie has been bred with a correct course coat, then it would be better for both you and the dog to have it hand stripped and chalked. The coat will then stay course, and any dirt collected will brush out easily. If your girl has a soft coat, then it may eventually have to be clipped and bathed, but I don't clip (I would use a combination of stripping and thinning scissors as necessary) any pup before it's first birthday, without trying to get the best possible coat through first.
I would see a pup every 8 weeks from the time it is protected by vaccinations.

At 6 months imo its too late to start hand stripping this way. If the owner were to learn to do it then fine - but not in one hit at the groomers. Hand stripping is uncomfortable , and can be painful when not done by an expert. A dog that is already 6 months old would be practically traumatised by the experience and may get very upset. Only exception would be if the puppy has a VERY hard coat - but its very unlikley to have if it has never been stripped out. A VERY hard coat will usually grow more slowly and be more sparse so there are far fewer hairs to pull out. Fine if the owner is willing to learn and spend time doing it quietly, day after day at home to get the dog used to it. I agree that hand stripping is the "correct" way to present a Westie but it depends on the circumstances. Many of my "pet" puppy buyers say they will hand strip , but few do and always end up having them clipped.

Did I say "in one hit at the groomers"? So many owners are told that hand stripping is painful and therefore ask for their dog to be clipped! If the coat is only pulled when it is ready, it is not painful. And when rolled every 8 weeks, even a 'not perfect' coat can look natural and be put into the correct shape.
I only feel the need to clip the very worst Westie coats, usually those with skin problems too, and prefer to trim to the breed standard where ever possible.

I give up- I'm just thinking of the dog ( and owner) and not trying to score points. The question was "when should my Westie have its first hair cut" - I answered the post with my opinion, you are entitled to yours. Very few pet owners want their house/clothes permanently covered with a fine layer of chalk dust and few WANT to strip.
As you know, to begin with hand stripping is also very hard on the fingers/thumb of the person that does it, it took me months to build up the tougher skin you need to make it pain/blister free. imo stripping knives are not for the novice and it should be done with finger and thumb only to begin with, until you know what you are doing. How many pet owners want to be bothered with all that? If the puppy only comes to you every 8 weeks to be part stripped/part scissored then surely you will be stripping out all the coat that you are going to strip - in one hit.

" to begin with hand stripping is also very hard on the fingers/thumb of the person that does it, it took me months to build up the tougher skin you need to make it pain/blister free. imo stripping knives are not for the novice and it should be done with finger and thumb only to begin with, until you know what you are doing"
I agree! So by taking their pet to an experienced and knowledgable groomer, who can roll the coat every 8 weeks, the Westie always looks good, never shorn, never long, and is as good a representative of the breed as the breeder has produced!
If a family has bought a Westie, then I expect them to have a dog that looks as good as it can. Clipping a Westie should be the last resort.

PJB - have you decided what sort of coat care you are going to arrange? After all this discussion I would be interested to know :-). Whatever you decide try and find a groomer through recomendation rather than from adverts. It's sometimes a good idea to ask your vet/vets receptionists as they often know of good people in animal related businesses, like groomers and boarding kennels.