I know this isn't generally done over here in the UK, but I believe it's done a lot in the US and other countries.....are there any books around I can consult? Or does anyone have any info re this?? Am not looking to strip mine but wanted to get an idea of the anatomy so to speak, as I can't relate any other stripped breeds to a deerhound, am assuming that the stripping is meant to enhance the appearance and show off the hound at its best?? Someone I know took hers to be stripped, or she requested that they were stripped, but it was quite obvious that the groomer had just clipped them, most bizarre, and all their eyebrows and beards gone too.....poor things, but in a strange way nice to see their streemlined silhouette....

okay - time for another jolt of caffeine methinks, got some nice toons on my i-pod.....

:) 

This happened to my friend with Her Golden Retriever, and it took nearly two years for her coat to regrow and return to a reasonable texture.  She was bald on her back for nearly 18 months (she was an older dog).

Stripping usually entails removing the long wispy guard hair which is done by finger and thumb, and as it is usually dead hair as in rough coated breeds it seldom moults out once dead as easily as in other coat types it is stripped out.

It is done in Terrier breeds, Schnauzers etc.

Oh my god, im a groomer and i try and persuade people not to have breeds clipped that shouldnt be. I persuaded someone who bought a rough collie to me to keep its coat and just let me groom her and make her look like she should rather than the mess she was!!! i dont undrestand groomers that cant wait to get the clippers on anything remotely hairy!!!!! Perhaps its just laziness and they arent prepared for all the grooming out and drying, or just a case of one style suits all!
mel.

Sadly as 'Val' used to say there are a lot of sheep shearers out there proclaiming to be dog groomers.  I have yet to see a WHWT that hasn't been clipped unless owned by a show goer.

As to the Golden once her coat had grown back I did a far better job of 'thinning' out and shortening her feathers, removing excess feathering in armpits inner thighs etc, and tidying ears and feat, using thinning scissors. This allowed her to be comfortable and easier for her elderly owner to groom.

I am no way a groomer, and could never cut my kids fringes straight.

Many, many years ago, we would hand-strip our lurcher every spring - and she did indeed look beautiful and streamlined. We would take most of the coat ( by this I mean the long guard hairs, leaving the softer under-coat )from her back and chest and leave all the hair on her face and down her legs and on her belly. We could tell when the hair was ready to pull as there would be no resistance to tugging. It removed all the straggly untidy hairs or the ones that just hadn't fallen yet. All the long-coated lurcher men would do it for the country shows too. Bracken had deerhound blood in her :)

My daughter hand-strips her akita as well as brushing her when she 'blows' her coat as it would just take too long for her to lose it naturally! but, my gosh it sure makes your hands ache and you have to do it little and often. She looks like a rag-tag scruff bag when she's moulting :) :)

I used to cut my daughters' hair when they were little and stopped doing it as they became older and more fashion conscious. A few years ago 1 daughter asked me to trim her hair and against my better judgement I did it. Unfortunately the Budget was on and I totally ruined her hair cos I was too busy trying to watch tv - I had to pay for an emergency hair cut at our local hairdresser who rolled about laughing when he saw her hair. NEVER again.....

I used to know someone with an Irish wolfhound and she stripped it to some extent. Brainless, you should see one of the Westies I do, I stripped him and he wasn't for show, but that's what the owner wanted and I do enjoy handstripping. Must admit the dog didn't like it, and I know it wasn't me because the Border terriers I strip don't mind! My other Westie I do clip because I did him for my C&G exam. I can't imagine clipping off a Goldie or rough collie though - must be the same sheep shearing idiots that clip Cavaliers off!! :-(

I have never been asked to handstrip a westie which is quite sad. i handstrip 3 scotties though which are just lovely to do and lots of border terriers. I think im a rare breed around here as i have people coming from far and wide for their dogs to be handstripped. Seems a lot of groomers dont do it, what their reasons are i dont know!
yes, i think sheep shearers are claiming to be groomers in a lot of places. The scotties i do now were going to sheffield, a good 2 hours from me before they saw my ad!!!!!!!
mel.

ok i have two deerhounds and every summer i strip them, just finger and thumb, backto the new growth undercoat same as i do with the terriers. Then about november they start to develop a nice correct harsh coat again and it means they have the perfect tweed jacket for their winter work, when they can be out in wind rain and snow and really benefit from the quality of their coats. Sadly there are far more woollies (deerhounds) about now and this leads to woolly, long silky or even fuzzy deerhounds...none of which are correct :( Its easy to do and I take everything back thats dead....just leave the live new growth. They look a bit weird for a month but its worth it for the coat that comes thru later.

I'm the same Mel, neither of my Borders have anyone else they know who handstrips. It is harder work than clipping but so satisfying and looks so much nicer. My handstripped Westie was so naturally blended compared to my best efforts on the clipped on - alas, just found out they have moved up north! :-(

in response to Sam, I would like to strip my oldest boy right back, cos his coat sems to have gone very fine, and it's too long I think, but in general I think it would be useful for me to know how and what to do...guess I'll wait til Summer and have a crack ;)

dearlady...i know when mine are ready as everytime the brush past me i pull a bit out and if they barely notice then its time to do it!! takes about an hour once i get going.