Hi All

You might be able to help me with a query.

Do you know of anywhere that I can learn hand stripping?

I'm not interested in any other sort of grooming and would not be doing it for anyone else, just for my own dogs (well the one that needs stripping anyway).

Any suggestions??

Sarah x

the breeder of your dogs?

I have just learnt handstripping from a friend who has a terrier breed.

I expected to be hand stripping my border terrier (now 3) but he has never ever needed to be stripped.

My dog that actually needs stripping is a cross so no breeder to help me out :(

Although I love my pup to bits, I'd never ever get a cross again.  I can certainly see the benefit of having the help of a breeder!

Sarah x

If you're friendly with your breeder they might still help out. Otherwise try a couple of local grooming parlours - even though most of them are clipper mad, they should know how to handstrip too!

Just felt I had to say something here. You are quite right about grooming parlours being clipper mad!!! but would like to say in our defence (we have a grroming parlour and my Hubby is fully qualified - unlike some)
alot of the dogs we get in are bought from well meaning breeders who tell the owner 'don't get him clipped - you wil ruin his coat'  What they fail to explain is the importance of regular HOME grooming, there is not a week that goes by in which we don't see some poor young specimin who the owner has dutifully not had clipped getting presented to us in the most awful state. By this stage the dog who has had no experience whatsoever of a grooming parlour in some cases until 12 months old, is brought in with his coat having great mats and tats, fur balls behind ears, legs which are so knotted its appauling. This owner then expects the dog to be somehow detangled without being clipped *he must be hand stripped - the breeders said so* Apart from the fact that the dog would suffer terribly and probably have to stand there for 5 hours plus on his first visit,  sometimes raging ear infections are going on which are only uncovered after the dog has had the ears cleared.
At least 2 or 3 times a week we are faced with this situation, when all it would take is regular home grooming to prevent it.  These people claim to love their dogs and yet cannot be bothered to even brush them. There is then no choice but to clip. On Monday we had an 11 month old ShihTzu in, it was a case of which end is which, an on investigation of the coat it was in the most awful matted condition underneath. The woman 'brushed' him everyday but was only brushing top coat, she never brushed his face 'because he hates it' She then expected to be able to have him groomed and was horrified at the suggestion that she had not been grooming him properly. My husband then tried to demonstrate showing her all the fur balls, mats etc. and told her that she would have to clip and start over, this time grooming everyday with a tool he would specially order for her. She was not happy and thought that Chris was not a very good groomer, he invited her to get a second opinion from any groomer, the dog was just too far gone not to be clipped. She was back on the phone on Tuesday night wanting to book in again, this time for her dog to be clipped, she had tried 3 other groomers and they all said the same thing, the dog must be clipped.

I would say on average just one third of the dogs we get in are regularly groomed at home. The rest of them are lucky if they see a brush from one clip to the next, this is why alot of groomers are 'clipper mad'
We could not stay in business if we spent hours and hours dematting one dog.............  not to mention what the dog would go through, but thankfully not all owners are like this or I really don't think we could do it. Alot of our customers are good dog owners who groom at home on a regualr basis, now if we can just educate the others...............:-)  

Good point Shanti - at my college on Wednesday they had a Westie cross in who looked like she hadn't been brushed in her 11 months of life - they had to clip the whole coat off, poor little thing. Meanwhile I was doing a spaniel cross whose ears were half knot! If only people were told by the breeder to check behind the ears, between the legs, under the coat for double coated breeds, etc etc etc! :-(

Sorry shanti, but there are ways of dealing with a matted coat, without causing the dog pain, other than clipping it off.  I only clip off sensitive areas like groin, under arms, and groom out the rest, almost whatever the condition.  It's not difficult with the right tools and technique.  Of course, there is always the occasional exception, although to many groomers, clipping off is the only way. :(

well done for standing up for good groomers that handstripp, im a fully qualifed groomer as well as ur hubby and i will only handstripp if i feel it will not cause the dog any pain, i only do a fue handstripped dogs because i recomend clipping for a easy pet trim but i only ever strip borders and rough jack russels i will never clip them it looks stupid. i hate the way breeders only ever tell  owners to stripp i do a american cocker who the owner likes him in full coat (takes ages to dry) she has had him done and still wants him strioped no matter how much i try to tell her he will look so much better clipped. i also with any new client offer both services to then telling them the pros and cons. i enjoy stipping dogs when they have a nice coat there is noughting more satisfing than i nicely stripped dog. 

emily

Hi, go along to a training class or ringcraft, there will people who will be more than ready to help you and share teir knowledge.You will be surprised how many breeds actually need to be handstripped-not just terriers. Hand stripping is not hard but it is time cosuming--goodluck

if you are in the westcountry i would be happy to show you howto h/s your border properly. :)

Thanks Sam!

I'm in the Midlands so might be too far away from me :(

I will take him to a professional for his first strip, and keep looking for somewhere/someone that will teach me!  I'll ask around at training class see what they can suggest.

Sarah x

Hi, whereabouts in the westcountry are you?  I have a border terrier and have hand stripped her but would love to know if we have done a good enough job,

Borders are a bit different  to some of the other hand stripped breeds. Their coat doesn't sem to  grow as fast and you are not trying to create  a style for example the Westie or Scottie. 

I think borders just need a tidy up by rolling the coat regularly.

Borders are a bit different  to some of the other hand stripped breeds. Their coat doesn't sem to  grow as fast and you are not trying to create  a style for example the Westie or Scottie. 

I think borders just need a tidy up by rolling the coat regularly.

Shame Sam is a bit away from you.

Hi  you will be better off if someone shows you how
to roll the coat
on a Border,  there are lots of good Terrier
people in your area,  get them to show you
to roll the coat.

I know how to handstrip my Yankee, and I'm learning clipping on the City & Guilds course, but if a customer wants their dog stripped rather than clipped that's what I'll do! :-)

Thank-you Shanti for such great words, I couldn't have said that better myself! I agree you can get matts out without using clippers with special tools, however sometimes by the time youve done it, there's no hair left anyway, so you might as well clip it off and start again that way the poor dog's not going through hell! I am NOT a clipper happy and I also hand strip most breeds that should be hand stripped unless the dogs are not cared for properly at home by the owners. I'd be happy to show you. It's something that once you've done it a few times becomes easy, however Its important not to touch the coat between strips otherwise it will all grow at different rates and pulling it out will become difficult.Simply brush through every week to stimulate the glands that produce those all important oils. (it's not like the schnauzer, they do it bits at a time) I occasionally customers that have been fiddling for months and so i always tell them to leave it if poss  for a few months then i can get it all out in one go easily and the dog is happy! (Not all borders are that simlpe I know) You might be able to get away with clipping your dog once before you ruin the coat but I really wouldn't advice it! If you do hand strip your dog make sure you use Hypo-allergenic shampoo as you would have  exposed and disturbed the hair follicles and they the skin might react to other shampoo's. If your dogs only 3 years old and never been done it should be really easy and probably once a year would be sufficiant. Good luck

Oh by the way Sarah, Not all breeder's do dog grooming, trust me I know! I have loads of breeders that come to me on a regular basis, its the show breeders that do thier own. I often get pups come it at 9-12 months old as the breeders said "Don't touch for the first year" Then we have to try and make the dog look like a breed standard! Very difficult when thier in a right mess and a little worried. I always offer free visits for pups to encourage the owners that it's for the welfare of the dog. Once the hormones have kicked in as a adult things take a little long to get used to.

i breed borders. if people want to show the pups thats up to them. i own 3 borders and hand strip them all myself, i wouldnt dream of taking a dog to a groomers when i can do it myself, and i offer all the new pup owners that buy from me that ill groom and hand strip their dogs when ever they like forever if need be

for free aswell