First full groom!

[Steffiminimum]

I've been using combs, slicker brush and bristle brushes every day to keep Ferlys coat lovely and mat-free, she's 17 weeks old. I've used clippers on her bathroom areas and her pads but I want to hand strip her. I thought I had to wait until she's at least 8 months, s that correct? Also, how can you tell what is a 'blown coat'?

[Robin black mini]

Steffie...start now!!L..buy a coarse stripping knife and start horizontally combing through the coat...this is called carding...you will be removing a lot of undercoat .i like Mars or Pearson knives with wooden handles..from groomers online.
Do this for the first two weeks and get your dog used to the technique...then you can consider stripping the coat,which can be done whenthe coat blows ( gets old) or as I prefer to do ,each week so the coat always looks good...
We've done a lot of posts on this ,so start by reading the stickie posts at the top of the grooming board...
If you decide to groom at home you will need a basic kit to start,but you will save a lot in the long run...
Coarse and fine stripping knife..a pair of good scissors( I like rose line)a set of clippers eg arco moser for the underpads,the sanitary area and head and ears( or you can strip these last ones ) a slicker brush(fine) .

For the new posters who want to start stripping we could do a step by step post on grooming?

[Dawnspell]

There is a sticky at the top of the grooming section giving advice for new owners. There maybe some new links that could be added to it

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[Steffiminimum]

Today's the day.... I'm going to 'attempt' to start a Rolling coat on my b/s pup, Ferly. I've read so much helpful info on the forum and some links (thanks so much for that invaluable help) but I'm still scared, very scared! I've clippered Rogue my black mini and I wished I'd been brave enough to be strip.

[Robin black mini]

Steffi..hope the first carding went well...
I took a photo today to give you an idea of how much I get off my little( 13 inch tall) girl each week,after twenty minutes...

You would think she would be bald at this rate..! but her coat is wirey and shiney/ healthy.No shed in the house and next week we strip again...
Now tomorrow she will get a bath in a mild shampoo..I will trim her skirt,leggings and I shave under her paws,shave the ears and head( many will strip this too) and the neck and butt area. I check nails,trim eyebrows and it all takes about one hour.
Here she is before we bath and scissor the furnishings etc tomorrow..

And


The bath will close the skin pores after the strip...this avoids dermatitis..
Hope this helps you on your exciting journey.

[Dawnspell]

Jo do you wash her jacket every week after stripping ?

I have to say I have a lot bigger pile of hair every week. I think Barneys jacket might be a bit longer but he hardly grows any undercoat and he's a bit bigger. I wonder how much it varies between dogs ?

[Robin black mini]

Hi dawn,,yes I do wash her every week,the day after her stripping..I've got the coat really short now keeping the hair about half an inch long..
When I first started stripping her the hair was about an inch long,then I used the finer stripping comb and got the longer hairs out and keep her at the half inch length as I like the neater coat.
I always use a mild shampoo,and condition just the legs and beard..she loves having the bath.
She is out every day in the country side and sleeps on my bed so she's always brushed after we get back in the afternoons too..the coat has a good shine and is really healthy. I find after a week she definitely needs a bath ,the water is definitely dirty.
I get quite a lot of hair trimmed off the legs and skirt each week too..it seems to grow back really fast.we don't cut the beard ,just tip it occasionally ,but I do trim the eyebrows once a month.

[Dawnspell]

I find it amazing the difference in coats and grooming. Here's the difference

Barney gets his jacket washed once or twice a year. The reasons being it seems self cleaning, I think it's because he hardly has any undercoat just profuse wire. He doesn't have doggy smell and it isn't dirty, you'd see it like I see dirt on his legs. Also I just find it such hard work to wash him down to the skin. It's so waterproof it's hard to get wet, then it doesn't lather the soap runs off. Once washed and dried it gets a kink and doesn't lay flat.

His jacket grows like a weed. I've tried stripping every 5 days to get his coat shorter but I had to keep doing it every 5 days to keep it shorter. Never had it down to half inch, I think I'd have to strip every 4 days to keep it that short.

Legs and beard on the other hand get washed 2-3 times a week that hair gets visibly dirty and stinky beard. He also paddles in the sea which isn't good for hair. I hardly ever trim his leg hair, maybe once every couple months ( I do like it long though as its not thick). It just seems to stay at one length. Beard a tidy once in a blue moon. His eyebrows, cheeks, chest, bum, and ears need trimming every 2 weeks as all grow like mad. Tail gets done as a when it starts looking like loo brush

[Robin black mini]

Dawn I've kept her so short as its 32 C here still..very hot..
She's very wirey/ waterproof and I use a turbo spray to get the shampoo out of her hair...she loves that and I get the schnauzer grin when she's having a bath..there is less undercoat at the mo as its summer but she has more in winter..I still strip weekly as we use dog coats .
I use a hair drier to try to get her furnishings straight when drying ,brushing with a pin brush..
The bath is really to get the legs and beard clean..as you say the body really doesn't need it.