Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Grooming is an important part of looking after your Schnauzer. Regular grooming will help keep your Schnauzer healthy and comfortable and you will spot potential problems early. Whether you decide to clip or strip your Schnauzer, help is on hand. Schnauzers are generally a non-shedding breed and will require a fair amount of grooming to get rid of dead hair.
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Pennyblack
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Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

I'm attempting a to hand-strip my 5 month old pup myself with the intent on showing him once he's 6 months old. I've got myself a set of clippers and various scissors as well as blue and red Mikki knives, a grooming stone and various other bits and pieces.

Do I need to strip all of him or are there parts of him that I can clipper apart from his ears? Also, what advice do you have for getting him to stand still?

And another question, he had quite a few white wire hairs along his back, do I just keep pulling them out? We did think when he was tiny that he might grow to be pepper & salt but his brows are definitely all black.ImageImage


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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by zeta1454 »

Can your mini's breeder help to show you how to hand strip your puppy especially in preparation for the show ring?

With black and black & silver mini schnauzers you do need to strip more usually than you would with a pepper & salt as clipping does often result in a different colouring on the clipped area so for example the ears which are generally clipped in a P&S without adversely affecting the look, would make a black dog look strange if his ears became a lighter shade.

The bottom under the tail is generally clipped but the furnishings and facial hair (eyebrows and beard) will be scissored into shape so the rest of the jacket and the head will need hand stripping.

It is best to start off puppies from the earliest time getting used to standing for grooming and you will need a grooming table although maybe you already have this. Little and often with plenty of treats is usually the best way to get a puppy used to standing for grooming and some of the hand stripping can be done on your lap if your pup will lie still and let you work on him that way.

A Forum member with experience of grooming / showing a black mini may be able to give you more specific advice if your pup's breeder cannot help.
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

Sadly not, she doesn't show her dogs and clips them all. My older Schnauzer from the same breeder is clipped and has changed colour considerably since she was spayed but her ears have remained black so far.

My pup however is quite happy to sit on my knee and let me groom him, a grooming table is my next purchase.


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Kim (Cairn Terrier cross) saved from a puppy farm August 1987 aged approx 6 weeks, crossed the Rainbow Bridge 21/5/1993 - always missed

Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by lj_thorne »

Hi, very cute pupster!!!!

I have learnt to strip and clip my dogs myself but would def not get to show standard. Would there be an option to begin with to do as much as you can to begin with but get him a professional groom to get him to show standard. I know a couple of people who have carded, stripped and then had the clipped areas groomed by a groomer to show standard.

I don't know if black schnauzers coats are like black and silver but it's tricky!!! I would say at this point you need to get pup used to the comb and carding. Videos that may help are by Ewa Highland and Linda Forsyth.
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by summer46 »

I would contact one of the breed clubs for a list of breeders as most have shown and may be willing to mentor you. If you wanted to start showing at 6 months he really should be in a stripped coat by now most people who show including myself start off stripping the dogs from 8 weeks so it may take a little longer until his coat is ready for showing, you need to start taking out the longer hair in a pattern once a week this is called rolling the coat I start from the head right down to the tail and then continue the same doing both sides. Usually the cheeks throat ears bum and inner thigh are clipped but on blacks and black and silver you really want to keep the colour so a combination of stripping and clipping usually works best. You also need to be attending ringcraft to learn how to best present your dog it's also a great way to meet other people who like to show :)
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

summer46 wrote:I would contact one of the breed clubs for a list of breeders as most have shown and may be willing to mentor you. If you wanted to start showing at 6 months he really should be in a stripped coat by now most people who show including myself start off stripping the dogs from 8 weeks so it may take a little longer until his coat is ready for showing, you need to start taking out the longer hair in a pattern once a week this is called rolling the coat I start from the head right down to the tail and then continue the same doing both sides. Usually the cheeks throat ears bum and inner thigh are clipped but on blacks and black and silver you really want to keep the colour so a combination of stripping and clipping usually works best. You also need to be attending ringcraft to learn how to best present your dog it's also a great way to meet other people who like to show :)
Hi Sarah,

Thanks for getting back to me. I've been stripping Jenson since he came home at 9 weeks but was struggling with the areas to do for the head however he's been at my normal groomer today and she's cut in his brows and showed me which bits I need to work on with his head and already, he's looking much better (I'll put up a photo from my phone in a mo). We've been attending ringcraft classes since he was 11 weeks old and he already stands quite nicely when a treat is in view - I practice that each night at bedtime with both dogs as I enter Pennie (his older sister) into companion shows. There is a local breeder who a friend from the same Ringcraft class has had lessons from however, she's moving to the south of England so I'm planning to attend a local show at the end of the month and speak to breeders there for advice and a proper lesson/help so that I can get him show ready.
Kim (Cairn Terrier cross) saved from a puppy farm August 1987 aged approx 6 weeks, crossed the Rainbow Bridge 21/5/1993 - always missed

Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

As promised, here are photos after today's visit to the groomer. I've worked on his head since we came home and it's already looking better - I just needed her to show me which areas needed work and for her to cut in his brows. Image
This is just after he came back from the groomers and the second photo is after further work by me on his head this afternoon. Next step is to work on his face which he's not to keen on.
Image


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Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by summer46 »

You have done good work on the head and are heading in the right direction. Here's a picture of my girl Lizzie who is shown to give you an idea of what you are ultimately aiming for. Image


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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by summer46 »

Body wise you need a nice tight coat that should look something like this Image


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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

What a stunning girl you have!

I've got a long way to go but his wire is coming in nicely now, I'll keep carding him and with some hard work, we'll get there hopefully.


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Kim (Cairn Terrier cross) saved from a puppy farm August 1987 aged approx 6 weeks, crossed the Rainbow Bridge 21/5/1993 - always missed

Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Lunas World »

summer46 your dog looks absolutely amazing above!

I'm new here and not intending a thread jacking as the title is regarding hand stripping of black mini's. In walks Luna our 8.5 month old mini black. She has had 1 face and bum tidy and 2 cuts since we had her. We noticed her colour was changing (due to her undercoat). I'm also wandering the best way to hand strip a black mini, which i also believe involved some carding.

Since I've purchased a blue handled mikki stripping knife and given her a good going over carding that fluffy undercoat out. I've done her backline, sides and now working on her neck, head and chest. In these areas she is looking so much better than before; blacker, fur sitting more nicely and nice texture. Problem is, where I've not carded it still looks matt and slightly tinge brownish? (not really brown just not black). So what to do, should I have to card her legs, ears beard etc...? Not sure she will like legs being done!

Then we move on to hand stripping. I've pulled a few with my fingers and the long ones come out nice and easy from the roots. Good news. But after removing most of the undercoat it looks like it may become a little thing down her side right now, I read that it may become worse before it gets better, eek. I don't want a bald bitch running around so wanted to go for a rolled coat. A good link from her took my to a wonderful website which said to roll a coat you'd be stripping every week. and have like 14 layers going on. That sounds crazy. Can anyone provide a simple routine with schedule of how to keep a black mini's coat looking its best.

No we won't be showing her. We would prefer a more weatherproof coat result. p.s. that fuzzy undercoat can really cause some matts despite daily brushing of her legs.
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

Feel free to hijack away, even if Jenson doesn't do well in shows, I still want him to have a good coat, especially when seeing how much his big sister!s coat has changed with clipping...hindsight and all that!


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Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by natalie w »

Hi
I also have a black male who is 15 weeks, i have the same problem and have been in contact with a few breeders to try and get help not much luck so far, i also got recommend a dvd called 'with ewa' miniature schnauzer grooming, which is helpful and iam also starting ringcraft, yours is beautiful.
this is oliver
Image

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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

Oliver is gorgeous! He's very like Jenson [emoji4]


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Kim (Cairn Terrier cross) saved from a puppy farm August 1987 aged approx 6 weeks, crossed the Rainbow Bridge 21/5/1993 - always missed

Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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Re: Advice re hand stripping a black Schnauzer puppy

Post by Pennyblack »

Here's some tips I got from the lady who moved away (who also happens to be a member on here):

"Hi Denise, sorry I just got your message on the schnauzer forum.... I had no idea these were here! I actually moved to England last year so I won't be able to help in person. I know it's probably late but the blue and red Mikki are a good place to start, you want to make sure your keeping down on undercoat (the fluffy stuff) by carding the coat every few days. You do this by laying the knife at a slight angle against the coat and scraping until noting comes out, start with the blue then go onto the red knife. Round the neck and bum area are usually the worst. After that's all done pull the longest hairs (a good coat should be about 1-2 inches long) I would either use finger and thumb or the red mikki to pull. There's a few good websites to look at but I would recommend britmore schnauzers, she shows "stage stripping" which looks a little drastic but it explains how to strip to get a nice coat and shows you the correct lines. You could also have a look on YouTube, hand stripping is pretty much the same for all breeds so it wouldn't have to be schnauzer specific. Hope that helps and if you have any more questions feel free to ask [emoji4]"

Hope that helps others!


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Kim (Cairn Terrier cross) saved from a puppy farm August 1987 aged approx 6 weeks, crossed the Rainbow Bridge 21/5/1993 - always missed

Ventoso Pennie Black black mini - born 31/7/2015, came home 26/9/2015
Ventoso Severus Snape -Jenson Button black mini - born 3/8/2016, came home 8/10/2016
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