Starting to hand strip a puppy

[Schnauzerluv]

Ozzy is now about 8.5 weeks old and i'm trying to figure hand stripping him. I'm pretty confused! At this point his coat is pretty long, his eyebrows and beard are starting to show, but when I try to hand strip, not much comes out if anything. Also I don't understand how to get the coat jacket so short? Is it that the hairs are all just growing in that gives it the short length and once it starts to grow long, you pluck the longest hairs? I don't know how to tell what should come out....

Totally possible I'm not pulling hard enough, or maybe his hair isn't ready? How do I know when it's ready or how much to pull?

I have ordered a Mars stripping knife in medium, I wanted to order the fine knife, but it is unavailable. I actually don't know where to find them, it seems they are all sold out or not available. Maybe it will help me out. Should I get a stripping stone?

For now, I comb him everyday with a rotating tooth comb and he loves it, I don't want to ruin grooming by doing it wrong and hurting him. But his breeder (80YO) doesn't strip herself and didn't have time to show me how. I have watched some videos and the groomers are getting a lot of dead hair, I don't feel i'm doing it correctly. With covid going on, I can't find a course or anything. I could really use some guidance! Is it normal that only 2 or 3 hairs come out at a time? Mostly I get nothing.....

Sorry I can't seem to add a pic? Thanks a bunch!

[Schnauzerluv]

Got a pic uploaded

[Oscar 12345]

Kat, have you done a search here on stripping, the questions you ask are the very ones that Sam and I had when we first started. At 8.5 weeks the coat needs to grow and blow and when it has blown the hair is much easier to pull out. It is the regular stripping of the longer hairs that keeps the coat short. The most important tool for you at the moment is a carding knife tool. You just comb the coat with the knife and it removes the softer puppy hair which when older is the undercoat. So start using the Mars knife and hold it flat to the coat and comb. Don't worry though, he is too young yet for the hair to come out easily. PS. I can't use a stripping stone, it's either me or I find them totally useless.

[zeta1454]

Hi Kat - with our puppies we always start out by removing the puppy fluff with a stripping ‘stone’ which is a very light pumice type stone and which can be scraped firmly but not too hard across the fur and is brilliant for lifting out the fluff. We use it on the adult dogs too at times as it is easy to do with a dog snoozing on your lap
There is a link here but you can get these from many other outlets. We have bought them in the past from country and equestrian stores as larger ones are used on horses regularly. If you do get a large block it can be easily cut into smaller segments as you want a piece that you can hold easily and is small enough to work on a puppy coat:

https://www.christiesdirect.com/en/Chri ... m-491.aspx

[Dawnspell]

With Barney and Jasper the first place the hairs started pulling out easily was between their shoulder blades. I didnt really start anything with Barney until around 10 weeks as I had no idea what I was doing, never had a dog before never mind groom one

With Jasper I just kept giving a tug and running the stripping knife through his coat to get undercoat out (although he never really had any). I've never got along with stripping stones they never seemed to do much but I know some people prefer them. Its about finding what equipment works for you.

If either puppies were asleep on my knee I give a pull to some hairs and get some out. Pinch some of the hair and hold it up away from the body so you can see which are the longest and pull them out with the other. Get some bankers finger cots ( or wide elastic band wrapped round your fingers) for your thumb and forefinger it makes it a lot easier to grip the hairs if doing it by hand. I also wear one on my thumb when using the stripping knife.

Yes you are correct its the new coat growing in thats the short coat. I think it takes about 12 weeks from pulling for the new hair to come in, hence you pull some every week, "roll the coat" to keep the coat the same length. So you pull the longest hairs out every week. At the moment I'm trying to get Jaspers coat shorter so I'm stripping every 5 days, but every 7 is the norm but the timing between stripping is dependent on what works best for you and the look you want.

I've ordered all my knives from amazon or ebay, medium will be fine to start with. I've learnt everything from reading, forums and youtube never been to a groomer. Although I did once have a groomer who stripped schnauzers for showing once tell me I was doing a good job on Barney, made my week

[Schnauzerluv]

Oh thank you all so much!!!! All this info is very helpful and thanks for catering to my questions. I read about a blown coat, saw one on YouTube, but because Ozzy's coat isn't ready, I didn't know what to look for. I apologize for asking the same questions I guess I will just have to see as I go as it sounds everyone else did.

So excellent, I ordered the right tool! I will get a stone too, thanks so much for the link Leigh. I'm not sure I see any puppy fuzz, could be like Jasper and he doesn't have much or i'll have to wait and see, but the info was great!

One more question Julie. So the stripping knife I bought will work as a carding knife or is it a separate knife to buy?

I have to say this is very exciting because my other minis were clippered, I used to do it myself and i'm anxious to see what I can do with hand stripping

[Schnauzerluv]

....

[Oscar 12345]

Kat, glad you are going to give this a go. I used to think stripping was more difficult than clipping but in the early days I think it is because you are learning and trying different things. It takes a while to "get" the technique. However once you have it is so easy to keep a smart coat by stripping and there are so many other benefits. As for the carding knife, I went to Crufts this year and watched a groomer doing a clipping demo and got chatting about stripping as she has been stripping schnauzers and other breeds for years, she showed me her favourite carding tool and I bought one. It is a lovely tool to hold and use. Here's the link. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1. Remember, important to almost have the knife flat to the coat and just comb through, you aren't stripping, you are just removing undercoat. Don't worry if nothing comes away, it just means there is no undercoat. Run through the puppy coat with your normal comb/brush first to remove any knots. One other tool I love is the Andis deshedder, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1 it is incredible at getting a lot of undercoat out, it can cut some wire hairs so it would be a no no for a lot of professionals but for those of us that don't show you really can't see that it has cut any hair and it just removes a lot of undercoat very easily if you have missed a few weeks of carding. On a young dog you can tell when there is too much undercoat as the coat has difficulty lying flat. Good luck Kat and keep asking questions.

[Oscar 12345]

Nice one of Otto's coat, he's watching the "ghost" cruise ships off Weymouth Bay.

[Dawnspell]

Julie it says its a stripping knife as well. Have you used it as stripping knife or just raking ? Not seen one with teeth like that

[Dawnspell]

If you want to compare this was Jasper at same age as Ozzy. You can see how flat his coat was, no undercoat

[Oscar 12345]

Alison, I use it for carding only because I have a favourite stripping knife which is the DK Danish stripping knife. I remember Jo who used to post on here saying it was a truly beautiful knife and I do agree. I have tried the Mikki knives for carding but I struggle with them, Otto's coat is quite thick and I love the area that it covers in one go. It's great for the thigh area and also blending in belly/skirt.

[Schnauzerluv]

Wow!!! Thank you Julie and Alison! That is wonderful info and the pic of Jasper's coat really helps

This is the knife I got. Yes he already chewed it

Am I holding it properly? Is it right handed?

So I just comb through the coat right now and hold the blade parallel to the skin?

[Schnauzerluv]

Ok i'm starting to get little hairs when I try to hand strip. Does this sound right? They will be the finest hairs?

Also I tried combing though his coat with the blade flat against his skin. I don't think i'm cutting hairs, I hope not, but I did see some fine hairs like I was hand pulling. I can get a pic of the hairs if that would help. I started at the back of his neck and head. I did his ears too.

[Schnauzerluv]

Ok I got a pic of the hair i'm getting



His other hairs are long and wiry. These are fine and fluffy/curly.



Look right?