terrierphotoalbum

Canine Design, LLC Gallery of

Terriers & Handstripped Dogs

Ginger, Airedale with

Scissored & Clippered Coat

Watson, Airedale with

Handstripped coat

Maggie

All 4 of these Westies are clipper trims

Sophie

Ozzie, handstripped Cairn Terrier

Boomer, handstripped Norfolk Terrier

Sammie, an Irish Terrier, handstripped

Broady, a clippered/scissored Scottish Terrier

Bentley is a standard sized Wire Haired Doxie that is handstripped. He is

actually a Hound but is wire coated.

Why should a coat be Handstripped?

Handstripping retains the hard crisp coat of harsh coated breeds.

This kind of coat was developed to protect the dog while out in the woods hunting fox, badger and other vermin. The harsh coat kept thorns and burrs from getting into the dogs skin when hunting in dense underbrush.

To retain a harsh coat, it must be 'rolled' or 'handstripped', which is the art of removing the coat (by plucking, or in laymans terms - pulling it out) at the proper time in the proper locations. If the coat is clippered, the undercoat will overtake the harsh hair

and the coat will become soft, profuse and porous - retaining more odors and no longer sheading water as it was intended. Colors, as on a Fox Terrier, will fade

away, the black will fade to grey, the tan to white. This happens because

the color on the harsh hair starts about 1/4" up the hair shaft. When the hair is

clippered off, it is usually below where the color starts on the

hair shaft. Stripping will bring the color back, but the coat will have

to be grown out long enough to grab with your fingers - preferably waiting

long enough for the old coat to die - making it much easier on the dogs skin.

Handstripping a dog is an ancient art and a labor of love

and it is expensive unless you can learn to do the process yourself.

It must be done on a continued basis, as the jist of plucking is to build

the layers of coat with each session. If the coat is left to grow

out, it will die and start to fall out and there will be no coat underneath

if it has not been 'worked' which leaves a naked dog......

So, if you want your dogs coat to remain harsh, you must be ready for the

commitment of grooming every 4 - 6 weeks in order for your dog to look

like what it is suggested in the Standard for the breed.

Not all Terriers are cannidates for handstripping - genetics

and coat type factors in to a huge extent.

McKenzie, a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier This is a clippered & hand scissored groom. This breed is not handstripped.

This is Miss Ellie, the left photo is before grooming, the right is

after her first handstripping.

This is Mimi, another Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. She is an AKC show Champion, but is too much upkeep for her owner in a full show coat, here she has the same look as she would for the show ring, but it is shorter and more managable.

This is Sadie. She is a Terrier mix that has a wonderful wirey coat that lends itself well to handstripping. On the Left is before grooming, middle is after handstrip. Her headshot is after being handstripped.