What is hand stripping?

TLDR: Hand stripping in essence is the removal of dead hair by hand.

Sounds easy right? Well, this is actually a skill that groomers and terrier enthusiasts take many years to master. It involves a little science and a little art and a lot of good dog handling skills.

Let’s break it down!

Not all coats can be hand stripped. You will see a large portion of the Terrier group hand stripped, these are your wire coated dogs: Airedale, Australian Terrier, Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Glen of Imaal Terrier, Irish Terrier, Lakeland Terrier, Miniature Schnauzer, Norfolk Terrier, Norwich Terrier, Parson Russel Terrier, Russel Terrier, Scottish Terrier, Sealyham Terrier, Skye Terrier, Welsh Terrier, West Highland White Terrier, & the Wire Fox Terrier. Other wire coated dogs that get hand stripped include the Affenpinscher, Brussels Griffon, Giant & Standard Schnauzer, Bouvier, Irish Wolfhound, Scottish Deerhound, WireHaired Pointing Griffon, Wire Haired Vizsla, Wire Haired Dachshund and some mixed breed dogs with wire coated hair.

 Dogs have many hairs per follicle that can grow at different rates. Hair has several cycles: 1. Anagen, the active growth phase. 2. Catagen, a short transition where hair growth slows. 3. Telogen, where hair is no longer growing but still within the follicle. 4. Exogen, the shedding phase.  When hand stripping you pull the longest oldest hairs and new hair regenerates. By pulling dead hair in regular scheduled groomings you create a tight interlocking coat of hard Anagen and Catagen hairs that repel water and dirt. These hairs are insulated by a soft undercoat which can be managed by a technique called carding. 

Does hand stripping hurt? If properly done, no. To properly hand strip a groomer must hold the skin taught, keep their wrist at a neutral level and pluck by hand or with tools the longest hairs. Different areas of the dog are stripped to different lengths (stripping more frequently for shorter areas, and less frequently for longer areas) in a pattern for various breeds. For example, a Welsh Terrier gets the cheeks, head, ears, throat, forechest, shoulders, behind the tail, back of thighs and buttocks plucked weekly for show, these areas are called flatwork. To maintain the flat coat in these areas lots of work must be done. Longer areas like the jacket and furnishings (beard and leg hair) are blended in and worked on in different timing schedules. Some breeds have a more complex coat with lots of pattern work and different lengths growing at different times all over. Some breeds have more simple coats that take longer to grow and are not worked as much or as often. 

For pets, some breeds can be stripped every few months and maintain a working hard coat. These breeds are longer haired like the Norwich and Norfolk and your shorter coats like Border Terriers, Affenpinschers and Brussels Griffons. Rustic wire coat dogs can go longer between grooms too, think hound and sporting breeds.  Dogs with a lot of tight pattern work need to come in more often to maintain those tight areas, for example Airedales, Welsh and Wire Fox Terriers, the Schnauzers. 

When dogs go too long between grooming overgrown areas become Exogen stage and fall out, you will see lots of shedding and the layers become all one length. When the dog comes in with a blown-coat there is a very thin or absent layer of hair underneath to pull to which isn’t ideal. It is time consuming to pull a blown coat because there is more hair in the sensitive flat work areas and the coat could easily be pulled bald. I always prefer to do more frequent sessions when the dog is blown, each session taking out a small percentage of the whole to start building layers in. You never really want to strip all the way to the undercoat because you remove the waterproof outer layer but sometimes you have no choice but to do that if the dog hasn’t been groomed frequently enough.  

 Sometimes strategic balding is used to create a fresh start in patterned areas. This is a technique called staging where each week over a course of a few months is pulled to create the perfectly timed pattern for a big show. Thereafter the fresh coat is rolled to maintain the pattern. This involves a huge time commitment and a labor of love. Not many pet owners will splurge for this option as it requires hours a week at the groomers. Many groomers will not offer this level of hand stripping as it requires the client to maintain a rigid schedule and the job is physically taxing on the body. My philosophy is, if the dog isn’t being shown, this level of hand stripping isn’t necessary or fair to your dog. There is a happy medium that can be achieved by clipping certain areas and stripping certain areas for the flatwork breeds. 

Dogs who start out early with the breeder on their hand stripping journey learn that grooming is a part of life and their skin and coat establish layers early on as they grow.  Dogs who start hand stripping later often struggle behaviorally because they have not experienced the handling that is involved with the process and they most likely have tangled and blown coats that can be uncomfortable to manage. I always recommend getting puppies of all breeds to see the groomer as soon as they have their shots, even if it is just for a bath and blow dry. Getting to experience all of the signs and smells and sounds of grooming IS critical socialization for your dog. Dogs go through a 2nd fear period around 7-9 months old and waiting to groom around that time might be even more frightening for your new pal. Because I work one-on-one I am able to gently introduce new puppies to grooming at their pace and give the owner some homework and the tools they need to teach proper handling and grooming to their new puppy. 

To properly hand strip a dog a strong knowledge of hair growth and patterns is important, but also a really good understanding of canine anatomy for the proper holds while grooming. I have to hold the skin taught and pull hair with the grain at a certain angle. To do this I will have to gently pull skin on your pet in various directions that may look kind of odd or will be something that your dog finds really weird the first time we do it. Some dogs need a little bit of assurance when working hard to reach areas. Knowing how to properly hold an arm or leg, or rotate the coat along the body helps to make the process comfortable for your pet. If your dog bites me, generally there is a warning prior. On my first groom with your pet I see these warnings and train your dog to lick my hand instead of bite so that we can work slower or adjust the skin tension on an area. Some dogs catch on very quickly to this training and some are a little more stubborn and have body resource guarding issues we work through. If an area is completely uncomfortable and your dog cannot work through it, I don’t push them and respect them and move to a different area. Sometimes we can go back and pull it and sometimes it is best to clip or scissor that area. I am always very communicative with pet owners so that they know how their dog behaved and things we can work on to make the groom more comfortable. 

There is a different schedule for every dog and every budget and lifestyle. Each dog is different and within each breed there are so many different individual hair types, styles and conditions. Handstripping isn’t for every dog and some dogs over time become intolerable to the process. I will not hand strip a non-showing or pet Airedale Terrier because they grow a lot of hair and require hours and hours of work every other week at minimum to maintain their beautiful coats, whereas they can get a very nice clipper and scissor style with some carding to remove undercoat and keep the jacket dark for 2 hours every 8 weeks. I take pride in my skills and I don’t feel that an every 8 weeks or longer between appointment hand strip would yield a beautiful result as the dog would be blown; and I don’t feel that the dog would enjoy any of that all day plucking, it isn’t fair to your pet. I like to keep my patterned dogs on a monthly schedule with a minimum of 2 hours on smaller breeds and 3 hours on larger breeds (they are scheduled time to have breaks). Rough & rustic coated and longer coated dogs can go 6-8 weeks and some up to 10-12 weeks depending on their growth cycle. It might take us a session or two to find the balance in scheduling that works for your pet. 

Hand stripping is truly an art and takes a lot of time, patience and skill to achieve the looks you see strutting across your TV for the National Dog Show or Westminster. Not all of these looks are achievable for every pet dog and I try to set realistic expectations with owners about hand stripping. The more you get the dog groomed, the better the coat will look. Not every dog can tolerate that or have the quality of hair to achieve that and not every person can afford to come often enough to achieve the look. I am always happy to give lessons so that owners can work on their dog at home in between appointments; it’s great bonding time. I truly enjoy working on all of my hand strip client dogs, it is very satisfying to tame their wild and wiry looks into That Dashing Dog.