Groomer’s Guide
Hand Stripping: Not Just For typography
leashed dog sitting in front of its owner; dog laying on owner's lap while they hold a coffee cup; Show Dogs typography
by Jennifer Bishop Jenkins
We see it everywhere at grooming competitions or in the dog show ring: beautifully hand-stripped wire-coated dogs. Hand stripping empowers the naturally rich pigment and characteristic hard texture of this most distinctive dog coat type to function just as designed, which is to keep their working terrier bodies protected in the ground as they do the work they were bred to do.
A Brief History of Terriers
The word “terrier” comes from the Latin word terra which means “earth.” These “earth dogs” have been serving humanity for centuries. All but two AKC-recognized Terrier Group breeds evolved in the rocky nations of the British Isles. But their unique skillset has made them invaluable worldwide.

While we don’t have exact data, historians speculate that it is likely that we human beings owe much to the terrier whose talent for digging, and their tenacity in going after rats, mice, moles, voles and other vermin, has no doubt saved many human lives and enhanced our food supply. Terriers are often credited with dramatically reducing the vermin population of Europe that carries disease. They were also used in the trenches of World War I to control the rat population, which limited the spread of rat-borne disease, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

What Makes Wire Coats Different
Sadly, these same hard-working, hard-coated terrier breeds are now often seen coming out of many pet grooming businesses without their protective wire coats, which have been clipped off. This raises an important question for our pet grooming industry: Are we obligated to care for the natural coat type of the dogs brought to us? Or are we only required to perform what we would consider the easiest groom for us, or even what the uneducated client asks for, without considering the long-term consequences?

Pet or show, no wire-coated dog groomed with any clipper blade length will get what is needed for their best health with this unique coat type.

Some would argue that a “pet” dog doesn’t need stripping because they aren’t being shown, even clipping them way too short with a #7 blade on their vital jacket or upper-torso areas. But pet or show, no wire-coated dog groomed with any clipper blade length will get what is needed for their best health with this unique coat type.

At first, clipping leaves the paler, thinner, softer mostly undercoat hairs. Later it can cause itchiness, discomfort, thinness and even comedogenic bumps, sometimes called “canine acne” or “schnauzer bumps,” which are caused by clogged hair follicles.1 Over the years, if the clipping is repeated, it can clog and eventually kill the entire follicle, leaving some wire-coated dogs virtually hairless on their backs later in life.

The Role of Follicles
Science has proven the longevity of the hair follicles in all breeds of dogs. Follicles in mammals can be thought of as permanent, functioning miniature organs; a vital part of all skin. The hairs inside the follicles come and go but the follicles remain, usually for life. Follicles are even more vital to dogs than to us humans, since dogs have thin skin and much thicker hairs, and many more follicles with many hairs per follicle. Wire-coated breeds also produce many more hairs inside a single follicle than any other canine coat type. This major difference with this coat type that we call “wire,” “broken,” “rough” or “hard” in dogs and their deeper, more complex follicles signifies the necessity for hand stripping.

Wire coats evolved to be much tougher than other coat types. Even their skin is thicker, especially in the outer layer of the epidermis called the stratum corneum. This also means that, compared to other coat types, the follicle in a wire coat is deeper, further from the surface of the skin. This is why keeping the follicle healthy requires a little gentle tugging on the wire hairs to get them to come out.

The most critical difference in the grooming requirements of this extraordinary coat type is that, because of these bigger, thicker, more voluminous hairs sitting inside a deeper follicle in thicker skin, they do not shed out when they reach the telogen phase without some help. They will sit inside the deeper follicle, sort of stuck, unable to fall out because of their size, volume, texture and depth, unless they are gently pulled out. This is called a “blown coat.”

digital illustration of hair follicle with clipper line and then after years of clipping
When you take a short blade on a clipper to their backs instead, this leaves the roots of their many hairs in each follicle trapped down deep inside the follicle, unable to fall out as they die and detach. Eventually the follicles become clogged with the cut hair bits and start to die as well. The follicles that remain then begin to produce wooly hairs, mostly undercoat or secondary hairs, lacking pigment and texture. Now what was once the topcoat or guard hairs are just wooly and soft like the undercoat. This causes the coat to not aerate as well, making the dog much less comfortable and the coat less functional in the various kinds of weather. Later in life, the clipped terrier may end up with much less coat as the follicles clog and die.
Carding and Stripping
Carding and Stripping are different techniques. Carding is using a stripping knife like a comb, but held at a 45-degree angle to the skin, combing it through the coat in the direction of the lay of the coat, with no plucking with your thumb. Some groomers use a regular greyhound-style metal comb but with a rubber band wound tightly between the tines closer to the skin, which helps grab loose dead hair. Or, there are “fine de-shedder” tools that will grab and pull the loosest dead undercoat hairs while leaving firmly rooted topcoat.

Hand stripping involves holding the stripping knife at a 90-degree angle to the coat and, while maintaining a straight back and using your arm in a row-boat-like motion, you lightly allow the knife to find and feed into your thumb the longest hairs. You then brace those hairs lightly against the blade with your thumb and, holding your wrist flat, pull back from your elbow to remove them. This is a light, easy motion that takes no more work than holding a full-sized clipper and moving it over the dog’s body.

The critical area to pull is what the coat needs to be most protective; where the weather hits the dog on the top and sides of the upper torso, or what we call the “jacket” area of a dog’s body, and the top of the head and the top of the base of the tail. All other areas can be trimmed generally without permanently damaging the skin. Fine de-shedding tools with ergonomic rake-like handles can effectively card out hair on the legs, underbelly, etc., on a pet wire-coated dog. Pet wire-coated breeds or mixed-breed dogs that come in with a wire-like feel to the coat do not need to be stripped all over their bodies like show or competition dogs, though they should be at least carded all over.

These descriptions are no substitute for a hands-on class. All groomers need to be trained in person in proper hand-stripping techniques. If you have questions about what coat type a particular breed is, you can read their AKC breed standards.2 Each breed standard has a link to the parent club for that breed which almost always gives great information on that breed’s grooming requirements.

Restoring a Clipped Coat
If a wire-coated breed comes to you for grooming already clipped, it still is possible—no matter the stage of life for the dog—for you to improve the dog’s coat. Focus on the dog’s upper torso or jacket area. It’s the easiest to groom and the most important to the dog’s health.

Start by letting the coat grow a little longer. For example, only use a ½” or ¾” guard comb instead of a blade. With enough length you can use fine de-shedding tools and carding techniques to start pulling dead hairs out of the follicle. Carding, de-shedding and stripping should be done before the bath because it will release dirt and oil, making a clean coat dirty again.

Expert Advice
The great hand-stripping expert, Scott Wasserman, known affectionately throughout our industry as “Mr. Terrier,” has been grooming, breeding, showing and judging wire-coated breeds all over the world. When asked to define the uniqueness of the wire coat in dogs and why it has special grooming needs, he gave a brilliant definition of this coat type that I think says it all: “You have to pull dead to get live.”

All dogs deserve to have their groomer care for their skin and coat with the same high standards for a pet dog as they would for a show or competition dog, especially our unique wire-coated breeds.

Scott goes on to point out that the effort in pulling out the dead detached hairs still sitting in the wire-coat follicle can vary with the breed. Broken coats are less wiry and less work than most rough-coated wire coats. Scott says that, for example, Border Terriers and Irish Terriers are easier to pull than other breeds.

Another expert and educator in hand stripping, Heather Roozee, who has been owner/groomer/handler of wire-coated breeds for a long time, powerfully articulates an important point that hand stripping and carding are not just for show dogs: “Carding can benefit all wire-coated breeds, even if clipped. It helps to remove the undercoat and clear the follicles, helping skin to remain healthy.”

All dogs deserve to have their groomer care for their skin and coat with the same high standards for a pet dog as they would for a show or competition dog, especially our unique wire-coated breeds.

References:

  1. Schnauzer Comedone Syndrome. (2018, November 27). Veterinary Partner. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8814015
  2. AKC. www.AKC.org
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