Hubby and I are bickering over whether our Patterdale should be fully stripped.  Well, its more whether or not I should have had her done at this time of year really........

She is rough/curly coated, and her coat gets very thick and wiry - to the point where it stands up on her haunches like a huge ruff.  I've tried various "furminator" style gadgets but her problem isn't undercoat, so they are ineffective.  She can be a bit itchy, and her skin gets scurfy under the thick coat.  I've tried stripping myself, but I don't have the skill or the patience, and she knows it.

So once every six months, I have her professionally stripped.  Nobody touches her in between, only me with a brush, comb and scissors a few times to keep her tidy.  She's come out today looking delightfully smooth and slender, very neat indeed.

But hubby is already making snide remarks about how he hopes she doesn't get cold now, and that the weather doesn't suddenly turn (she goes to work 4 days per week, and she has been known to feel the cold in the winter and wears a little fleecy coat ).  he says it was unneccessary.  I've tried to argue that there is plenty of time for her winter coat to come through (I don't actually know that true though), and that regular stripping is a perfectly legitimate way to manage a vigorous, rough/curly coat.  She hasn't been stripped to the skin, she still has plenty of hair!  She just doesn't look like she's wrapped in a hairy sleeping bag anymore.

I thought I was simply keeping her clean and healthy and comfortable, I don't think I'm being cruel?  Am I?  Did i do it at the wrong time?  I'm so tired of having to justify why I like my dog to look lean, clean and fit, if he had his way she'd be slouching around under a ton weight of curly terrier coat!

It isn't being cruel at all, all the groomer has done is strip out the dead coat, hand stripping is a time consuming job, the the finished dog looks far better than a scissored or clippered dog. If you don't strip out the dead coat, the new won't grow through for the coldest part of the year i.e. December to March

Oh thanks Moonmaiden, exactly what I wanted to hear!!!  I mean, I knew that.

Unfortunately it won't really matter what I say, he's one of those who is always right regardless, know what I mean.   If we get any cool wet days in the next few weeks, I am now condemned to endless comments about how the poor dog was sooo cold at work today........she's got two coats, but he says she hates wearing them!  So I'm a horrible owner no matter he looks at it, sheesh.

Thank you very much.  I've always stuck to my guns about stripping her - we don't show her, but she is a semi-working dog and she needs her wiry guard hairs to keep her waterproof.  Besides, my mother-in-laws patterdale is clipped, and her coat is all soft and ruined - she's like a little plump sheep.

She's only 2 but I want our girl to look good when she's 13!

Your right and he's wrong, its not really cold until early next year and the undercoat will grow through.
I keep my cocker stripped all year and our collie is kept furminated every week.

I'm married to a perfect male. Its awful I find myself occasionally trying to prove him wrong!!

Is there a handbook somewhjere on patterdales that you can print off and wave under his nose? works for me.

Regrettably Whistler, there has only been one book written about Patterdales, and I don't think it covers grooming!

I have just had a very calm conversation with him about it, and reassured him that it is the correct and most efficient way to maintain a wire coat, and that her winter coat will come through much better now all the dead coat has gone!

Thanks to you both for giving me the confidence back up!

had mine handstripped in winter and they were fine-even in the snow-undercoat keeps them warm

> there has only been one book written about Patterdales, and I don't think it covers grooming!
>

You could look up coat care for Border and Lakeland Terriers as these are the breeds that are in the Patterdales make-up.

I know that Borders are definitely stripped, and pretty sure Lakelands are too.

If you strip her every 8 weeks, as you only take out the dead hair each time, she'll never be hairy and never bald - just always tidy.  It's called 'rolling the coat' and it the correct way to keep a weatherproof coat. 
You could learn to do it yourself.  It's not as time consuming or as hard on your arm as doing a full strip twice a year.

Every 8 weeks would be kinder to her too   otherwise it's a long time to have to stand while being stripped

One thing is for sure, your dog will be much more waterproof with her stripped coat than one with a clipped/scissored coat.  Once the coat starts feeling soft it also loses the waterproofing and a wet dog is a cold dog   

You are definately right!

All that long dead coat will 'open' the coat up, meaning that water and cold will get in, and she cant trap warm air next to her skin to stay warm.

Stripping it out means you are left with a tight short coat, which doesnt open up.

My terrier x swims all year round outdoors and he ONLY gets cold if his coat is needing to be stripped, as thats when the water gets down to his skin!

Of course....I hadn't twigged that she would have to stand for longer twice a year, than she would every 2 months.   Duh!  Luckily, as the insecure, nervy little thing she can be, she has been very tolerant of being stripped and behaved very well for the groomer. But I certainly don't want to put her through the discomfort and boredom for any longer than necessary.

WestCoast I know I have come to you for plenty of advice on this subject before!  So if I used a roller, then a stripping comb, across the thickest areas of coat, every couple of months, that would prevent the growth of that thick curly coat?  As Theemx says, the weight of it definitely opens it up and makes it less efficient at insulating, you can see her skin underneath, whereas you can't now.

Its not that hubby doesn't agree with stripping per se - he accepts it as the correct method - but he just says her prefers her "long".  It could be a macho thing - with her long coat, she looks like a manly scruffy working terrier.  Stripped, she looks tidy and cute and like a six month old puppy.   He is no longer under the impression that a thick curly coat is warmer than a stripped coat, but he still simply says he prefers her long - he thinks she looks silly stripped!

I think she's beautiful.   I can't say she is well-bred - BYB and not a recognised breed and all that - but she has a lovely shape, is beautifully proportioned, lean and fit and a lovely example of a working terrier.  Even if I say so myself.   Wish I could do some sort of competing with her, but her behaviour isn't quite as impeccable as her looks.  

Many owners find it theraputic to strip their dogs while they sleep on their laps as they watch TV in the evenings!

As her coat grows, if you brush it up the wrong way with your hand, the longer, dead hairs will stick up.  These are the ones (only a few) that you pull out with your finger and thumb. 

If you do it little and often, or send her to your groomer every 8 weeks and ask them to roll the coat, (it's a term meaning stripping on a rolling system, not a tool ) then she'll never have the short look that your husband dislikes but will always have a tidy practical weatherproof coat.

Haha, oh right! LMAO

I will still have a problem with him objecting to her going to the groomer regularly (he sees it all as an expensive exercise which isn't necessary), so it looks like I will have to try and do it myself.

S x

You could have a look at Pearson's stripping knives http://www.strippingknives.com/grooming/groomingtips.htm

lots of information about stripping terriers (mainly Airedales I think), beautiful knives--I bought some to do the topknot growing on top of my WSS's head...but I handstrip him now. I bought a day of one to one tuition with a well-known groomer in the area and that was the best thing I ever did by way of understanding his grooming needs. It was never going to make me anywhere near expert, but it made me much more aware of what was out there by way of equipment and to have confidence in working on his coat. Net result: we have lots of good kit, I get practice looking after him but he still hates being groomed...

I've just clipped off to the skin my two SWD girls here.  A healthy dog really shouldn't feel the cold that much and by the time that we get the really cold weather (not that it gets that cold here in the UK compared to other countries) they will have just the right length again.