stripping?

[Stacy]

I really like my groomer. She does the dogs one at a time, so I only have to leave Katie for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. And she hand scissors and is very reasonably priced and Katie likes her. She only goes every 3 months or so - I do all the maintenance on her except cutting. So she goes in when I can't find her eyes anymore! 

Katie got groomed about a week ago and the groomer said she was great and she only had one tiny mat behind one ear. She said that she thought she was getting ready to blow coat and if she got hard to comb to bring her in and she would strip her and she would just charge $20. 

I should have asked, but I'm not sure what she means when she says she will strip her? She doesn't shed at all really. I only get a few hairs on the comb when I groom her. So do non-shedding doodles still blow coat? And what does stripping involve exactly? 

Thank you! Stacy

[Sam&Bella]

I might be wrong, but I think stripping is literally pulling some of the hair out?? I am not sure, but I think that is what I heard. Bella blew her coat once, when she was 8ish months old, and the breeder said the that would be the only time she would. It has only happened once, so I think that's it for Bella:)

I hope that helps a little:)

[Sarah Grace Gates]

Hi Stacy,

I'm a home groomer for my two doodles and have learned a ton from a groomer out of the Netherlands. I just sent her a quick message about your questions and she's not sure what "blow coat"and or "stripping" is about- how old is your doodle? Is there a possible coat change like from puppy to adult?  There's a "plucking" that groomers do for terriers but other than that not sure what she is referring to. I think as long as you are using the proper brush, which sounds like you do that your doodle shouldn't need anything extra except for the regular trims. 

Hope this helps!! 

Sarah

[Joan Bollaert]

Stripping is a pulling of the hair out and is usually done with rough coated dogs where you want their coats to remain rough, ie; Westhighland Terriers, Scotties, Wirehaired dachshunds etc.   I've not heard of any doodles of any kind ever being stripped.   I'm told it's painful....?  Unless it's dead hair, I imagine stripping hair/coat from the root would hurt.  Unless the groomer doesn't know the true meaning of stripping, that's what it is.  Doodles will blow coat once.  During that period, brushing/combing should be often to avoid matting.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, Joan has it right, excpet that it's supposedly not painful if done correctly.  Stripping or hand-stripping is the process of pulling the dead hair out of the coat of a non-shedding dog, either by using a stripping knife or the fingers. A hard, wiry coat has a cycle where it starts growing and then sheds as it reaches maximum length. Hand-stripping coordinates the shedding and makes room for a new coat to grow. Stripping is the proper grooming method for most terriers, spaniels, and many other breeds. The hair is removed with either a stripping knife or stripping stone, with the top coat removed to reveal the dense, soft undercoat. If done correctly, the procedure is painless. 

Poodles and dogs with Poodle-type non-shedding coats are never stripped, to my knowledge. They also never "blow their coats", lol. 

[Stacy]

That's so strange. I'm just not sure what she was talking about, unless she was making a poorly worded reference to a nice bath, blowout, and combing. Katie does get to a certain length where I start to struggle with keeping her from getting tangles. And if I took her in just for someone else to do it on occasion I would probably have more success keeping her longer. But I think that when she gets too long and fluffy she starts looking chunky. And I don't want people thinking I have a fat dood!