Coat Stripping

No, this is not a post about nudity. :P People who show Airedales use a method of grooming called stripping. What they do is actually pull out the soft hair and leave the wire hair. I've always just clipped my dog with an electric razor, but the result is that the red hair doesn't show as much, and she ends up having a gray/silver looking coat. When you pull the soft coat, the back of the dog becomes black looking, and the rest takes on a reddish tint.


My neighbor loves to groom dogs. I think she could do it for a living and enjoy it. I enjoy it about as much as I enjoy potting training, which is not at all. So recently my neighbor has taken it upon herself to strip Sally's coat a little each day after our walk. For the most part Sally doesn't mind. The only place she seems to mind is on her back thigh area. And then her reaction is the same reaction to a dog that might nip her in play. She playfully mouths and acts like she thinks we are playing with her. At times, she acts as if it actually feels good, like a massage. My neighbor used to strip her horse's mane for dressage competition, so she has a good technique. I, on the other hand, can't seem to get anywhere with it. But after seeing the difference in Sally's coat, I totally can understand why people do this. It takes out much of the bulk, and also leaves such a pretty color.

Some years ago I was at the beauty shop waiting to have my hair cut. I picked up a magazine and read an article about trichotillimania. It is a psychological condition where people pull their own hair. It is usually an obsessive compulsive disorder, or could also be considered a lesser disorder that is referred to as a "tic". People with this disorder often pull their eyebrows, lashes, and other body hair. It is kind of a stress relief for them. I read that most girls who have this disorder are highly intelligent, over achievers. As I read, I remembered that a girl in my neighborhood had something similar, so I went to her mother and gave her some information on this disorder. Her daughter was then diagnosed with this, and was given some behavior modification treatment to help her. Here is where I'm bad. I wondered if my neighbor's daughter would like to strip my dog's coat! And actually, her mother had seen her at times pulling hair from the dog. She might have a future career here! (see...I told you I'm bad.)

I don't think I will do much coat stripping in the future. It takes way too much time. One of these days I'm going to just pull out my clippers and get the job done. But hey, if I wait long enough, maybe my neighbor will get it done for me! ;)