Hand-Stripping A Coat

How the Coat rotates in the Follicle

A dog’s hair follicle contains 5 to 22 hairs which are at various stages of growth.

When we hand-strip, the old coat that is ready to shed is removed creating space in the follicle.

All hair within the follicle continues to grow, each hair moving into the next stage of growth. The space that was made in the follicle allows new hair to grow in place of the recently stripped hair.

What happens when the Coat is Cut

If hair is cut with any cutting tool, all the original roots remain in the hair follicle. The original hair regrows at the same stage of growth, so the hair is all the same level. New growth still occurs, but this is in addition to the original hair in the follicle.

Every time we cut the dog’s hair, more and more new growth comes. The follicle becomes overcrowded and forces the new growth through finer. When the hair is fine it feels soft and the narrow hair shaft cannot hold as much colour as the thicker shafts so it becomes lighter. With so many hairs that are stuck in the follicle, they will no longer strip out without causing pain.

Blown Coats

A blown coat is a coat that has reached its maximum growth. It will fall into partings easily as the hold at the root is weak. It may begin a natural moult. It is usually quick, easy and painless to strip. A blown coat can occur from 12 weeks to 6 months of growth depending on the dog.

All the dog's wire coat has reached its maximum length. There may only be the short undercoat left underneath this layer. As we remove the blown coat. The remaining undercoat is all that can be seen. This will be soft and may be a lighter colour. The texture and colour will return as the new coat grows back in. Good coat will return within 4 to 8 weeks depending on the dog.

Sometimes when a dog is castrated a hormone is released that causes fast production of new growth. The hair becomes soft and tight quickly. This is known as a blown coat, but is not the same as a blown coat that can be stripped.

Show Style Coat requiring regular Maintenance

In a show style coat we aim to achieve lots of layers, this means that there will always be a smart jacket underneath. The process of creating and maintaining a layered coat is called rolling the coat. To create a layered coat, we gently work through the coat with a wide toothed stripping knife, only removing part of the jacket. To maintain a layered coat, remove the longest layer all over exposing the next layer down.

Layered Coat

Rolled Coat