GROOMING:  I could use some advice about my Airedale’s coiffure

Dear Jubilee:

I could use some advice about my Airedale’s coiffure. He looks like a wooly mammoth. Even tho' he's pretty darn handsome that way, it's already getting pretty hot down here. If I run my fingers through his fur "against the grain," it stands almost two inches high. I started stripping his head and face a while ago, and accumulated a pile of fur about the size of a basketball before I realized, "This is ridiculous. Face it, he needs to be clipped." I'm off all next week, and I don't want to spend all my time stripping!! I've never had him clipped before because I'm afraid of losing the rich color (although already it's not what it used to be because I have scissored him a few times), which I really like. But I've let it go for too long, only using the Coat King every once in a while and now, he's just a big mess.

My long-term goal is to keep his hair shorter than it is now and maintain his dark color. My short-term goal is to get rid of that huge mass of a fur-coat! Are both goals possible to reach?

Getting Hotter ‘N Hotter in the Southwest

Actually, the tool you are using may help you reach both goals without clipping. The Mars Coat King is a great tool for this. It even shows a wooly Airedale being done on its website in a slide show. Basically, from what I understand, this tool takes out the

undercoat which is what is making your dog's coat stand up. A good site for buying it is http://www.groomersmall.com/coat_kings.htm. I think most Airedale people who use a Coat King use a 10 or 12 blade Original Coat King to get the Airedale undercoat out. From what I have seen (I do not use one), you could get that wooly stuff out pretty easily, and then use a regular stripping knife to tidy him up.

As for your question about stripping after clipping. It is much, much harder. And once you clip, the inclination is to keep clipping because the task is so daunting. Right now, I am stripping out a six year old Airedale that has been clipped ever since she finished her championship over four years ago (so she was stripped and conditioned for the first 2 1/2 years of her life which means her coat was brought in as a puppy). It has taken me two months, and I am now seeing her color and hair texture coming back. I have a goal and purpose for doing this, but it is a lot of work and takes a lot of time to get back to what the coat should be.

Another idea, and this is what I would recommend if you want to hold the color: if you are not going to show your dog, once you get the woolies out, you can strip the jacket, neck and head, but clip the underside of the mouth and jaw, the front of the neck, the underside of the tail and the butt. Then you can pluck the furnishings to keep them growing in and the leg hair from turning almost white from the dead hair that results from clipping. Once you get the knack of doing the stripping part, it will not be that hard to keep your dog in its pretty colored coat. Not having to do the sides and underside of the neck, the butt, and the underside of the tail makes the entire process much faster and simpler.

A breeder friend of mine uses a combination of the Coat King and clipping and maintains her dogs in good color. She uses the Coat King before they are bathed prior to clipping, and she finds that it does help bring in the color in the clipped dogs. It also makes it easier to clip and protects the clipper blades. She has, however, found that it only works well on their backs and on their leg furnishingsAnd she adds that like stripping, the Coat King works better on a dirty rather than a clean coat.  She has also the Coat King works better on a harder coat than on a softer coated.  The longer the coat, she says, the better the Mars works.

Another breeder friend recommends pulling the long hair out first by taking two or three rungs at it and working as fast as possible to get as much done as possible each time. He says to pull the sides first, then the back, and then wait two weeks to make sure all the long hard hair is removed and then clip the undercoat that is left. He also reminds us that you should have a grooming arm attached to a table so that you can hook the dog to the arm: this helps reduce the stress for the dog and makes it easier for you then trying to groom a dog that can move every which way.

For information and guidelines on stripping and clipping, there are websites: The best, in my mind, is the site of a Canadian breeder at http://members.tripod.com/WharfeAire/groomingpage.html.

There is another site, which is for gluing ears, but if you click on Grooming Your Airedale, you will find a lot of sites, books and videos on grooming: http://members.tripod.com/~SerendipityAiredales/setears.html.

In addition, several regional either hold regular grooming clinics or from time-to-time, bring in a professional terrier groomer for a workshop. Both of these options are excellent ways to get both stripping and clipping instruction. For contacts to regional Airedale clubs, you can go to www.airedale.org, and click on Regional Clubs.

You can also get a couple of useful pamphlets on Grooming Your Airedale Terrier or Grooming the Broken Coated Terrier at www.airedale.org, click on Shopping Items.

Grooming your own dog is a great way to build a closer relationship and gives you some wonderful time with your dog while it is on the table. As one Airedale groomer told me years ago, "First you groom a little, then you love a little, then you groom some more, then you love some more, and first thing you know, you are done for the day! And remember, you don’t have to do it all in a day, or a week, or a month. It is a continuous and ongoing relationship and process.

Good luck and happy grooming,

Jubilee and friends