TO STRIP OR NOT TO STRIP

Dear Jubilee:

From everything I have read, it appears that stripping is the best thing for my Airedale’s coat. I found someone who is willing to teach me, but he has tried his best to discourage me, saying that it takes a lot of time, it will hurt my hands, it will cost a lot to buy all of the equipment that I will need, and more. Basically, I think he believes that I will not stay the course. Nevertheless, I still want to do this, and I think that I can do it. Am I taking on more than I should? 

Thank you,

Wanting to Strip in Memphis

Dear Wanting to Strip,

It sounds like you have the desire you need to do it. And if you are starting with a young puppy, I would say get a good instructor, and go for it. And keep at it.

It took me a long time to get the hang of hand-stripping an Airedale. There were times when I could see no progress. But I kept at it. There were blisters on my fingers. I kept going. My hands hurt and my wrist hurt. I kept going. It took me hours to do one section of my dog. I kept going.

And then, one day, it all fell into place. When that happened, I could do it quicker and better. In the past year, I have watched two completely new groomers with our puppies learn how to strip. They spend their spare time working on their dog; they never do too much at one time; it they get tired, they stop. And in less than a year, they are grooming well enough to show their own dogs.

So if you want to do it, do it. And if you decide to just do his jacket and clip the rest, you can do that as well. Lots of people do.

There is a good video on stripping by Michael Kemp that you can get from www.dogwise.com, and there is also a great web site, http://members.tripod.com/WharfeAire/groomingpage.html, that can help you a lot.

Happy Stripping,

Jubilee