Hand Stripping

Traditionally used on wire or silky coats such as Terriers or Spaniels and Setters.

What’s included:
- Consultation with Anita to determine if the coat is ready for a strip and to go over your requirements for the groom.
- A good bath before the handstrip process using a sensitive shampoo and a blueberry facial.
- Blow dry and brush out.
- Hand stripping and scissoring if required
- Nail trimming 
- Ear cleaning
 

More about hand stripping:
Hand stripping is a very skilled process and can look lovely but is not suitable for all breeds.
If your dog is neutered, then this may make it harder to strip as the change in hormones affects the hair growth cycles.
There are 4 stages to coat growth. 
Anagen when the hair follicles begin to grow new hair.
Catagen when the hair transitions and stops growing.
Telogen when the hair rests and is at standstill, it does not grow or shed.
Exogen where the hair is dead and ready to come out so the cycle can start again. This is when we ideally want to go for a handstrip.

With the wire coated breeds (Terriers) we are pulling the top wire hairs to leave the soft undercoat. This, ideally for pet grooms, is done every 6 months as that is when the hair has finished a full cycle and is ready to be stripped, although it can be done sooner for example 6-8 weeks depending on temperament of your dog. With the silky coated breeds (Spaniels and Setters) we are pulling the soft undercoat out and leaving the top silky coat. This is ideally done every 6-8 weeks to keep on top of matting. 
If your dog has been clipped in the past, then it most likely cannot be stripped. Clipping cuts the hair and disturbs it’s cycle telling it to stop growing, this results in thick fluffy hair growing back which if I tried to strip would hurt your dog. Some coats can be forgiving, especially wire coats in entire dogs.