Um...did you know that Terriers are supposed to be hand-stripped? Meaning that, by hand, you pull out their hair instead of using a clipper or scissors. Meaning, you sit for hours and pull the hair out
of a dog, and it keeps coming and coming. And if you don't hand-strip, the hair changes texture and even color?! And the dogs don't mind it (some may not love it - but it's not painful).
The hair is dead and it's got to go. Apparently - these hairs will grow to a hard wire point, but the middle of the shaft is hollow and it has a very soft base, allowing it to be pulled out easily. They just sit there as Sue pulls away creating a huge mountain that would send my sister into an allergic coma. I, luckily, am not allergic to any animal - which is good cause there are only a few foods that I can be friends with.
Anyway, back to Terriers. So this hand-stripping has to be done with a dirty coat. And if the coat isn't dirty enough, the groomer adds chalk to it. CHALK! To make it dirty. So....more dust in the air.
More bad news for allergy sufferers. The goal of hand-stripping is that you pull the hair out and allow the dog's true wiry coat to grow in properly.
You can hand-strip any part of the dog's coat although there are certain parts of the coat that are more sensitive than others. Think about it - clearly the belly and the face. For sure, I'd have a problem if Sue came at me with a comb and said she was going to strip my hair. Sue, being a gentler soul, has decided that for most pets, she will do a mixture of the stripping and clipping.
These aren't competition dogs. She wants the dog to be as close to breed standard as possible, but she doesn't want to put the dog or herself through any unnecessary pain. So, she uses scissors on the tail and on
certain dogs that are more sensitive.
Can you imagine? I thought waxing was rough!
Sue has had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists.
you can find out more information at -
www.harborside.com
