Stripping

[Goldmandra]

We have a 3YO mixed breed rescue who clearly has a lot of terrier in her and probably some border terrier. Her coat seems to be two distinct layers and despite regular brushing, there's lots of loose hair in there.

I've recently seen things online about stripping the hair of border terriers. Is this something we should consider for her?

We don't know any dog groomers so should we just take her to our local Pets At Home?

Bump

We have a Welsh terrier who is hand stripped and looks gorgeous afterwards. We decided to go for stripping rather than having her clipped because it preserves the wirey coat, whereas clipping makes it all a bit softer and can make the colours of the coat less distinct.

I think it's unlikely that the groomers at pets at home would be able to do this properly as it's quite a specialist skill, so maybe do some phoning round or approach other owners of similar dogs to yours. If you live near Bedford I can pm you the name of the groomer we use.
Ignore anyone who says it hurts the dog to hand strip - the hair is loose and comes out very easily. Our dog has never shown any signs of distress either going into the groomers or afterwards.
It's all down to personal preference, and clipping will give you a good result, but the lovely (imo!) wirey fur will change to a softer texture.
Oh, and it costs us between £25-£35 depending how long we leave it between sessions (6 - 12 weeks).

Thank you Swannee. That's really helpful.

Sadly we are nowhere near Bedford. I will start asking around.

I'm a big fan of hand stripping- have you tried googling? Also, your vet might know of a good one.

I actually take my dogs 40 mins away because I know he's a good one.

You can get a stripping comb to help you get the hair out - I use one on my terrier, which I bought at the local pet shop. I tend not to do it all at once, so it's a bit of a work in progress.

I think I'd be worried about hurting her if I tried it myself. She can get a bit stressed about being messed about and if she ever hurts herself she goes into a complete spin if you try to touch it.