Border Terrier - get harder to hand strip as they get older?

[Boothanator]

Lovely boy Dougal is 10yrs old. We've moved to a new area and I took him to a groomer to be hand stripped and she said she couldn't strip him (she was lovely about it by the way but was concerned about him). She said that as they get older (particularly the ones who don't have their 'bits and pieces' any more), the coat and skin changes and it gets harder and harder to strip and more and more painful for the dog. Has anyone else heard this? Thanks

Yes after neutering as the coat can be affected.
I've also heard anecdotally that some older dogs start to find the method uncomfortable.
Does his coat look less full?

Forgot to add - is the groomer a border specialist?
I'd ask around in one of the fb border groups for a recommendation- where I am there are several who only work with borders.

We had a male border terrier for 17 years. Never had an issue with stripping. The only thing that did happen was he got thinner fur especially in his tail. Get reckoned it was a hormonal thing. But he still got stripped and the groomer was aware of the issue and behaved accordingly.

Where have you moved to? Power of mn might be able to give you recommendations

Not a Border but I’ve had many Cairns in the past, used to show them, & they need hand stripping. I’ve never come across this as a problem. I did all my own grooming & many of mine lived to be 18, one just weeks from being 20, & all were groomed just the same as always.
I’d suggest finding another groomer or learn to do yourself, it really isn’t that difficult with a proper stripping knife & I’m sure he’d prefer the close attention from you rather than a relative stranger.

My mother and her partner were groomers. My mother didn't have the patience to stop borders but her partner did. She put latex gloves on and stripped by hand, very rarely used a stripping tool, she told me it was loose hair. When ever I watched or helped, the dog wasn't uncomfortable and the hair came out 3asy.

*strip borders.

A stripping knife isn’t a knife as such, it doesn’t cut the hair, just enables a better hold so serves the same purpose as latex gloves & just makes it that bit easier without your fingers getting tired. But the orevious poster is quite right, the hair you’re removing is already dead & quite loose so comes out really easily & didn’t hurt them at all. If it doesn’t come out easily then it isn’t ready to be stripped.