Full Hand Strip

So what is a hand strip?
Hand stripping is a technique used on certain coat types, to rid the coat of dead hairs allowing new hair to grow through. The new hair growth will present fabulous fresh colour.

Why is a hand strip different to clipping the coat?
When hand stripping, the old dead top coat is removed from the hair shaft. When a coat is clipped it just chops the ends of the hair off so the older hair remains in the hair shaft and prevents new hair growing through. This can leave the coat dull rather than having bright new fresh hair and the coat will be much thicker.

Doesn't hand stripping hurt the dog?
If the coat is ready (knows as "blown") then the hair will come out without any pain to the dog, in fact lots of dogs love the process! Care must be taken though to only remove the correct hair and not pull out the delicate undercoat. Dog groomers should have had specific training in hand stripping before carrying out this technique.

What breeds can be hand stripped?
Rather than being breed specific, this technique needs the right coat type. Wire coats, mainly found in terriers are the usual coats to hand strip. Spaniels are also commonly hand stripped. It should be noted that once a coat has been clipped the coat may never be able to be hand stripped again. Some coats will recover after a while however it is best to make the decision whether to hand strip or have the coat clipped as a puppy. As a dog gets older their coat will also change and hand stripping may not be suitable in older dogs where their undercoat has stopped to grow through.

You may have difficulty in finding a dog groomer who offers a hand stripping service. This could be because the groomer either hasn't been trained or just doesn't offer this service as it is specialist and time consuming, hard on our joints, or they just don't enjoy doing it!

Here at Doggie-Styles we love to hand strip and to bring out the wonderful colour of a fresh undercoat. When booking in for a hand strip your dog will receive:

  • Health check
  • Full hand strip 
  • Cool after-bath in a sensitive shampoo designed to soothe the skin
  • Nail trim and pad clean and clear out
  • Ear clean
  • Cuddles

We do not use cologne on hand stripped dogs as their pores may still be open and we don't want to risk irritating the skin.

Click HERE to watch Alfie, a gorgeous Border Terrier, having his second ever hand strip! Contact Us.