I didn’t imagine I would feel so good about pulling hair out of a dog and I thought it would hurt the dog, but I was wrong. There is an easy, correct, safe and painless way to hand strip a dog and a wrong, hard, and painful way.
The tutor was brilliant at demonstrating for me clearly explaining each stage and then allowing me time to practice each stage before moving on. I was a little hesitant at first but soon gained confidence doing it myself. I felt really well supported especially when I had a nice brew brought to my workstation.
I was shown how, when, and why to use a knife, a stone, powder, and finger condoms which was all very different from other tools I’ve used so far during my grooming course. Tips on which way to pull the hair out so the replacement hair grows back in the right direction was all so interesting, it certainly opened my eye’s as to the technical aspects of this process.
The process was also different in that we were taught not to wash the dog after his health check as this would make it more difficult to remove the hair. The shampoo was also different because of the wire hair. There are also more breeds that should be hand stripped than I had imagined but most owners request a pet groom and not a working dog hand strip.
I know a lot of groomers don’t offer hand stripping as a service but after this training I will once I’ve set my business up.
The amount of hair that came out of such a small dog was unbelievable which we were advised to save and show to the owner, which I think is a really good idea so they can see the work that’s been done but also provides evidence to show the hair hasn’t been cut.
If you’re not sure about hand stripping give it ago, I really enjoyed learning this technique and Barney (Boarder Terrier) was so lovely and patient for me. He also looked amazing.