Devata Kennels

Instinctive Hunting Companions

Rolling A Stripped Coat

 

Equipment needed:

 

Rubber fingers to fit thumb and index fingers (instead of bare fingers)

Grooming stone

Comb

Coarse stripping knife

Fine stripping knife

Flat, natural bristle brush

Witch hazel in spray bottle

 

 

This is from an excerpt from an article that Karen Brittan wrote about stripping Schnauzers.  The technique she explains is exactly copied here.

 

First of all know the pattern of a stripped GWP.  That is explained in the document written by Judy Cheshire, The Grooming Primer of a German Wirehaired Pointer.  One thing to remember before you begin rolling the coat, it could look worse during this process before it starts to look much better and you may feed pretty discouraged.  A nicely rolled coat does not happen overnight and may take several months to get all those hairs rolling in the right cycle.  Start rolling the coat when they are puppies maintaining it will be easier.

 

There are some rules when working on a rolled coat, they are:

 

#1.  Never, ever cut the coat with shears, thinning or otherwise.  Put them away to avoid the temptation when getting ready for a show.  No thinning and cutting a coat only defeats the purpose and it will be regretted for months to come.

 

#2. The coat must be worked religiously at least once a week.  Set a specific day aside to work the coat.  Nothing else matters that day but getting your dog’s coat worked. Not working it once a week will only prolong the process and could have to start again.

 

Here is my procedure for working a rolled coat (keep in mind that others have their own techniques … once again, there is no right or wrong way…  the end results is the only thing that matters):

 

First:  Rake over the entire dog using both the coarse and fine stripping tool.  This pulls out some of the undercoat and also some of the

longer top coat that are blown.  I do this until I’m not getting any coat to come out.  The document entitled Use of MacKnyfe Grooming Tools, calls this Mucking.

 

Second:  My next step is to go through the longer parts of the coat using only my fingers.  Have you ever watched how a beautician cuts hair?  This is basically the same procedure.  Catch up a small amount of hair between the index and middle finger of your hand (you will be able to see the layers in a properly rolled coat) and pull out only the longest hairs. You can use a comb to comb the hair up off the body.  I always work from the front of the dog back towards the rear and usually work my way down the dog’s spine first.  Whenever I’m working on the dog’s sides, I find it easier to have the dog lying down on his side so that I can do a more thorough job.

 

When I feel that my finger work is complete, I work on all the shorter areas that I pull with the stripping knives, never pulling more than two times in the same are.

 

Third:  Take a grooming stone and go over the entire dog.  This removes some of the longer hairs that may have been missed and a bit more undercoat.  Be very careful not to injure the dog’s skin while stoning in the areas where the coat is short or might be thinned out.  Very light pressure is used.

 

Fourth:  Then I comb through the entire coat looking for bumps in the coat.  These bumps are areas where the hair is longer than the hair surrounding it.   I attend to any areas missed.

 

Fifth:  I spray down the coat with Witch Hazel and brush it through it by using either a hound glove or a flat, natural bristle brush.  This helps remove debris and stimulates growth and skin regeneration.

 

             You can find the above procedure at http://www.members.aol.com/msbritmor/rolling.html.  There are pictures on this website to show what is being described.