stripping my JRT

[milos_mommy]

i went to petco looking for a stripping knife, and the lady told me to go ask the grooming department about that. so i asked the groomer and she told me they didn't sell them and normally only show dog's coats were stripped. i thought it was nessecary to strip rough-coated terriers coats. so do i need to strip Milo's coat, or will he be okay without it stripped? if i plan on showing him in the future, will it matter that i didn't strip his coat when he was young?

[otch1]

Yes, it will matter if you plan on showing him. Good to get him conditioned to that now, verses when he's older. Try on-line, 3-C dog supplies. They are a large distributor at the shows here on the west coast. You'll want to get a good book on this as well, if you've never done it. It's very easy to accidently put a hole in your dogs coat if you're a novice, or hurt an ear. There should also be a 1- 800 number you can call with any questions. They are very nice people!

[SummerRiot]

I was under the impression that once a JRT's coat is stripped - the coat never grows back the same.

I also had thought that you shouldn't strip a show JRTs coat because it wont ever come in "show condition" again.

[otch1]

Hi SummerRiot... this is not a breed I've handled but I thought that you do tidy them up, feet, ears, head and some thinning on body. (Not taking as much coat as you would a Border, an Irish, ect, but some thinning and clean up.) If this breeds shown completely "natural", my apologies, if I'm wrong. So, don't touch that coat Milos mom until I confirm that or I'm in big trouble!! Lol

[SummerRiot]

I was under the impressing by stripping the JRTs coat - it will never be "show quality coat" again.

Yes - I believe that you tidy up the breed, but from what I remember (I used to judge the Lure coursing for JRT puppies at the shows) it was VERy minimal work you did for the JRTs.
I babysit a couple JRTs, one is a smooth coat and the other is a smooth/wire coat mixture. The smooth/wire mixture was shown in her younger days and took a few Best of Breed wins. Her coat was never stripped for the shows. I'll have to ask them what exactly they did for her coat though.

[otch1]

O.k., a bit of contradiction here... AKC rules state clearly that you will be penalized for obvious "sculptured finishing". (I.e. what we do to the Border terriers, Irish terriers...) The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America says "yes", you do do some stripping and clean up work, but well before showing and allow coat to grow back in, creating a smoother coat, no curl, ect. "Clean up" is allowed, but coat should be left close to it's natural look. So, how much "clean up", is open for interpretation. You're better off talking to a JRT breeder that shows, to see what they reccommend. In my area, the JRTs' are tidied up a bit, by my observation at the shows.

[otch1]

Hi Summer... I just posted that last one while you were sending your post. I believe sculpting verses clean up is the issue, the latter I thought was allowed. Milos mom, go to www.terrier.com/advise/grooming. This is info from JRTCA. Let me know what you find out in your info search too, Summer. Thanks!

[milos_mommy]

yes, terrier.com is where i found the info about stripping in the first place, but then the groomer at petco contradicted that, so i don't know. i probably will end up consulting a breeder, though, so thanks for that advice.

[SummerRiot]

Ahh this is good to know - thanks soo much otch1!! :)

JRT aren't recognized in the CKC, but they have their own breed club shows in the area at times (those are the ones I judged at a few years ago).

I guess it all comes down to WHERE you will be showing your dog... then go by their rules.

[Mordy]

Actually stripping doesn't damage the coat, nor does it cause it to grow back in any different than what it was before, unlike when you just clip it, like some pet owners do.

Stripping also helps with the dogs getting "itchy", since you pull out all the dead hair instead of just cutting it off and leaving the roots to do whatever. Eventually they will fall out anyway, and if they are left alone, they often do so in clumps.


Here's a nice paget hat explains it, but it's about Border Terriers, not specifically Jacks. The principle is the same though:
http://clubs.akc.org/btcoa/gg.htm

Personally I hand strip and don't use a stripping knife at all.

How much stripping is needed depends on the terrier's coat, smooth ones generally don't need it, broken coated ones rarely do, and with the rough ones it depends on how long the coat grows.

Some example pics of what happens when the coat of dogs with longer growth is just left to grow out without stripping:

http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6194.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8871.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8826.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8781.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8482.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7805.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7589.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7561.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7463.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7375.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6760.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6161.jpg

[cindr]

Actually stripping doesn't damage the coat, nor does it cause it to grow back in any different than what it was before, unlike when you just clip it, like some pet owners do.

Stripping also helps with the dogs getting "itchy", since you pull out all the dead hair instead of just cutting it off and leaving the roots to do whatever. Eventually they will fall out anyway, and if they are left alone, they often do so in clumps.


Here's a nice paget hat explains it, but it's about Border Terriers, not specifically Jacks. The principle is the same though:
http://clubs.akc.org/btcoa/gg.htm

Personally I hand strip and don't use a stripping knife at all.

How much stripping is needed depends on the terrier's coat, smooth ones generally don't need it, broken coated ones rarely do, and with the rough ones it depends on how long the coat grows.

Some example pics of what happens when the coat of dogs with longer growth is just left to grow out without stripping:

http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6194.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8871.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8826.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8781.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic8482.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7805.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7589.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7561.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7463.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic7375.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6760.jpg
http://terrier.com/image/gallerynew/pic6161.jpg

Yes, you are right, stripping, or plucking and or thinning the dogs coat causes no problems. It is when you clip or shave the dogs coat, that's when you can cause a differance. Your dog will shead that much more.

[otch1]

Hi Milos mom... as stated in JRTCA, I believe AKC allows tidying, as I'd originally assumed. This is much less than I have to do for the Borders or Irishes I've shown though, so let me know how much they allow for rough coated Jacks. And it sounds like you've already found 3-Cs site. Good luck with order, they have some nice things in a wide range of prices. Their warehouse is right up the road from me.

[whitetail]

If you still need help google Michelle Ward grooming video. You can but it online. I have it and it is a very good video on grooming jrt's. As far as stripping for show. You can strip as little or as much as you want in AKC or JRTCA. It is best to strip a little at a time. If you are not very experinced I would strip by hand. I have stripping knives and siccors and clippers, but I still do most of the stripping by hand. The "penalized for obvious "sculptured finishing" comes in more for not stripping or posting or fluffing the legs. Some rough coats require quite a bit of stripping. If I want to keep my rough coat jrt's coat in show condition I need to spend about an 30 min. to 1 hr. ever 2 weeks. But all dogs coats are different. Good luck.