Earl's Home Groom

Having recently got a grooming table, plus all the necessary grooming supplies, I was ready to give Earl a hand strip. His hair was growing long again, so on Saturday I took the plunge and hand stripped Earl myself at home for the very first time; for my first ever hand strip, he looks brilliant! I'm ever so proud of the result I got out of this home groom! He was such a good boy throughout, sitting still and just allowing me to pluck away. He was enjoying the experience... and attention!

Now, is hand stripping a Border Terrier easy, or challenging? Here, I'll give you a couple of simple tips to ensure your grooming goes successfully. Your dog wouldn't appreciate a bald patch, would he?

Here, you can see that one shoulder has been stripped more than the other side (right hand side) and the other shoulder hasn't yet been done at all. One pointer for you to follow is to always start stripping from one place down. I always like to start at the shoulders, work down the back, then do the back legs, then the neck, then the chest, face, front legs and undercarriage. I trim the beard and feet at the end. I also clean the eyes and ears at the end, plus trim the nails if need be.

Another pointer I would give is to always be as gentle as possible with your dog, whilst not being scared to give this dead hair a good tug out. The dead hair should come out easily, especially if you apply the chalk block beforehand. This caused no pain for the dog; there are many people who believe hand stripping a dog causes pain, but it doesn't at all. Earl seemed to really be enjoying the experience! Also, always reassure your dog. Some dogs find being on the grooming table a weird experience, and attempt to get down. Talk to and stroke your dog to make him feel happier. He will soon get used to the idea.

For my first ever hand strip, I think this groom went amazingly well! I'm almost wordless with awe at how smart he now looks! Looking all smart for his holidays. Maybe there's dog grooming in my future? Who knows? All I know is that it will definitely be something heavily involving dogs!