Why it is wrong to clip a wire Fox Terrier

By G. Ranken MRCVS, Cand. Med. Vet

Canine hairs are slightly different from human. The dog has 2 kinds of hairs- primary hairs and secondary hairs .

In the wire fox terrier the primary hairs are what we call the wire coat . These hairs consist as you can see from the above diagram of a shaft of hair with it's root and it's appendages (such as a sebaceous gland and a sweat gland). These hairs are hairs that give the dog it's colouring-they are also very coarse in texture-hence the term "wire coat". 

For every wire hair there are a number of fine woollen hairs (or secondary hairs) that do not have their own separate root.

Now if the wire fox terrier were still living in the wild (which it of course it isn't!!!) it would  it's coat would moult approx 2 times a year....Just like many other wild animals the winter coat would give way for the summer coat . The dog would simply relieve itself of the old coat by brushing itself against the lower branches of bushes and trees -thereby the primary hairs  are pulled  out from the root to give way for the next coat .

Now this natural removal of the winter and summer coats is imitated by the modern groomers . By "stripping" or "trimming" a coat - the groomer is simply helping to remove the old primary hairs to give way for the fresh new coat .

I do not know how many times I have heard pet wire haired terrier owners out of ignorance saying things like- "oh this is just a pet and not a show dog".....or "doesn't it hurt the poor dog to pull out the coat". Stripping a dog is simply helping the dog to do what it otherwise would have done out in the wild....

What people -and unluckily I have to include groomers here-do not realize that by clipping the dog instead of stripping it you are actually doing damage to the dogs future well being . 

A number of things happen when a dog is clipped.

The roots and shafts of the primary hairs when cut are still left intact  and stop the growth of the new coat . As the primary hairs are the colour bearing hair layer- the first thing the owner notices is that the coat goes pale and eventually turns completely white. 

The next thing that happens is that the wool or secondary hairs take over.....the coat goes woolly like a warm eiderdown and very warm . You see, when the coat is stripped both primary and secondary hairs are removed and air can get to the underlying surface of the skin .This is now stopped.   In warm climates or warm central heated houses this excess growth of wool causes hotspots and rashes to appear- which left untreated can develop into various serious skin conditions . In my experience incorrect grooming of terrier breeds is the most common cause of skin complaints . All simply because the normal micro climate down by the skin surface has been altered .

So no , stripping is not a procedure that is reserved for the few show dogs around but should really be done to ALL wire coated dogs . The correct procedure is to wait till the dog's coat is ready to be stripped (the coat is ready when it starts falling out on it's own and you can literally pull it out). Get it stripped and then get an after trim after about 6 weeks . By this time the new coat has started to come through and some of the superfluous secondary woollen hairs need to be removed to demonstrate the lovely new colour and coat coming through. Then sit back and wait till the next time the coat is ready to be pulled out- which is generally 4-5 months later. Again you know when it is time as the coat starts coming out.

Q&A:

Is it possible to strip a dog after it has been clipped several years?

Yes, These pictures show a dog that was clipped on the right-notice there is hardly any colouring left-the coat is curly and woolly. To the left  after he was trimmed a couple of times the coat started to re-grow and restored to it's healthy state- and the colours came back too. It is however essential when the coat is as bad as above NOT to start trimming or stripping till the coat is really ready to be stripped....so in this case you wait the necessary months till the coat starts coming out easily....otherwise it would be very painful for the dog .

Again the above pictures are of the same dog- to the left when he was clipped -as you see the coat is all white and woolly-and to the right after he was trimmed back to his normal coat and the black saddle and brown head has returned. It is hard to believe isn't it?

If there are any more question regarding the above topic please write to me at the e-mail address below and I will attempt to answer them.

Gerry@scanwyre.co.uk