Hand strip or not ??

[BJ's Mommy]

Hi all

Need some advice
Do I get Bella hand stripped or not ?
She has a thick coat but I love it.
She is 10 months old now. I've had her groomed a couple of times whereby she was trimmed.
Her breeder has said to get her hand stripped but I'm not sure.
Can I not just have her trimmed / clipped every couple of months ?
How does it change their appearance / texture of coat. ?

Help !
Ps. She has been spayed.

Nicki

[Jane S]

It's not usually possible to hand strip a spayed bitch although it does depend on the coat - I did hand strip one of our girls for a year after she was spayed but had to stop when her coat became too thick and woolly to do it any more (some bitches with finer coats can continue to be hand stripped after spaying but they are usually in the minority). If you take your girl to a groomer (rather than do it yourself), I don't think you'll find many willing to tackle hand stripping a thick post-spay coat and I'm not sure why your breeder is suggesting it (unless she doesn't know your girl is spayed?) It is of course up to you but my advice would be to continue with what you're doing now

[its.sme]

My girl has always been clipped, she was spayed in August so I'm still waiting for her coat to change , it hasn't yet 

As you can see she has full feathering and longish on top.

I had always intended her to be spayed and that's why I decided against hand stripping from the start.

As Jane S has said I'm not sure a groomer would be willing to do it.

[vixen]

My girl has always been clipped, she was spayed in August so I'm still waiting for her coat to change , it hasn't yet 

When my two girls were spayed, I 'thought' that their coats hadn't changed.  But gradually they did      It took over a year for the change to become obvious.  Marley, my solid black girl has really turned into a woolly bear but Stevie's blue roan coat is much silkier and easier to manage.    I have read that the change in the solid black and liver coat after spaying is much more noticeable.

[its.sme]

When my two girls were spayed, I 'thought' that their coats hadn't changed.  But gradually they did      It took over a year for the change to become obvious.  Marley, my solid black girl has really turned into a woolly bear but Stevie's blue roan coat is much silkier and easier to manage.    I have read that the change in the solid black and liver coat after spaying is much more noticeable.
[/quote]

Thanks Vixen,
Bea's coat has got more silkier, I put that down to her being Raw fed (since April) but this could also be the reason   

[BJ's Mommy]

Hi.
I had Bella clipped and I'm very happy with her.
I've decided not to hand strip.

Thanks everyone who has commented.

Nicki