I shall be slightly controversial here & say that I only handstrip the heads of show dogs. I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to use a Coat King and/or thinning scissors on the top knot (long curly hair on the head) of a pet puppy, especially if it's a very thick coated solid black. Whereas the top knots of particolours can be quite easy to strip out (though not always), those of solid puppies (from show lines) can be nightmares to do, specially with puppies that are not used to being "plucked". I also would not pluck the tops of the ears on a pet puppy (unless they had particularly easy coats
) - most find it too uncomfortable. It's different for show puppies - they are trained from an early age to accept stripping & show owners tend to be doing a little bit here & there every day so their pups don't get fed up. I guess it depends on what you are aiming for - if you want your puppy to be trimmed as if for the show ring, then yes, hand strip the head but be warned, with a solid, this can be a very long job indeed