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| Grooming | Seneca Breeding Guidelines | Puppies |
Grooming
Note: Each photo is a thumbnail. Click on them to better see the details.
(Photo 1-Ember
sitting with rosette)
April 7, 2002
This is Ember, born September 24 of last year from CH Seneca Ochocho Pete and Canadian CH Jalomonis June. Ember has been playing with one of her mother's ribbons from Canada and I took it away from her and told her to get her own to play with. So she stole it back….hummmm….I think it's time that Ember goes public.
(Photo 2-Ember with rosette in mouth)
The Airedale Terrier Club of Canada has a National Specialty on the weekend of May 18, 19, and 20 th in Kitchner, Ontario. Oh, boy that's just 6 weeks away! Ember's coat would never be ready in time due to the minimum 8 weeks that a coat requires to grow out from the first stripping. Fortunately, I have been trimming off and on since January-unfortunately more off than on.
The Airedale Terrier is trimmed by plucking, stripping, and hand trimming-all labor, skill, and time intensive methods. The breed is considered one of the most difficult of the breeds to trim for the show ring. No hair is cut, so put away the clippers and scissors! OK, on the males, the groin area is clippered with a #10 blade or finer, and on both sexes, the hair between (not around) the pads can be trimmed with scissors. Plan on a minimum of 16 weeks to have a rotating show coat from the first strip.
Trim note: Generally, stripping is done for show dogs or for dogs whose owners just prefer the stripped coat. The reasons include harder texture, richer color, and greater density of coat which results in better appearance in the show ring, or better protection for the dog in outdoor pursuits.
What happens when the hair is cut? The roots are a different color, so Ember may turn beige and gray. The texture is stiffer and more wiry at the tip than at the base, so the coat would be softened. The look is very different, as the cut hair doesn't lay naturally. Over a period of time, the furnishings will become wispy and thin. Conformation judges consider a cut coat to have been artificially altered, especially in texture, and may excuse the dog from the ring.The coat can be cut either by clippers, an overly sharp trimming knife, or scissors.
The first step is to evaluate Ember as a potential show entry. Do I want to spend the entry money? Does she conform to the standard as growth and development cause her to change weekly! Ember's ears are looking good after teething-always a time of stress for Airedale ears. Her right ear is a little houndy-not quite as well carried as it should be, but it is on the side that the judge doesn't see right away as she enters the ring and moves the normal counterclockwise direction used in the show ring. The cartilage may strengthen over time; regardless, it isn't a severe fault. Speaking of teeth, they look very good in a scissors bite; that is correct.
(Photo 3-Ember's teeth)
While her head does have a lot of hair, there really is a very nice head under all that. So let's take a look at the whole dog. Ember is just a little over 6 months old, which is usually a good time to look at the balance of a puppy. The gawky adolescent stage will probably arrive at 8 or 9 months-let's hope we get through the Canadian specialty before that happens! Ember's outline is square, with a smooth transition from neck through the withers and into the back. The topline is level, high tailset, and moderate angulation both front and back. For the process of grooming, Ember's coat is hard, crisp, rich colored, and easy to groom. The downside of that is that the leg hair, known as furnishings, are easily broken, even by everyday activities.
Trim note: Check out the breed standard. We can't evaluate movement on the table, but this will give us a good start in knowing what our puppy is supposed to look like.
(Photo 4-Ember standing on table, side view)
Let's collect our tools. First, always groom on a table. Tables provide control and bring the dog up to a better level to work on. I'm going to start with a pin brush, Hindes palmer, wide spaced metal comb, nail trimmer, Pearson fine stripping knife, and some terrier chalk and chalk brush.
(Photo
5-Collection of tools)
Where to start? When stripping I take only a little hair at a time, and use the muscles of my shoulder and upper arm, keeping the wrist straight. Using a Dr. Scholl's Callus Removing stick can help a novice terrier trimmer to learn the correct hand and arm motion without cutting the hair. Grip just a small amount of hair and cleanly pull all that is gripped, pulling in the direction of hair growth. If I pulled in the opposite direction to growth, my dog would be VERY uncomfortable and irritated! When I brush the hair backwards against the direction of growth with the Hindes palmer, I can more clearly see and grip the hair. The pulling motion is quick, like pulling off a Band-Aid. The skin should not be pulled up or move very much at all. If I was pulling the skin around, that will also hurt my dog. The Dr. Scholl's is inexpensive and easy to purchase locally. In addition to that, it is the grooming tool of choice in certain areas of the dog, so it isn't just for learning.
(Photo 6-Dr. Scholl's Callus Remover in packaging)
Trim note: Never wash the dog before stripping. Damp hair is impossible to strip because it won't come out, hurts the dog's skin more, and it is cut more easily by the grooming tools. If the skin is irritated by stripping, use Gold Bond powder to sooth the irritated areas.
I like to do a clean strip while some folks like to do parts of the dog in stages. I visualize a line from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth and strip cleanly back to the base of the ear, then on the top of the head, starting from right behind the eyebrow. I brush a little chalk into the coat to get a better grip, which makes the trimming go easier. When I do the base of the ears, being right handed, I hold the ear folded over the top of the head with my left hand. To get short or very fine hairs inside the ear, try using a Mars Very Fine, also called the Thumb Blade because the blade is the size and shape of the tip of a thumb. On the outside ear surface, use the Pearson Fine, being very careful not to nick the delicate, thin skin.
(Photo 7-Head shot with ear folded over top of head)
(Photo 8-Head shot while grooming top of head)
Under the chin, the beard takes up about half the jaw, or a little less and it does need to be shaped. Gently tip up the dog's muzzle to hold the skin taunt and to be able to see what you are doing. Clean up the hair in the flews or lips from the corner of the mouth, out to where there is a small fold of skin with some dark colored hair (usually wet and often smelly hair). The Dr. Scholl's works especially well on that stuff. Leaving beard on one-third to one-half of the chin, strip the throat and continue on down the neck on all sides. By turning the dog's head away from you, and tipping it up slightly, the skin will stay more taunt, which is most comfortable for the dog and easiest to groom. Now for the good news-the head takes the longest to groom, so now you are done with that!
(Photo 9-Head shot with muzzle tipped up, trimming throat)
Trim note: The coat can be divided into three main categories that are each groomed in different ways. Flatwork includes all the very short areas of the head (not the muzzle or eyebrows), ears, throat, butt, and the back of the tail (mostly tan). Flatwork needs to be kept very short with weekly or twice weekly trimming using fine toothed trimming knives. Body coat is worn by terriers like a jacket, hand tailored to complement their appearance. It should feel full and dense, protective of the skin, and requires weekly trimming of the longest hairs only so that new hairs will constantly rotate, or grow in, to replace the old hairs. Approximately 1/10 of the coat is trimmed out each week to achieve that goal. Furnishings are the glory of the full show coat and include the muzzle/beard, eyebrows, chest hair, and legs. Protected from breakage, cultivated like the rare and valuable assets that they are, furnishings require months to reach their full potential.
(Photo 10-Beginning to strip the back of the neck)
As I move further down the back of the neck I begin to hold the skin taunt with my left hand as I strip with the right. Strip the entire body, including the black haired top of the tail. Leave the chest hair that is between the front legs, and leave a little at the top of the front legs. Using the Dr. Scholl's, pluck the longest hairs to blend between the stripped area and the furnishings. When I look at the dog, I want the lines to run straight down without bumps and fluffs of hair spoiling the line. Therefore, if I stand in front of Ember, her flat shoulder blades transition smoothly into the sides of her front legs in one long straight line. If I look at her from the side-well, oops, I haven't shaped the chest and legs yet. Watch the changes in those areas during the next trimming.
Trim note: Persistence is key in terrier grooming. The trimming is best done all in one day, so try to get started on a day when you can keep going. Blisters may develop; I have a soft leather glove from which I cut all the fingers and thumb off. I find that rubbing Vaseline onto my hand after trimming seems to head off blisters sometimes; I don't know why.
(Photo 11-Stripping the back)
Where to stop? Sometimes knowing where to stop stripping is a problem. Blend the chest hair to the short body area. For the back legs, leave a little in the flank. If I pull this area down, Ember would look longer bodied than she really is. That would be an unflattering illusion! By feeling the joints and muscling of the rear leg, I strip off the more heavily muscled top area, but leave plenty of hair over the lower sides and front of the rear leg. I also strip a narrow, long area down the back of the leg all the way to the top of the hock. The hair on the butt grows in many directions, making it a challenge to strip with the growth of hair. Using chalk and the Dr. Scholl's, strip up the back of the tail; this hair pulls with difficulty, so I'm careful not to cut it, and I take only small amounts of hair at a time.
OK! What I should do is start the furnishings now, but I have to stop due to a lack of time. Here is Ember with her new trim-she's tired of the whole thing and is going to go out and run around now. I'm also going to give her a bath from head to toe in a little while--well rinsed of course!
(Photo 12-Sideview of completed puppy.)
Trim note: The best help in learning to trim that I have ever seen is the book sold by the Airedale Terrier Club of America titled, "Grooming the Broken Coat Terrier" for less than $10, shipping and handling included-well worth it! The Links page will connect you.
April 12
I entered Ember for Canada! Showing as Seneca Burning Bridges, Ember
will make her debut in both Sweepstakes, regular puppy classes, and Best Puppy
competitions for a total of about 10 times in the ring in three days!
April 17
Now it's ten days later. Look at how much hair grew in just ten days! Compare
Photos 7, 8, and 10 to Photo 13 and 14. Using a little chalk, I trim around
the edge of the pads with the Dr. Scholl's. I redo all the same areas I did
last time using the Pearson Fine on the flatwork areas and the Pearson Medium
on the body coat areas. There is already a short hard coat growing in because
of the trimming that I did in January. If April 7 th had been her very first
trim, Ember would never have had enough time to grow a show coat; it takes
8 weeks just to show through the skin, and another 8 weeks of weekly trimming
to get the coat rotating. I should have been taking the fuzz off every week
and pampering her furnishings…so now I'll just have to see what is there
when I wash her.
(Photo 13 & 14-Close up of hairy cheek and neck)
I'm bathing just the furnishings, using dilute dog shampoo because it rinses out much more easily and lukewarm water. After rinsing VERY well, I use dry towels to squeeze the water gently out of the hair, with NO RUBBING. Rubbing the towel up and down the furnishings can also cause hair loss. After squeezing the face, chest, and legs, fold the towel a couple times and wipe the body coat with the damp towel to remove chalk and dust-this really picks up a lot and makes her shine!
(Photo 15-Tools
for detangling furnishings)
Now the furnishings are damp and clean, so I select the pin brush. I begin on the area closest to the body where short coat meets the furnishings, and brush just a little hair at a time towards the body, against the direction of growth. After the leg is done, I can run the metal comb all the way up the leg without hitting a tangle-perfect! Any hair that comes out should be lighter colored undercoat, and not much of it. If hair is removed faster than it grows, it will become thinner and shorter. Any hair that is removed should be according to my plan for shaping the furnishings, not because the hair is handled too roughly. I also have out a Hindes Palmer (that red oval thing), and a metal comb.
(Photo 16- Finished with defuzzing, and clean, but she needs shaping!)
Trim note: What damages furnishings? Check the list and see if you are guilty of allowing any of the following: dry combing or brushing, using cheap pin brushes with sharp ends on the pins, rough housing with other dogs that grab at legs with their mouth, running in dry sand, brush, sawgrass, using hot water for bathing, failing to rinse out all the shampoo, rubbing furnishings with a dry towel, very hot air from a blow dryer held too close, rawhide chew toys, fleas and other parasites, or having a fence that an Airedale can poke the front legs through and something on the other side that they want. With a very hard coated dog, the furnishings are very challenging to protect!
After detangling, I dry the hair; on a sunny warm day, just letting Ember run about outside on the deck for 15 or 20 minutes and she would be ready for shaping. Today is wet and rainy, so I'm using a blow dryer, taking care that only warm air, not hot, is drying Ember. When she is dry, I begin with the face. Using comb and pin brush, I lift the hair on the muzzle. Using my fingers and sometimes the Dr. Scholl's, the longest hair is plucked to bring out parallel lines from the cheeks or corner of the eyes. Blending over the top of the muzzle, always from between the eyes toward the nose. Never groom across the muzzle, always down its length. Decide what is eyebrow, and shape them to be very short at the corner of the eye, flush with the cheek and side of the head, gradually longer to the inside corner of the eye. Take just a few hairs from the beard to encourage new growth.
(Photo 17- after shaping the furnishings)
The same concept is used on the legs. It is important to have the short trimming done on the body and to have trimmed around the feet. With these two landmarks as guides, I visualize a front leg that looks like a column. Combing the leg furnishings with four vertical corners, I imagine a cross-section of the leg to look something like a square.
Gently plucking the hairs that do not fit the vertical line that I visualized, the legs begin to look like neat columns. Combing and blending between the lines finishes the look! A little bit of conditioner to protect the hair, and Ember is good for a week now.
Trim note: Successful and well-known terrier handler Wood Wornall once said that the difference between a well groomed terrier and a stunningly groomed terrier is just a little handful of hair. Knowing where and how much to take is the trick! Learning to do that takes time and experience, lots of it.
April 23
I'm patiently going through the coat again. The flatwork areas need to be very short, using a Pearson Fine or Extra Fine to grip it. I'm using the Pearson Medium on the body coat to take about 1/10 of this area each week. This is called "rotating" or "rolling" a coat where I find the Pearson "Medium" stripping knife to be very useful. This technique in grooming allows a terrier to always be in show coat and takes an additional 8 weeks to get the full rotation going. Essentially, terriers grow in a new coat each week, with every hair grown to be the right length for the place it grows--never cut! I'm going to do this every week on Tuesdays.
Trim note: Grooming tools can be purchased from pet supply catalogs such as: