Winston Strips Down

We learned last week that Winston was overdue for stripping. Kelli and I are new to this. We've been told about the process, but we've never actually tried it.

We decided that the procedure could probably do immeasurable harm if done incorrectly, maybe even cause lifetime emotional scarring. And there was no telling how it might affect little Winston either.

We tried to find a local groomer who offers the service and could show us how to do it, but we came up empty handed.

Next we searched the internet and we found not only instructions, but also a video. Armed with our new found knowledge we tried to strip Winston with a slicker brush. This brush removed about 1% of the necessary hair. We were told that perhaps the best way to strip a dog was to just use your fingers. We decided to give it a go.

I cut up a small mountain of treats and Kelli became Winston's personal waitress. She started feeding treats to him one by one and Winston quickly became distracted. Meanwhile I started pulling out Winston's coat.

I quickly got the hang of it. You don't really puuullll the hairs out, you YANK them out. The trick is to only pluck a few hairs at a time. Doing it this way, it's almost painless for the puller. It makes a really satisfying sound like the ripping of cloth once you get a rhythm going. Rip, rip, rip. Winston didn't seem to care at all as long as there was the constant motion of treat to mouth, treat to mouth. Did we mention the boy is food motivated?

Winston was a really good sport throughout the session. I figured if Winston stopped eating the treats and started eating me, that would be the signal that I was overextending my yanking privileges and it was starting to get painful. However, we ran out of treats (and I got tired) before Winston became uncomfortable. He yelped twice. Both times I was trying for too many hairs either around his sensitive ears or his butt. In about an hour, we removed a massive amount of hair on his neck, back and sides (the e z areas).

After we finished, we were both amazed at the transformation. Winston had gone from a fuzzy puppy to nothing more than a big dog head with no body. Oh, and I now have carpel tunnel syndrome, but that is a small price to pay for such dramatic results.

We must still tackle the legs, face and chest. I think we can do those areas in one or two more sessions with the help of a massive treat bowl.

Here is Winston today versus last week when he was getting his exam at the vet's office. The pictures aren't too clear, but the difference is huge. Well done, Little Winston!

I hate to brag, but our dog is so cute and so above average!