Part 7

PATTERN STRIPPING AND FAULT GOOMING

Pattern stripping and fault grooming are progressive subjects. It is suggested that grooming basics be soundly learned before trying these, although exhibitors who have had experience with other coated breeds will probably be ready to try them as soon as the coat is ready. Purists will argue that while pattern stripping might be acceptable, fault grooming is not.

It must also be remembered that there are different kinds of coats. Some are hard, grow in layers, and have sufficient undercoat without possessing so much that you must constantly dig it out. Others are soft and no amount of grooming will make them hard. Still others resist rolling and will only respond to total stripping, making any scheduling of shows difficult at best. Too much undercoat is a problem for certain lines. It must simply be laboriously grubbed out with a rake or a dull stripping knife inch by inch. This is a lot of work! Not enough undercoat is a problem, especially in warmer climates. Most judges will forgive a lack of undercoat in the hot months of summer, but will certainly look for it in the cooler months since it is required by the standard.

PATTERN STRIPPING

There are two types of pattern stripping. Pattern stripping is simply first pulling out the area of coat that tends to grow the slowest, then at a later date pulling out a different area that grows slightly faster and so on. This allows the coat when fully grown to have a head start on giving the proper picture to an observer. For example, leg and head furnishings are pulled out first as they typically grow very slowly. The coat on the back grows quite quickly. If it were pulled at the same time as the legs and head, the back would be in full show coat long before the other areas were ready. A Cairn with thick coat on his back and toothpick legs along with a practically hairless head would make a strange sight indeed. If you then pulled out the back coat again, before long you would have a Cairn with shaggy legs and head and a back coat that was too short to match.

As you first pull out the head and leg furnishings. On some Cairns, this coat will take up to six months to grow to proper length. Leg coat is to be shorter than body coat and is to be hard in texture. By rolling the volume and thickness. The newly growing hair pushes the older hair up and out for this effect.

Several weeks after legs and head are pulled, the sides and the base of the tail should be pulled. These grow quicker than the legs and head but not as fast as the back and neck. A few weeks later, pull the front of the neck and chest and the rest of the tail. Also pull about half or more of the coat where the neck slopes down over the withers. Just pull the hair on the top of the dog here and go slightly past the withers. Leave some coat there to pull later for added volume.

Last but certainly not least, pull the back and the rest of the neck. Some people like to take ten days to two weeks between each session, but timing really depends on how fast your dog grows coat. Some will work perfectly on this bi-weekly schedule. Others will take much longer on legs and head, then the time between the rest of the areas to be stripped can be shortened. Only experience with a particular dog will let you know what timing to use.

The other type of pattern stripping is not often used but works well if done properly. This involves stripping out approximately one-third of the coat over the entire body of the dog at once. This includes legs, head, tail, body, everything. Then wait for approximately one month and take out another third of the coat. By now your Cairn will look pretty awful. He/She will be partly naked with strand of long lying listlessly against his/her body or floating gently in the breeze grit your teeth and bear it for another month. Then remove the rest of his/her coat complety.

By using this method, you have gotten a head start on building three layers of new coat. As the coat comes in, it will be in three lengths, you can start rolling it in the pattern described under pattern stripping. Notice that you roll it, not strip it. You roll the back more heavily, as you want that coat shorter than the sides or head.

When the top layer of coat reaches a length that is too long, you can pull it completely off and you will find that there are two layers of coat under it from you initial stripping as well as some new coat coming in from your regular rolling efforts. A dog bred for good coat who is kept up by weekly or bi-weekly grooming sessions will rarely have to be stripped again.

FAULT GROOMING

Fault grooming is a sensitive subject. Many exhibitors and breeders believe that a dog with faults obvious enough to need be groomed out should not be sown at all. Others believe that since there is no such thing as a perfect Cairn, one should not throw the baby out with the bath water and that it is an exhibitor's responsibility to show a dog to its best advantage.

Of course, any dog with major faults or too many minor ones should be spayed or neutered and sold as a pet. Some breeders use the "strike three, you're out" rule. Any dog with three faults they consider minor but bothersome is considered pet-quality. For example, a dog with a bit of a light eye who also has a short upper arm and a tail set a wee bit low would qualify for three strikes.

Fault grooming absolutely does not include surgical correction of a fault such as monorchidism or a gay tail. It also does not include such practices as artificially coloring a dog. These practices are not only illegal in the dog show ring but are unethical as well.

This section on fault grooming is to help the exhibitor present his/her dog well. It is up to the breeders not to sell dogs who are substandard as show quality animals and up to exhibitors to show only those Cairns who truly deserve to be in the ring.

While there are as many ways to fault-groom a dog as there are faults, this section will cover the basics that are most often found in the dogs. While some exhibitors are experts at creating the illusion of a perfect dog by grooming to increase the look of shoulder layback or bend of stifle, most are better off taking care of the obvious. Time and experience will bring the more esoteric methods to light.

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