At around the age of 6 months: 1st stripping

Why NOT to Shave or Clipper a Wire/Harsh Coated Dog

Recommended Groom Type: Tidy (extreme or basic) and card out OR hand strip.

NOTE: Wire/harsh coated dogs are double coated.

• Clipping or shaving does not remove the dead hair and may cause irritation, and also leads to deterioration in coat texture and colour.

• The harsh outer coat provides protection from the elements.

• Hand stripping maintains a proper wire coat, while clipping makes it soft and ruins the texture. Without the outer wire coat, the coat texture will go soft and colour will change, fade out and the colour will dilute.

• Clipping the coat ruins the wiry texture because each individual wire hair has a hard wire point, then is semi hollow down to about the undercoat level. It is very soft at the base and only lightly anchored in the follicle and is not attached like our hair, which is why they pull out easily and does not hurt the dog at all.

• Cutting the hair takes away the structure of that hair. This is particularly true when cut below the undercoat level, but even just cutting off the tip breaks the structure.
If cut, the soft base stays in the follicle so a new wire tipped hair does not grow. The soft bottom will continue to grow awhile. If the dog is continually cut, the coat stays super soft as the soft downy under coat and the soft base of the wire hair from the old top coat is all that is seen. 
Often they end up with a 'cottony' coat and the colour will fade and may start to blend together. (e.g. sometimes black hair turns to grayish blue or brown).

• On a wire/harsh coated coat, the hair shaft dies and thins out, and the hair then dies and loses its colour. If you don’t pull those hairs out, the new hair can’t form and the new coat can’t grow because the dead hair shaft is blocking the way.

• Even if your dog is a pet, a breed standard is there for a reason. It is important to you to maintain the proper breed look. It is very hard to imitate that look on many wire coated breeds if you clip them.

• They have weatherproof coats. If you brush the dog about once to twice a week this will take out dead coat. This coat is and insulator; it is designed to keep the dog cool in summer and warm in winter. If you shave or clip the coat instead of hand stripping it, the soft undercoat will take over and no longer be able to aerate; it will not be weatherproof anymore; and will become easily matted.

• When the dogs’ coat is ready to be hand stripped, the root of the hair dies and the colour dulls a little. Because the hair follicles have no roots when they die, they need to be pulled out (hand stripped) to give way for the new hair to form and grow.

• Wire/harsh coated dogs are supposed to have their coats stripped to maintain the proper texture. It's not stripping as you would in a spaniel or setter breed, but you are plucking the overcoat and dead hair so that the new coat can grow.

• Dogs with wire/harsh coats must be stripped for the show ring, but many pet owners resort to clipping with electric clippers. Although convenient, this wrecks the double coat and the colour and negates the purpose of a double coated breed. The outer coat repels dirt and dust.

• Unfortunately if the coat has been shaved/ clipped too much to the point that the coat is soft, the dog may need to be clipped for the rest of his/her life as the damage to the coat has been done and it will be impossible to strip.

• Most groomers would want to shave a wire/harsh coated dog out of laziness or lack of knowledge.

• Stripping maintains the correct texture of the coat, keeps the coat weatherproof and keeps the dogs skin protected from the elements such as the sun.

• Each hair follicle supports a single hard outer hair and several soft finer hairs that form the supportive undercoat. The characteristic rich color and hard texture is formed by the outer hairs. As these hairs grow out and become old, they become thin, soft and faded at the roots. More of the softer hairs push their way out of the hair follicle. The purpose of hand stripping is to remove the old faded hairs so that new growth can occur, and to muck out excess fuzzy undergrowth that may be jamming the hair follicle.

• Wire/harsh coated dogs should be hand stripped but it is easier to shave them down. Easier but not entirely appropriate!

If clipped: Mats can form and regular brushing/bathing is a must, as the consistency is such that dirt and debris will cling to the soft hair. Very often the undercoat can become extremely dense and will have to be thinned or raked on a regular basis. Shedding can also become a problem with a clipped coat.

If hand stripped: A hand stripped coat is much easier to keep clean. The hard hair does not retain dirt or odours and matting is usually non existent. A hard coat is also keeps the dogs’ natural state. Bathe your dog occasionally to avoid drying skin and excessive shedding. Personally I never bathe the dogs; they swim, I regularly clean their face and bum (with a face cloth, soap and hot water), I spray them with a natural spray, good for skin and hair and my dogs don't smell bad. When you start giving them a bath, dogs start smelling bad. 
Stripping refreshes the coat by removing the old hair and giving way for the new hair to grow.