# Stripping the Coat of a GWP



## toasty (May 15, 2008)

Not showing my dog or doing trials, just want to keep her coat in good condition for hunting season. What do you guys do for coat stripping? Anybody not do it at all and let the dog take care of it on the kennel walls and vegetation etc..? Will this affect the future coat of the dog? Any info is appreciated.


----------



## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

I use a horse wire brush if that's what you are referring to- takes out the under hair . Do that after every run in the woods. I do no shearing though


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Standard frequent dog brushing during the shedding periods is all that is needed. You can use a shedding blade as mentioned above or a standard dog curry brush.


----------



## yfzduner450 (Dec 28, 2009)

I owned a wirehair for 11 years before it passed and i never even took a brush it it. Dogs are awesome critters, if they "need" there coat gone, they will rub it off. I think people "over" take care of their dogs. If the dog needs your help, it will ask for it and i've never had a dog asked to be brushed. Keep the dog vaccinated, obedient and hunted. All the other things the dog will take care of. Just my opinion.


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

yfzduner450 said:


> I owned a wirehair for 11 years before it passed and i never even took a brush it it. Dogs are awesome critters, if they "need" there coat gone, they will rub it off. I think people "over" take care of their dogs. If the dog needs your help, it will ask for it and i've never had a dog asked to be brushed. Keep the dog vaccinated, obedient and hunted. All the other things the dog will take care of. Just my opinion.


I agree and disagree...

I've owned em for 22 years now and I've had both kinds. I had an old girl just pass last spring and she was the sheddinest thing on the planet. I had to brush her and take the shedding blade to her oily hide every spring or she looked like crap. When I brushed her the hair came off in clumps. The two others I've had don't even shed. I can take a brush to them any time of year and they never loose any hair. It's amazing to me how they can have such different coats.


----------



## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

Get a stripping comb.

Do not use clippers if you want to maintain the wire coat. If you clip it allows the soft base of the hair to grow out. Stripping removes the entire hair from the follicle allowing a new hair to grow.


----------



## toasty (May 15, 2008)

Thanks for the replies, very good information. She's just 6 months right now and not shedding at all. I'm going to let it go until I can see that she needs help removing hair, otherwise, I'll let nature do its thing.

On a side note, I am amazed at how smart these dogs are. She is coming along amazingly well and already a better retriever than 90% of the dogs I've hunted behind. I can teach her new stuff in 5 minutes that I have seen other dogs not get after weeks of working. I figured it would take several sessions to get her to know the difference in decoys and ducks, but she got it in less than 5 minutes. I showed her the decoy, threw it out and commanded her to stay. It took 3 times and she won't retrieve or touch decoys since we did that work a month ago. She has been a joy to work with her over the past 4 months.


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

GWP's are self training dogs. I've got mine doing my taxes and just the other day she programed my new HD television. :mrgreen: 

Seriously though, wait till she's five. Just load yer gun and shut up. 8) And don't let that short tail fool ya, she'll out waterfowl 90% of the labs out there. :wink:


----------



## yfzduner450 (Dec 28, 2009)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> Seriously though, wait till she's five. Just load yer gun and shut up. 8) And don't let that short tail fool ya, she'll out waterfowl 90% of the labs out there. :wink:


Very well said Tex, Once ya get the ground work in, trust your dog. The dog is usually right on, i've seen more times then not, the handler is wrong and the dog is right. Give me a wirehair over a lab any day of the week for waterfowl.


----------



## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

yfzduner450 said:


> TEX-O-BOB said:
> 
> 
> > Seriously though, wait till she's five. Just load yer gun and shut up. 8) :wink:
> ...


I learned that last November... viewtopic.php?f=11&t=21551


----------

