Stripping The Hindquarters
Part Two

If you have not progressed to mastery of the knife, then stand behind your dog and reaching between his hind legs you will use thumb and forefinger. Your right hand will strip the inside of the left leg and vice versa. Comb or brush the hair so it's standing straight out. Now, pulling only the longest hairs, make your vertical line.[Study Step 3] Again I urge you to study the illustration showing the leg inside the hair, as this gives you the best idea of how the vertical line works in relation to the formation of the dog's leg, in short the ABC's. As seen in Step 3, you will be left with hair, which originates from the inside of the FRONT of the dog's leg, sticking out and spoiling your overall view of your line. Although this hair is worked on from the back, or the side (with the knife) of the dog, it should be blended into the whole after we have done some shaping to the front of the leg.

Gaze again upon Step 3. Many people consider they've done enough when they get this far. But notice the slight bow-legged appearance, which will be pronounced when the dog moves, and this hair lifts and joggles with the force of his stride. The amount of hair you will remove from this outer line will depend, again, on the bone and muscle structure of your dog. If your dog is well muscled up, the hair will be taken down much shorter over the thigh muscles. So, still standing in back of your dog, you’re going to "fluff" up the hair over the first thigh, and using the "rolling" motion of thumb and forefinger, you will pull with a downward motion. And after doing the inside of these legs, I hope you have discovered that these hind legs are where you pull AWAY FROM YOURSELVES. In order to get these legs right, it is necessary for your dog to be standing well, with no droop or curve to his back, and no crouch to his thighs. The hand that is not stripping can be used to steady the dog.

Using this method, come all the way down the leg, gradually working the hair of the second thigh down. Now we do the feet, using the same method as we do on the front feet! That is we take the scissors and trim the hair between the pads etc., etc. Using thumb and forefinger we even-up the hair on the outside of the foot AND NOW working both from the back and from the side, we "even-up" the hair on the back of the pastern so that the line from the hock down to the ground is nice and straight. No "sickle hocks" if you please!

For those of you who are experienced with the stripping knife, again, the work we've done with thumb and finger from in back of the dog, should be done at the side of the leg with constant viewing from the rear. Step 4 has three views, two front and one side, as well as one from the rear that you will want to study the side view of the leg within the hair, before you start. This fourth step will see the finish of the rear legs and, would you believe it is the END of stripping out" our dog! Finally, this work will be done from the side to the rear,occasionally, to make sure you are following the proper line.Having thoroughly studied the aforementioned illustrations you will get clear picture in your mind of the trimming of the front of the rear leg! But in case your imagery is faulty,you quite simply follow the curves of the leg. A slight variation is found towards the bottom of the lower thigh where we use fullness to "bring the weight down",and thereby balancing the body and also the blend into the hair at the feet. Remember? We always pretend "Wires" don't have feet!

Working from the side, and on the side of the leg, we start blending the hair so it will present a neat, smooth outline. We are blending into the previously stripped hips AND into the leg hair we have already shaped. We are going to work the hair on the side of the leg first, gradually working forward to the line we are going to make on the front of the leg. If you attempt to do the front line first, the long hair from the side will interfere and your front line will suffer. This hair towards the front of the leg, we comb or brush towards the front of the leg. Remember to keep viewing from in back of the dog. You will be surprised to see how this front, side hair will affect your "rear view" outline.

CURVE your line from where the leg begins, into the flank. You don't want your underline to come to an abrupt end, and the leg to be separated. This makes your dog look like he comes in two pieces. So follow the curve of the skin where the leg joins the body at the flank.

This front line is best done with thumb and forefinger, and on the left leg we use the left hand, and on the right leg, etc., and again only a very few of the longest hairs. Going over the areas many times until we've gotten the proper OUTLINE, and we start at the top and work down. Your line is relatively straight down the first thigh. Starting at the bottom of your "flank curve" drop it down to the stifle joint (where we allow more fullness) and present a graceful curve following the bend of the stifle joint, to flow into the line of the second thigh. When we reach the ankle joint we will create a line that will angle slightly back and down. Although the hind legs are not columnar, they are from the ankle/hock joint down to the feet. So this diagonal line serves to connect the change over from the flatish from the bottom of this "angle" to the tip of the toes is straight. Got that? Now standing, or crouching, so you are facing the front of the hind leg, work the hair on the inside of the front of the leg so that it blends into the whole.

YOU'RE DONE!!

Reread the article on the Front Legs. Here I have explained how to mitigate the appearance of the dog that stands poorly. We find the same holds true for the rear legs. "Hockiness" is caused by the feet turning out, and the same priciples apply. The "Open Hocked" dog would stand "pidgeon toed" if it were his front. Again the same principle applies. Substitute "hock" for "wrist", and "stifle" for "elbows" and trim accordingly.

Now that we've got our dog all stripped out, LET'S GIVE HIM A BATH!! Clean skin is "happy" skin and at this point (BEFORE the new coat comes in), we don't have to worry about "ruffling" the coat. Use a mild shampoo, with the least detergent content. Breck for Dry Hair is good. I use Johnson's No More Tears on their head because it is not only painful, but will cause the eyes to tear and run abominably.

Mix the Breck in a bowl or small bucket, 1/2 shampoo 1/2 water. Use a sponge to lather the dog and then rinse, rinse rinse, for the secret of proper dog bathing is to remove every last vestige of soap.

A cotton ball dived into two pieces should be stuffed into the ear cavity to prevent water from entering. DON'T FORGET to remove the cotton. I do it all the time and oh, what a lot of shaking goes on.

Towel dry, and you may as well start right now to learn to dry (and ever IN THE DIRECTION THE BODY HAIR GROWS! The furnishings are first with the towel and then the "palm pad" is used to straighten and separate the hair This should be done with the dog on the grooming table. Be sure the hair is completely dry before you turn your dog loose.