Gems, I'm a bit scared about starting it. I have been asked by so many people if I would handstrip their dogs, but I always say no because I have no experience outside of Irish. The thing is no groomer in this area handstrips so there is possibly a good market for the service, but that also means that I really have no one local that I can tap into for some mentoring. I think my only choice is to go to the Breed Clubs and learn as much about each style/trim for each breed and get plenty of hands-on.

Fingers crossed you find a good course.

Gems, just checked out the prices of some grooming courses

Yeah i know, money isnt a prob though

Good luck in whatever you decide, keep me posted!

Go for it Olive ..just one thing, it takes hours and hours to strip a dog to show standard and a lot of people will not want to pay for your time to do it properly...its different if it is your own dogs and you are showing because time does not count then

Ps. Try to find a terrier breeder near you who shows, they may be prepared to teach you in return for helping them .

Tell me about it Mini, Olive takes me a minimum of 6 hours to do a full pet strip - so I can imagine how long it must take for a show trim. I now roll Olive's coat so it is much easier to work with, if I could get regular clients who would want the coats rolled that would be great . To be truthful I don't think I would ever be looking to make a living out of it, it is more of a personal crusade , I love working with the hard wiry coats and find it so satisifying keeping a coat in tiptop condition . I would probably just be looking to strip "pet" dogs - show people aways have their preferences to how they like their dogs to look, too much off here and there could be a disaster . I couldn't be bothered with the stress.

Olive you may be interested in reading the link I have too about how to strip and roll..will PM you the link

EDITED ooops does that sound norty dogs I mean!!