When Kingsleys coat is longer, it's all greasy, and he gets dandruff.
When it's shorter, it's smooth, and he has no skin problems!

Much better short IMO

Tuti no skin problems but you lose the lovely colour. Schnauzers are double coated, there are two layers of coat, a soft short undercoat and a wiry darker top coat and when you clip the coat you mix the two layers together,it becomes one length and all one (lighter)colour.
Laura there are three sizes, the mini, the standard, and giant.
Rocky If you did not trim a Schnauzer you would have a very differerent looking dog because their do not shed their coats (so no dog hairs anywhere) the coat just keeps growing so you need to strip/clip/trim about every 6/8 weeks.

Same with Yorkies.
They do not shed their coats!

I have a cairn and without clipping his coat becomes so mad, very long, i usually keep it tidy in the winter, but leave it long, but in the summer i take it all off, because he does suffer from skin problems espec in the summer and plus gets too hot lol

No i didn't mean that no dogs shouldn't be clipped ,stripped, trimmed etc: what i meant is i couldn't understand why people buy say an afghan, and then cut the coat off all the time.IMO. In answer to the original question.

Hi Rocky, in that case I think the answer to the original question is people choose a particular breed for the characteristics of that breed not just for their looks, and maybe due to their own particular circumstances they find it necessary to clip or trim the breed to keep it clean and healthy. I will give you an example, my neighbour Norman has a Beardy and as you know their coats are long, thick and soft. We live surrounded by fields and cows and all the muck that goes with it, the only way Norman can keep his dog reasonably clean is to cut a lot of it's coat off. Norman is retired and a keen bird watcher so the dog spends much of its time in the fields with him or by the river Severn (where there are kingfishers) the dog has a near perfect life. I do not think Norman should not have the breed he loves because his lifestyle means the dog needs to have its coat cut off. The dog still look cute and the coat is left longer in the winter but the legs and feet are shortish

I can't see why its a problem if some-one decides to trim the coat - so long as the dog is looked after properly what difference does it make?

I agree Emm, after all the coat doesnt make a dog what it is!

I agree that if clipping does not affect the health of the dog then it is understandable that the owner may choose to clip.

However, in many breeds, that do not moult, the hair if groomed in an incorrect manner can cause terrible skin problems like seborrhea, hot spots and pussy itchy sores. This hair in the past would have been pulled out by brambles and bushes, and the skin would been give a chance to breathe and rest before it had to start growing another hair. However, now that most of these breeds do not work we need to find another way of getting rid of this hair, otherwise it will keep growing, getting weaker and weaker to the detriment of the dog. If we don't handstrip these dogs, the old dead hair remains in the skin and the hair ducts can become infected (this is very common in many terrier breeds) . Dogs whose topcoats are clipped are also more susceptible to hot spots as they find it difficult to regulate their body temperature under the thick wooly undercoat. Waterproofness and protection against the elements is also lost when the dog is clipped.

In the case of wire coated terriers I think it is important to strip the coat for the wellbeing of the dog. Handstripping is not a difficult thing to learn and granted it takes longer than clipping, but the over all benefits for the dog seriously outweight the negatives. However, I think there are also times when clipping a terrier is more appropriate than stripping and each case should be considered solely on what is best for the dog.

Also wanted to add that I was reading an article recently by a vet who was recommending handstripping as a treatment for skin irritations in Westies.