How Not To Strip A Spinone - A Word from Maddie's Two-Legged Mom

Did you know that there is a proper way to groom a Spinone? There’s even a special shampoo, and you hand strip. By the way, there are tools for that too. And, after stripping, a little mixture of Listerine and warm water goes a long way to prevent skin irritations. In the end, the goal is for a Spinone to look natural.

I can count the number of years I’ve lived without a dog on one hand, so I was dumbfounded when I found out how much I still had to learn about a dog after Maddie came to live with us. And never in a million years did I think that my learning curve would be the cause of an international stir one day. But Maddie’s no ordinary dog, she’s a Spinone, an Italian hunting dog, a breed that dates back to 500BC.

I’ve had all kinds of dogs: sporting dogs, working dogs, terriers, hounds, and mixed breeds. When I was little, my biggest protectors were a white German shepherd, Blizzard, and a black and tan one, Boy. In high school, I had a Scottish terrier, Tami. After I married, I had beagles, Digger and Toby, an English setter, Willie, a shepherd-Doberman mix, Sasha, and three Weimaraners, Pepper, Emmitt, and Zach. I often had more than one dog at a time. But, big or small, pure bred or mixed, I had had years of experience with dogs so naturally I thought I had the dog thing all figured out. Then along comes Maddie.

It began one night, late on a November evening. It was after ten, and I was half asleep when Maddie’s breeder called. I barely got out a “Hello.” The last thing I remember saying to her was “Yeah, sure.” Evidently, I had agreed to enter Maddie in a dog show in Conroe, Texas, six-to-nine-month-old puppies. The show was in two weeks.

“OK, no problem,” I said signing off and silencing my phone. Kevin, my husband, lying next to me in bed, overheard my side of the conversation and shook his head in disbelief.

“Seriously,” he mumbled. “Maddie’s a pet.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. “They need another female puppy on the team for points or something. All I have to do is show up and walk Maddie around the ring.”

“Another Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation moment in the making,” Kevin muttered as he turned over to go back to sleep. More than once, my family has accused me of following in Chevy Chase’s footsteps, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is their usual go to. National Lampoon’s Vacation runs a close second.

The next morning, I had a severe case of buyer’s remorse. What had I done? Maybe I hadn’t given this dog-show thing enough thought. Maybe I should have told Maddie’s breeder that I’d call her back the following day after my morning coffee. I knew nothing about show dogs or dog shows. I rolled over in my bed and pulled the covers over my head. Was it a dream or a nightmare? Whatever it was, it was my new reality.

Before the dog show, I took Maddie to a dog groomer and a few conformation classes to learn the ropes. Although I would be a newbie, at least Maddie and I would know something about being in the ring from the classes, and about sprucing up her wiry coat and long beard for her performance. We learned “gaiting and stack” for the ring, and she was shampooed, conditioned, and blow dried to enhance her physique. I thought we might garner a few points for the team if Maddie just acted and looked the part. We were as ready as we’d ever be.

At the dog show and just before we were called to the ring, my enthusiasm tanked. While waiting in line with Maddie’s competition, I was “informed” that it looked like I had committed two major Spinone grooming sins. Apparently, I avoided a third and probably the most major simply by dumb luck: “Do not use electric clippers on a Spinone’s coat, hand strip only particularly a show dog.” We had passed on the clippers when they were offered at the groomers.

“Was she shampooed and blow dried?” I was asked.

“Yes,” I said sheepishly.

“No wonder her coat looks fluffy and soft. No wonder it doesn’t look natural, rustic, and wiry like it should look. Now, listen closely.”

“Spinone Lesson No. 1- Spinoni are towel dried. They NEVER EVER are dried with a hair dryer. Hair dryers ruin their wiry coats.” (I learned later that this rule is interpreted broadly by many Spinone entrants on the dog show circuit.)

“Spinone Lesson No. 2- Spinoni are washed only with certain shampoo or soaps, like Crisp Coat Botanical Texturing De-Toxifying Shampoo, Harsh Coat, or if you’re in a pinch, Dawn Dishwashing Soap.”

What little confidence I had was shattered listening to the competition’s “constructive criticisms.” But Maddie’s breeder, who was standing close-by and overheard the takedown, came to my rescue, and offered to teach me how to groom a Spinone while we were waiting to be called to the ring.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, I’ll teach you some Spinone grooming techniques, including the ‘art of Spinone stripping’ before your next show.”

My next show, I thought. I don’t think so.

But true to form, I changed my mind after the show, and decided to take Maddie’s breeder up on her offer. Maddie had won her class at Conroe, six-to-nine-month-old puppies, and more dog shows were suddenly in her future. I was hooked.

I grabbed Maddie, the grooming paraphernalia I had gathered, and headed to our first lesson in all things Spinone grooming a few weeks after the Conroe show had ended. At her breeder’s house, I lifted her onto the grooming table and laid out her grooming tools except her yellow and black stripper. I proudly handed that to her breeder.

She burst out laughing. She held her stomach. She could barely speak or catch her breath. She laughed so hard, tears ran down her face.

“What is that?” she said, pointing to the “stripper” in her hand. “This isn’t a Spinone stripper, not even close. There’s no way to use that tool to strip a Spinone. It doesn’t look anything like strippers that are used to strip Spinoni. How did you come up with that,” she continued, still laughing hysterically. “That’s a tool used to strip electrical wire.”

My Black & Yellow Stripper

My face turned three shades of red.

I didn’t research anything about Spinone grooming or Spinone grooming tools. I rationalized that I would get the information firsthand from an expert. Watching would be infinitely better than reading about it. Why research it when I’m a visual learner? Foolishly, I went in there blindly, forgetting the most important lesson I had learned in law school many years ago.

Law School Lesson No. 1- Never ask a question you don’t know the answer to or go into court unprepared.

OPPS?

And so, it began our first stripping lesson, with me feeling like a total idiot, with Maddie shedding her wiry coat onto the floor with each stroke of her breeder’s hand, and with her breeder laughing away in between her “show and tell.”

A Proper Spinone Stripper

Somehow, the incident leaked out and ended up on Facebook, causing a bit of an international stir. Spinone lovers from all over, Italy, Scotland, UK, Germany, Canada, and the US all had a good laugh. And along with the comments and jokes, a picture of a cat trying to slide up a pole was posted too, compliments of my oldest son. I should have expected that!

After many guesses, and back and fourths, my identity ultimately was revealed.

Terrific!

Chevy Chase, where are you when I need you?

Spinone Lesson No. 4 - You’d better have a good sense of humor if you want a Spinone in your life!

FOR MORE IMFORMATION ON HAND STRIPPING SEE: The Spinone Club of America, https://spinoneclubofamerica.com, grooming information. Special thanks to Sue Moen and Carol Sheridan for their help and insights.