Since moving to Toronto 6 years ago we have struggled to find a groomer for our now 13 year old Border Terrier, Brit. In Vancouver, she had always been hand-stripped (twice a year) by a groomer who handles show dogs for major international dog shows. We were extremely lucky to have had someone who knew how to properly hand-strip from Brit’s first grooming until we moved to Toronto. Since being in Toronto we’ve approached several groomers and have been told (a) they don’t do hand-stripping (b) they’ve seen it done before and “could try to do it” (c) hand-stripping is a process and that it would take 4 or 5 sessions to fully hand-strip Brit.
Out of sheer luck I was referred to Susan and was excited to find out that Susan has her own pack of border terriers. After our first conversation, I was confident that Brit would be in good hands. For those new to hand-stripping I would highly recommend talking to Susan, she is very direct and is happy to chat and explain the process to you. Although we are not new to hand-stripping she was able to reassure me about a few concerns I had. Brit has had a couple of surgeries to repair torn cruciate ligaments in both her hind legs so we knew that she would likely be a bit more sensitive than she was in the past. After speaking with Susan about Brit’s surgeries, her age, & temperament I was confident in booking a grooming session with her. Susan did mention that with age dogs do get less tolerant of the stripping process so we left it up to her to decide during the session whether she would clip or hand-strip Brit. As is turned out Brit wasn’t tolerating the stripping so Susan made the decision to clip the majority of the body and hand-strip her head and neck area where Brit was more tolerant. We obviously don’t want Brit to go through any unnecessary stress or anxiety so having Susan determine what is best for Brit based on how she is coping was a huge relief for us. When we returned to pick Brit up she was happy and looked amazing – she still had that traditional border terrier look with the little beard and was as cute as ever. We are so grateful to have found someone that cares about what is best for Brit and that we trust. We know that Brit is in very good hands with Susan and will definitely be going back for Brit’s grooming. Angela, Jason and Brit.