The term, “stoning” can conjure up some vivid mental image, but we’re not going Bob Dylan on you, nor are we revisiting Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” that haunted every kid who read it in school.
Stoning, or “putting a stone to a coat,” is a technique that uses a pumice stone to control a dog’s undercoat. As Puli owners, we’re hardly an authority on the process and welcome the input of people who work with a stone, but share what we do know, and it’s that a stone rubbed over the coat removes soft, not hard coat.
Using a grooming stone takes off wispy hairs that stick up, blends around the edges, and removes the fuzzy hair on the front and sides of the legs as in an English Setter. It takes much more time than scissoring, but scissoring also removes white topcoat hairs which makes an English Setter look darker, a disadvantage in a show ring because the breed standard asks for even ticking all over. Scissoring also removes the dog’s protection from rain and snow. Stoning not only preserve the topcoat, it’s the best way to produce a smooth, finished look. We read one account about the respected late show judge, Ann Rogers Clark, who appreciated a stripped and stoned ES coat, and when judging, would lift the dog’s hair with her thumb to see if the topcoat had been preserved and how much undercoat had been removed.
Image: English Setter by Alice Taylor
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