Grooming Your Havanese
You have chosen a coated breed. And there IS going to be work that comes along with that. The amount is dependent on several factors. Some Havanese have easier coats than others. Breeders who genetically test to avoid the “curly gene”, as we do, will produce puppies with coats that generally are easier to maintain than curly coats. Even among those without the curly gene, however, there is a lot of variability in coat within the breed. Some have a lot more undercoat than others, and some have more or less wave to their coat. It can be hard to know until your puppy is fully mature exactly what his coat will look like, but parents with good coats are more likely to produce puppies with good coats. If your dog will not be shown, you can choose to keep your dog in a “puppy cut” which will reduce, but not eliminate, the amount of grooming needed.
But all Havanese will need some amount of regular home grooming, and those in puppy cuts will need to be taken to the groomers regularly for hair cuts. (or you could learn to do this yourself too!) It is very important to start grooming your Havanese puppy daily, as soon as you bring them home, so that they are used to the procedure, and do not become frightened or fight about it when it becomes more necessary, as their hair grows longer.
It will also be important to bathe your puppy regularly. Every couple of weeks is probably a good plan, though some people stretch it to a month or so.
Blowing Coat
Somewhere between about 7-10 months, most Havanese enter the dreaded “blowing coat” stage. At this point, it can seem like every time you turn around, they are producing mats. If they have been well conditioned to grooming, many owners, even those who have left their dogs in full coats, can get through this stage with careful extra daily comb-outs and perhaps increasing the frequency of bathing. That said, the severity of blowing coat varies tremendously, as does the puppy owners’ tolerance for dealing with it. There is NOTHING WRONG with deciding to cut your puppy down into a puppy cut during this phase, even if your long-term plan is to keep them in a long coat. Hair grows, and it will grow out again! Cutting them down during blowing coat can give both you and the puppy a break from the mats and long grooming sessions, and you can grow them out again when it is all over, if you enjoy the full coat look!
The important thing is to make this decision before the dog is severely matted. If you bring a severely matted dog in to a professional groomer, in fairness to the dog, the groomer is going to shave the dog to the skin, and you are going to be unhappy. This is not the groomer’s fault. It is what must be done to get under the mats. So make the decision before your dog has a lot of mats, and remove ALL the mats your dog does have before taking him to the groomer!
Where to GRoom
While it is tempting to groom your puppy on your lap, when he is sleepy, I strongly advise against this. You want you lap to be a loving snuggle spot, not a place where you struggle with your puppy over grooming. I know many dogs who avoid their owner’s lap because every time they are there, they get groomed! Secondly, it is hard to get to the more difficult areas of the dog when he is lying on your lap.
While you don’t have to have a “fancy” grooming station like the one at the top of this article, and most people don’t want to spend the money on that, right after all the other expenses of bringing home a puppy, you can set up a grooming station much less expensively that is quite serviceable. My grooming station for my first 5 years with a single Havanese was on top of our washing machine, and it worked fine!
I was able to attach a grooming loop to the underside of the cabinet above my washing machine. Another option is to get a clamp style grooming arm,
And add a memory foam bath mat.
Attach the grooming arm to your counter or an appropriate table, put down the mat, and you have an economical, serviceable grooming station that is easily stored away when not in use. Just make sure that the one you choose has a wide enough clamp to fit your counter or table. Add a basket for supplies and you’re all set!
You can get a “serious” grooming set-up like mine when you have fallen in the deep end of the pool and graduated to multiple Havanese!
Grooming Tools
The tools below are my “every day” grooming tools.
Spray bottle for grooming spray
Ice on Ice from Chris Christensen. It comes either ready to use, or in a concentrate, like this. I prefer the concentrate because it is a lot less expensive:
You will also need top quality combs, a face and foot comb and a general comb. The combs in this photo are Greyhound combs, which are very expensive and not available through Amazon. I like them a lot, but Chris Christensen Butter Combs are almost as good, available through Amazon
I strongly suggest buying good tools to start with. Many people (myself included!) Start out buying poor quality tools, only to replace them later with the better quality tools, because they just don’t work well. Learn from us and buy the right ones the first time around!
These are the tools you will need for foot care, if you will not be taking your puppy to the groomer FREQUENTLY for trimming. Once every 6-8 weeks is not enough for nail trimming! Nails should be trimmed every 2-3 weeks AT MOST! (preferably weekly) If you get into a good routine and get your puppy used to it, it is not a big deal. My puppies go home having had their nails trimmed at least weekly. So they are already used to it. It is just up to their new families to keep it up!
In the photo above are:
Wahl Pocket Pro clippers. These are small, quiet, and cannot hurt the puppy. They are great for trimming the pads.
Straight and curved shears for trimming the hair around the feet:
Resco nail clippers I use these for clipping dew claws, once dogs are a little older. I do clip puppy nails, though. When they are really little, I use human baby nail clippers, (not pictured) but these will probably only work for about the first month after you bring your puppy home. After that, the puppies’ nails get too tough for these.
Styptic Powder, in case you quick a nail!
Dremel I use the Dremel for all nails except dew claws on my adult dogs.
I have made a number of YouTube videos to demonstrate various parts of the grooming process for your Havanese: