# Brushes Vs. Combs



## AgilityHav (Aug 20, 2007)

Which do you use/prefer and why?

I have heard confliciting view points, some only use brushes, some only combs.

I work for a Pro. handler, and with the Beardies and Old English Sheepdogs she only uses brushes because the combs pull out their undercoat(however their coats are both course) however another handler I work for on occation uses a comb on the Havanese special she shows....

I have been using a combination. While blowdrying after a bath I use a brush w/ the dryer, and a slicker on the feet, but for my 2X a day brushing session I use a comb. I feel like it gets down closer to her roots.

SO, which do you use, and why?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I will say this is really going to really be different by each dog. I have Dora who has an absolutely amazing coat. I honestly say I brush her once a week and she has a full coat except her head and that is Dasher's fault (half of her head is only about an inch long now). Right before the move, I recently took about 2 inches off the sides as I didn't brush her out for almost 2 weeks. I use a spray bottle of water/conditioner mix, brusher her out with a CC comb, then I use a greyhound comb. If it is a horrible knot, I use the rotating tooth comb kathy gave me but not very often. She just doesn't get bad knots except if she has a harness on for a long time. Dash is still young so we do the same routine but more often since he is being shown and he has a thinner silkier coat. I think this is going to very by dog a lot but so far that is what i do for mine. I really think you might ruin more coats by brushing too often but that is just my opinion. I have also heard from other breeds that you should never brush a coat dry.

Amanda


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I use both a brush and a comb on Kubrick. I tend to do this about every 3-4 days, sometimes every 5 days. He gets some small mats if I wait 5 days, though nothing too drastic. I do a brush out and then a comb out using CC brush and comb. For mats I use the CC detangler comb, which is AMAZING on mats. This combo works well for Kubrick... if I only do a brush, there are still lots of tangles and hair that do NOT get removed, so I find that comb out afterwards (using a large, not fine, comb) really gets rid of any small mats and loose hair.

I do agree with Amanda, however, that this really depends on the dog. Havs have such a huge variety of coat types, that I'm sure different techniques work best with different dogs.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

For true grooming and getting down through the coat, I prefer metal combs. For finishing, I prefer brushes. Brushes give off that finished look, but combs get through the coat to the skin better.

Brushes are also good for the first stage of grooming to untangle the top layer that is loosely intertwined.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

AgilityHav said:


> SO, which do you use, and why?


For casual days, it's my own hair brush that I use and on the face it's a flea comb. Show days it's a pin brush first, then a greyhound comb and flea comb over the whole body.


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## Esperanita (Jul 12, 2008)

I use both a comb and brush. I started with a slicker brush, but Cuba would whine and scream terribly. Although I was positive I wasn't hurting him, I switched to a pin brush with plastic tips and he tolerates this much better. I use a comb to get out the small mats. I got my two brushes and comb at Target and they seem to work great. I like the brushes because they have retractable pins.

Cuba is on 4 months old I so I guess I will have to see if I "need" more expensive combs and brushes. Currently, the Target ones seem to work fine.


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