# Quick grooming question for you pros!



## meganmckellar (Sep 1, 2009)

I just got my first Havanese less than a year ago. (He's almost 9 months, where does the time go!) I do comb him out daily myself - however, I haven't worked up the courage to start bathing and grooming myself. 

So I take him somewhere usually twice a month for a bath and trim. However, we have suffered a few bad haircuts unfortunately. I am trying to keep him longer, and what I struggle with is how do I tell the groomer to trim his head/face? His face always ends up looking very Schnauzer like when she's done with him. Do I just tell her not to any trimming on his face? 

Thanks for the help guys!


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Take pictures and then be specific about what you like in the pictures. with Kipling I am to the point where I say - do not trim the ears...at all, leave the hair outside his eyes longer. Trim his beard and neck to this length and I show them. It's all about being very specific. I have alson taken bad haircut pictures with me and said do not do this...here is what I don't like. Finally...let them know he must look Havanese when they're done...not Schitzu or any other breed....hope that helps.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Print out the first pic in this post and show it to her :biggrin1:

Beamer


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Yes, take pictures and hope the groomer can follow it! Im waiting for Jodi Murphys do it yourself havanese grooming video to come out. I groom my own but I have trouble spots as you can see by their pictures!


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Bathing is really easy Megan, to me that's the easiest part of grooming. The hard part is the brushing and combing beforehand. Give it a try when someone else is around to help you and you'll see how quick it can be. Just make sure you have everything out and ready before you start.


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## meganmckellar (Sep 1, 2009)

Scooter's Family said:


> Bathing is really easy Megan, to me that's the easiest part of grooming. The hard part is the brushing and combing beforehand. Give it a try when someone else is around to help you and you'll see how quick it can be. Just make sure you have everything out and ready before you start.


What I'm worried about is not getting him dry enough or combed out correctly and he'll end up getting all matted! That's my fear.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

How long is his hair?


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## meganmckellar (Sep 1, 2009)

HavaneseSoon said:


> How long is his hair?


His hair isn't too long right now. He got a puppy cut about two months ago.

This is a picture of him from today:


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## SnobunnieNY (Oct 24, 2007)

When I first started getting Boo groomed I specifically told the groomer I didnt not want a schnauzer type "square" cut...I wanted him more rolly poly/ruff n tumble as we now call it. I told them to leave his ears and tail and just "trim" up his beard body and eyes so he can see. We did have an issue triangle part of his eyes - the part between them near the brows. She cut that very short and we have growing them out for 6 months now. I want that to fall around his eyes...saying teddy bear cut or puppy cut got him very short...you have to be specific with the look you want.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

You really would be fine. Just be sure to brush and comb him well before the bath and, if you find a mat, gently comb it out. It helps a lot to have good tools to work with that make it easier. I bathe mine, after the final rinse I go over them like a squeegee with my hands to remove excess water, then hold them in a microfiber (or regular) towel to get most of the water, switch to a dry towel to rub them a bit and it's all done. They'll do a funny RLH while still wet! (The bath is worth it sometimes just to watch that!) If it's cold out like it is now I dry them with a dryer on cool until they're almost dry, then I brush them out. It sounds like a lot but it really isn't. Sometimes I think it's fun, seeing them come out all clean and smelling good is so nice!

We usually do them one at time in the kitchen sink but if all 3 are a mess, they all go in the tub! (That took 3 people to handle!)

First is Murphy in the sink, then all 3 in the bath tub, then Scooter in the sink.....


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

OMG. Can I share my bath pictures too!? I just love giving my guys baths. When I go to the beach, I do them together. When I'm at home I do them one by one. I bought an attachment at Petco that attaches to my shower head. It really works well and it has great water pressure. I use a color bottle to apply the shampoo and conditioner. 

I comb them, brush their teeth, clean ears, and eyes daily. I do their nails every 2 week, and their pads once a month. They really don't mind the grooming and most times fall asleep. The bath is another story. I often hear some grumbling I enjoy doing this for them because it's great bonding.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Kipling gets done in the laundry tub...It doesn't take long as long as you have all supplies ready. I wet him, shampoo, rinse well, and then use my hands to squeeze out excess water. Quickly into a towel before he shakes and then letting him loose to RLH. Finally we catch him and then he comes to the bathroom with me to get blow dried. I do see missed matts really well at that point and will try to work on them then...that takes patience.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Well, if we're sharing bath pix, here's a few I have of Tori :bathbaby: It's definitely not her most fun activity but, she handles it well. But, she always makes me laugh because when she knows we're getting close to the end of her bath she'll start making little "chirping" noises that gradually increase, so by the time I'm lifting her out of the tub she's making full-blown excited yips. She knows the next step in the process is a small piece of jerky for being such a good girl in the tub ound:


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## meganmckellar (Sep 1, 2009)

Such cute bath pictures! Thanks for all the tips guys!


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I find it funny how we hijacked the thread with our bath pictures! I guess any reason to show off our pups


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## graciesmum (Feb 5, 2010)

Love the bath pics!

Make sure you explain what you want when you ask for a "puppy cut". In the grooming world there is no universal "puppy cut". It will vary groomer to groomer and will be whatever each groomer decides is a puppy cut. You are much better off knowing how long you want the hair left on the body. When I think of puppies, I picture their hair 1 inch even all over (eao). If the hair is longer than 1 1/4" and you just want "a little off" or a "light trim", that's actually a much harder haircut because we don't have any tools that trim longer hair, we have to do it barber style, which is probably going to be more $$$ because it is alot more work.

Pictures are good, then just explain what you like and don't like. Then leave the pic with the groomer so they can refer back to it if needed. Since havs are not that common everywhere, most groomers may not know what is the trademark hav look. I personally would have chopped those beautiful eyebrows off. But since I have been reading on this forum, I now know the look that is very much havanese, and it's one more thing that I would ask the owner about. 

Sorry, I get frustrated with the phrase "puppy cut". I always tell the owners that there is no set puppy cut, then I ask them what do they think a puppy cut is, then I pick their mind and determine what length they are looking for.


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## Phoebs (May 28, 2009)

Love those bath photos! 

Did you all notice I no longer post my constant complaints about Phoebe blowing coat? Well, since January, she has basically had no coat. After she had matts galore from being baby-sat, I had her groomed. I took pictures. I took a printed document with photo examples of what I liked, and what I didn't like. I pointed to the photos and explained why I didn't like certain looks. I left her there, and came back to a schnauzer named Phoebe that looked exactly like the YUCK photograph. Actually, looked like her head was a styrofoam sphere with a wedge cut out where her eyes are, but I digress.

I subsequently thought a lot about what makes this schnauzer look happen, and why it seems so wrong on my hav. I think the effect is partly due to no eyelashes swooping gracefully out to the side. The groomer also scooped out the fur around her eyes, with an electric clipper (shaved her) and that led partly to the schnauzer look too- because now the fur on her muzzle was too long in comparison. Also, fur under her ears and along her beard was trimmed to a line- this also is part of the whole schnauzer look. Maybe you can describe those specific features and have a better result. For my part, I'm happy to cut her myself. It's not possible for me to do a worse job than the groomer! 

Do a search on the forum for "bangs Sierra style" and you'll see a great thread with examples of how to do a gorgeous haircut by yourself. I wish the groomer had spent more time looking at those photos I gave her!


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## lcy_pt (Aug 17, 2007)

Love...love...love the bath photos!! Marj, maybe this can be one of our future photo challenges??????? :boink:


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Good idea to look at the Sierra style bangs thread, there are also Puppy Cut threads with really great photos that you can print and show your groomer.


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## meganmckellar (Sep 1, 2009)

Yeah, I went through a lot of old posts and settled on printing a few pictures of Kipling to bring in. (I hope that's ok Sylvia!!!)


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Phoebs said:


> After she had matts galore from being baby-sat, I had her groomed. I took pictures. I took a printed document with photo examples of what I liked, and what I didn't like. I pointed to the photos and explained why I didn't like certain looks. I left her there, and came back to a schnauzer named Phoebe that looked exactly like the YUCK photograph.


I feel your pain! That's how my one and ONLY ONE grooming experience went. I took pictures with me of the good and the bad, written directions of exactly what I wanted and even a very precise list of what I didn't want marked with red pencil and yellow highlighter. --They did whatever they wanted and charged me 70 bucks. Waaaa! Thankfully it is just hair and all grew back, but now I groom them myself and am much happier with how they look.

Some groomers just don't listen.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

The last grooming we had went great, the groomer came to my house and had me stand there while she was trimming them. She asked me tons of questions and only used scissors. It was expensive but worth it.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Scooter's Family said:


> The last grooming we had went great, the groomer came to my house and had me stand there while she was trimming them. She asked me tons of questions and only used scissors. It was expensive but worth it.


That would be my ideal. I'd love to be able to watch what they do and stop them if they are going to do something I don't want.  I'm already getting pretty comfortable grooming my crew here so they only way I can see us using a professional groomer in the future would be if I were sick or just sick and tired!


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

good buddy said:


> That would be my ideal. I'd love to be able to watch what they do and stop them if they are going to do something I don't want.  I'm already getting pretty comfortable grooming my crew here so they only way I can see us using a professional groomer in the future would be if I were sick *or just sick and tired!*


I with ya on that one! ound:


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I found the link! I love Sierra's hairstyle.

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=2882&highlight=sierra

I also keep pictures on my desktop (computer) so I can refer to them when I am grooming Dexter's head.

Hair grows.....it may take up 5 months or so, to get it shaggy again. I know.....these things....I have messed up many haircuts....


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