# Hair around eye area



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

I have been trying to grow out the hair underneath and in the corners near Rudy's eyes. My thought was if his hair is long enough, it will eventually blend in with the nose and muzzle hair. Right now the hair is partially covering his eyes. How long does it take to grow at the hair near the corners and underneath the eye? 
He's going to the groomer tomorrow for a sani, nails and bang trim and she will probably round out the muzzle and chin area. I prefer the look of the puppy face.The beard is hard to keep clean and tangle free. I was just wondering if anyone has had the area cut around the eyes and tried to grow it out. And did you keep it long around the eyes?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I allowed the hair in the corners of Kodi's eyes to be trimmed initially, and it was a constant up-keep headache. I am really glad I eventually stuck it out and allowed it to grow out. It DOES take a long time, and you just need to be patient. But it is SO worth it!!!

Pixel is in a puppy cut, but has never had the hair in the corners of her eyes cut, so they don't poke her, and do lay down (except for right after she's rubber her face up and down the carpet!!!  The fact that her beard and mustache are short is not a problem.


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## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

She's so adorable. She looks like she has tons of personality!😍


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lisa T. said:


> She's so adorable. She looks like she has tons of personality!&#128525;


Oh, she definitely does!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Rudy is such a cutie! I am glad we never cut the hair around Shama's eyes because we haven't had to worry about maintaining it to prevent it from going into her eyes. I think you'll be happy if you let it grow back out like Karen did. I also want to point out (maybe not for manly Rudy but for the girls in the forum) that you don't actually need to put much hair into a clip to get it out of your dog's eyes and that clips are much easier to put in and take out than bows fastened by rubber bands.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Rudy is such a cutie! I'm glad we never cut the hair around Shama's eyes because we haven't had to try to maintain it to prevent it from going into her eyes. I think you'll be happy if you have Rudy grow out the hair below his eyes like Karen did. I also want to point out (maybe not for manly Rudy but for some of the girls in the forum) that you don't need to put much hair in a clip to get it out of your dog's eyes and that clips are much easier to put in and take out than bows fastened by rubber bands are. Good luck with the wait!


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## Teddy Bear (Apr 11, 2015)

Got a similar problem that I could use some advise on too!!

Teddy's vet (also his groomer) trimmed around his eyes twice even though I told him not to! It's been almost a year now and it's growing but not in the correct "arch" shape! 
His hair is just growing in all directions and covering his eyes..
I'd like to grow it out and hoping for the best that it gets back to how it should be.
Have tried putting a hair clip to hold the hair back and out of his eyes (have even tried a little olive oil on the fur and brushing it in shape) but teddy gets upset and pulls off the clip then rubs his face on his blanket and back it goes to the same mess! (He even uses his paw to undo the hair being brushed into shape).

It's not long enough for a top knot and not sure if it will ever get back to the correct shape but for those that use top knots, do u keep the hair tied all day and night or just tie it for a few hours a day?

Is it safe to use human hair gel and/or a small clip to keep his eyes hair free?


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

I kept my non-hav, Watson, in a puppy cut for a couple years, but starting growing it out, just out of curiosity, about a year ago. He has a coat similar to a Havanese. Everything grew out fast EXCPET the hair in the corner of his eyes. I'd swear it wasn't growing at all, and I felt bad for him because it was poking his eyes, and they were watery a lot, and he was getting bad tear stains. You can see it here in this photo from a few months ago. It's just starting to be better, but it's taken many months.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Teddy Bear said:


> Got a similar problem that I could use some advise on too!!
> 
> Teddy's vet (also his groomer) trimmed around his eyes twice even though I told him not to! It's been almost a year now and it's growing but not in the correct "arch" shape!
> His hair is just growing in all directions and covering his eyes..
> ...


It sounds like you are dealing with two separate issues... hair between the eyes and the hair on top of his head. Don't be fooled! Those photos you see with a Havanese with a full head of hair, and the hair sweeping back away from the face are a brief moment for a photo, or (often) a LOT of hair spray to keep it out of their eyes just long enough for them to get around the show ring!!! There are only two ways to keep HEAD hair out of the eyes. trim "bangs" of some sort, or keep the hair up. I "trained" my guys to have their hair up using terry covered band meant for human babies and toddlers. These don't stay in as well as rubber bands, but they also don't break the hair if the dog tries to rub them out. I was just persistent about putting them back in until they gave up and left them alone. Now that they are adults, I usually use very any rubber bands, because they hold they hair in better when the dogs are playing. (like when certain younger sisters HANG from Kodi's top know!  ) I do take their hair down at night, and put their ponies in in the morning... I know, from when I was a kid, how NICE it feels to have your hair unrestrained over night! 

If you want to get his hair up, and it's not QUITE long enough for a single pony, sometimes you can do two tiny "bunny ears" more easily.

The hair on the nose and BETWEEN the eyes is a different story. That, unfortunately, you just need to live though. Some people put a small amount of plain chap stick on the hair to hold it down, and there are products made for dogs that can help somewhat. But I found that ALL this stuff left gunk that had to be washed out later. I just left it alone until it was long enough to weigh itself down on Kodi, and never fell into the trap of allowing it to be trimmed on the girls.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

krandall said:


> Don't be fooled! Those photos you see with a Havanese with a full head of hair, and the hair sweeping back away from the face are a brief moment for a photo, or (often) a LOT of hair spray to keep it out of their eyes just long enough for them to get around the show ring!!!


Thanks, Karen, for the frank information. I originally thought we would be able to "train" Shama's hair to go away from her face, but when Shama's hair is not pulled back, it always falls forward over her eyes. See photos below taken yesterday (tied back), today (au naturel), and last August (using Picture Perfect styling aid which I do recommend for the occasional photo shoot but not as a daily use product - someone on the Forum recommended it).

http://cdn3.volusion.com/xqwsv.rkwhe/v/vspfiles/photos/PPJ2-2.jpg

Thanks for the photos, Boomana. Watson is a handsome boy. What is he?

The photos above give you a better look at her eyes. (Sorry for the double post BTW. I thought the first one didn't post, so I rewrote it . . .)

One more thing . . . Shama seems to be able to see pretty well even when her hair is over her eyes. She can run zoomies around the living room, jumping over obstacles at high speed, and she responds to subtle hand signals (like pointing down with my index finger for DOWN) at a distance. One of our obedience trainers has a Briard (see photo at link below) and said that dogs can see as if they're looking through lightweight curtains . . .

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/04/03/fb/0403fbeca0939f1a573f247c5d129454.jpg


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> One more thing . . . Shama seems to be able to see pretty well even when her hair is over her eyes. She can run zoomies around the living room, jumping over obstacles at high speed, and she responds to subtle hand signals (like pointing down with my index finger for DOWN) at a distance. One of our obedience trainers has a Briard (see photo at link below) and said that dogs can see as if they're looking through lightweight curtains . . .


I think it's largely dependent on how much hair the dog has. Kodi clearly can NOT see well enough when his hair is down. I was told the same thing as you, and watched Kodi SLAM right into the weave poles, because he couldn't see them well enough. The other thing is that as a handler, WE can't see their eyes and know for sure they are looking at us and waiting for a signal if we can't see their eyes.

It's Sat., we aren't doing anything and Kodi has his hair down today. He certainly can see well enough to get on with "doggy life". But when we train, his hair is ALWAYS up.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Good to know, Karen! Thanks!


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## Askavi (Nov 5, 2015)

Raffy doesn't seem to mind his hair in his eyes, but he's always happy to get his top knot. It's the only time he comfortably settles in my lap for any length of time. I will even pretend to be taking a really long time to do it, just so he will sit there and get pet for a while. :laugh: His bangs started breaking more since we got Sassy and both her and Shady decided it was fun to make his top knot a target for tug. I've changed how I do his top knot now, and tuck it under so it's not a hair spout on top of his head. He's got a lot more whispies around his eyes now than he did due to the breakage, but the parts directly around his eyes still lay down for the most part. Sassy is at the stage where her bangs aren't long enough for a top knot, but I can't really see her eyes. I tried clipping them up in a barrette for last week's puppy class. It lasted all of 10 minutes, so we're going without it. Puppy class is more about socialization than anything, so I'm not too worried about eye contact yet. Whenever I see Havanese with their hair not tied back but away from their eyes, I wonder how the heck people manage it. I guess it's hairspray.


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## JulieB (Jun 16, 2016)

Lisa T. said:


> I have been trying to grow out the hair underneath and in the corners near Rudy's eyes. My thought was if his hair is long enough, it will eventually blend in with the nose and muzzle hair. Right now the hair is partially covering his eyes. How long does it take to grow at the hair near the corners and underneath the eye?
> He's going to the groomer tomorrow for a sani, nails and bang trim and she will probably round out the muzzle and chin area. I prefer the look of the puppy face.The beard is hard to keep clean and tangle free. I was just wondering if anyone has had the area cut around the eyes and tried to grow it out. And did you keep it long around the eyes?


Hi Lisa, How is it going with growing out Rudy's hair around his eyes? I think I want to do the same thing with Bodie.


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## Montgomery26 (6 mo ago)

@krandall you are a wonder - thank you.
it's like you have an answer to every issue i run into.
i've been pondering trimming that around-his-eyes hair and now i'll just wait to let it grow out (i comb him out every day and get to see his unobscured eyes for a little while)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Montgomery26 said:


> @krandall you are a wonder - thank you.
> it's like you have an answer to every issue i run into.
> i've been pondering trimming that around-his-eyes hair and now i'll just wait to let it grow out (i comb him out every day and get to see his unobscured eyes for a little while)


There is certainly nothing wrong with cutting the hair above the eyes if you want to on a pet dog, as long as you will keep it up. That can be easier than putting it in a pony daily. It’s the hair on the nose and between the eyes that you really want to leave alone to grow out,IMO.

Even Panda, who is still in a full coat now wears bangs, because Ducky kept pulling out her top knot, snd destroying her head hair in the process. She is not showing in conformation anymore, so it doesn’t matter, and she looks cute, and can see!


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