# Blowing Coat?!?



## kudo2u (Mar 7, 2009)

How often does a Hav blow coat?

I've been doing really well with Tango, and her coat has been a DREAM since I switched to the Spa products.

All of the sudden, *literally* overnight, she went from soft and silky to a HUGE ball of mats. I actually had to completely shave her down, after I've been growing her out for over a year!

I mean LITERALLY overnight. I gave her a bath on Saturday. On Monday about 7:00 PM, I line brushed her thoroughly, and didn't have a single issue. Tuesday evening after work, I tried to put in a new topknot. I always brush her face and ears when I do this, but everything was just a huge mat. I started feeling around, and her ENTIRE body was completely matted, and was very tight against the skin.

She was like this when I first got her (about 3.5 years ago), but I haven't had any issues with matting since. And she's 11 years old! Should this be happening?!?


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Geezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, I have no clue! Maybe some of the others will offer their knowledge. The first thing I thought of...was how old is she? Then, I saw she was 11 years old.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Eeeeeyikes! 11 years old?! I DON'T want to hear this!...No, no, no...


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

I thought they only did it twice in their life. I haven't heard of anyone talk about an 11 year old dog having mats. Not sure many on here that age. So she was around 7 1/2 when you got her and she was matted then. I guess any long haired dog will mat, but I didn't know they would blow coat after a couple of times. This is not music to my ears. :biggrin1:


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Yikes...I am so sorry but I too hate to hear this.


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## kudo2u (Mar 7, 2009)

Well there are some breeds (such as the Akita I used to have, and the Pomeranian I currently have) who blow coat annually. But I always thought Havanese only did this once or twice.

Anybody know if this is going to be a recurring event? I was SHOCKED when I came home and found her so matted that I had to shave her down.

Yes, Tango was around 7 when I got her. I'm not exactly sure, because she was a breeding dog in a puppy mill. I was told a lot of things about her that weren't true. Her age is an estimate from my vet.

When I got her, she was completely matted, but she was also laying in her own mess. Her coat smelled horrible like urine, and her back legs and tail were covered in dried poo. So that was a little different than the current situation. 

At least this time I could use the largest fitting on my clippers. When I got her, I took her in to be professionally groomed and they *literally* had to shave her clean down to the skin. They used the tiniest spacer on the clippers. She looked bald!


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## Petaluna (May 9, 2008)

oh, poor baby. Is it possible she had some sort of scratching fit while you were at work that matted up her coat? Rolled around all day on carpet? I don't even have my Hav yet and no experience with their coats (I only had a yorkie in the past), but at that age if they are not supposed to go through that stage, that would be my only other guess, and a wild guess. 

When I read about the blowing coat thing, it almost sounds like the hair is alive and has a mind of its own.


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

I'm not an expert, but I have thought of my hav's hair like human hair. There are various things that can cause hair to grow in more thickly or fall out in larger quantities. Diet, hormones, stress, etc. I have noticed that Dusty mats much more when we travel or have to leave her with a friend for a few days. She gets' brushed about as often, but the hair loss/matting is definitely much worse at these times. Has Tango been stressed? Have you changed food?


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## kudo2u (Mar 7, 2009)

Hmm.... You think other things affect their hair?

Tango HAS been a bit stressed lately. We adopted a rescue dog as a companion for our other large dog. So now we have two small and two large. :biggrin1: The new girl, Laila, is crated when we aren't home, and we're SLOWLY integrating her into our family. But she is VERY high energy, and there has been a lot of romping and playing (between the big dogs) that the little girls aren't used to.

Do you think that could have led to hair loss / matting?


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