# Blowing coat adolescence?



## mekdean (Nov 27, 2015)

I keep reading references to "blowing coat" issues with Havanese at a certain young age. Maisy is about to hit 8 months in a few days and her coat has gone through a little bit of an awkward phase lately, but I have no idea if this is blowing coat.

So, what should I expect for this blowing coat phase? And at what age does this usually occur? Many thanks for any insight.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mekdean said:


> I keep reading references to "blowing coat" issues with Havanese at a certain young age. Maisy is about to hit 8 months in a few days and her coat has gone through a little bit of an awkward phase lately, but I have no idea if this is blowing coat.
> 
> So, what should I expect for this blowing coat phase? And at what age does this usually occur? Many thanks for any insight.


Not EVERY Havanese has a bad time with blowing coat, so there is always the possibility that you'll get lucky. But sometime between 8-14 months, most Havanese go though some amount of it. It happens when the soft puppy coat starts to be replaced by the adult coat. As the puppy coat sheds out, it wraps around the new adult hair coming in, and causes matting. If the dog is in a puppy cut, some people don't even notice anything.

Kodi matted quite a bit when he was blowing coat, but not NEARLY as badly as some we hear about on the forum. Pixel is almost a year, and knock on wood, she's had some little mats here and there, but MUCH less than Kodi got!


----------



## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

Sophie just went through that also she got huge mats morning and night even though I would cut them out twice a day. She is still a big chopped mess that is slowly growing out  But the matting is tons better.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Rudy has been getting a lot more mats lately, especially on his chest. He doesn't mind being combed except for his chest area. He will be 9 months next week.


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly was about 10 months old when she started. I noticed more hair than usual in my comb and brush after I groomed her. Then the matting started. For a period of several months it seemed like every time I turned around she had another mat. A puppy cut and frequent combing got me through it.


----------



## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Lola turned ten-months-old yesterday, and if she's starting blowing her coat, I haven't noticed. She's only had two mats to speak of, and one was caused by scratching, and one was in her armpit, an area that just tends to get them if you're not on top of it. I'm also waiting for her to go into heat. She's not grown at all, including weight (13.2), in three months so I'm rather surprised, since she seemed to have matured quickly. Maybe i'm just very unobservant....dunno...or maybe she's saving it all up to hit me at one time :surprise:


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

boomana said:


> Lola turned ten-months-old yesterday, and if she's starting blowing her coat, I haven't noticed. She's only had two mats to speak of, and one was caused by scratching, and one was in her armpit, an area that just tends to get them if you're not on top of it. I'm also waiting for her to go into heat. She's not grown at all, including weight (13.2), in three months so I'm rather surprised, since she seemed to have matured quickly. Maybe i'm just very unobservant....dunno...or maybe she's saving it all up to hit me at one time :surprise:


Believe me, if your puppy is one of those who has a bad time with blowing coat (which is more of the, than not ) you don't have to be "observant". You can't possibly miss it! ound:


----------



## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Has Pixel started blowing coat or gone into heat yet?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

boomana said:


> Has Pixel started blowing coat or gone into heat yet?


Yes, she's blowing coat, but so far, it's mild. As long as I comb her out daily, and bathe her weekly, we're keeping ahead of it. We haven't had any mats we've needed to cut yet! 

No sign of heat yet, and her birthday is Mon!


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Mario's blowing coat season was AWFUL. His coat is more cottony in texture than I'd like (he's perfectly imperfect to us), and just when we finished brushing out one massive mat, another would form. We had been dead set on keeping him in full coat, but his coat change made us change our mind. He's been in a puppy cut since. I'm really hoping new puppy has a silkier coat. Looking at his siblings and parents, I'm thinking he will, thank God. We were lucky enough to find an amazing breeder less than 20 minutes away from us, so I'm sure she'll help de-mat in an emergency. It takes a strong heart to get through blowing coat without at least 1 mental/emotional breakdown ound:


----------



## Tward (Feb 16, 2016)

Do they only blow coat once? My Gracie seemed to twice. The first time she was about 10 months then again about a year later. Teresa


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tward said:


> Do they only blow coat once? My Gracie seemed to twice. The first time she was about 10 months then again about a year later. Teresa


It's not uncommon for them to blow two or three times in their first couple of years. But usually the first one is, by far, the worst.


----------



## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

boomana said:


> Lola turned ten-months-old yesterday, and if she's starting blowing her coat, I haven't noticed. She's only had two mats to speak of, and one was caused by scratching, and one was in her armpit, an area that just tends to get them if you're not on top of it. I'm also waiting for her to go into heat. She's not grown at all, including weight (13.2), in three months so I'm rather surprised, since she seemed to have matured quickly. Maybe i'm just very unobservant....dunno...or maybe she's saving it all up to hit me at one time :surprise:


I soooo jinxed myself with this post of a couple days ago. She's in heat and I'm pretty sure the blowing coat has started with four overnight mats showing up as well as A LOT of undercoat in the comb. This should be an...er...interesting month. Wish me luck.


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Sounds like Lola is giving you two for the price of one - being in heat and blowing coat! Hope you have an easy time with both. Good luck!


----------



## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Good luck Boomana! eace:


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Oh no!!! Poor little Lola! Don't worry it will be over soon! :biggrin1:


----------



## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

Hang in there Boomama! Sophie's was quite severe also, I didn't think it would ever end. But it has and it's easier than ever to keep up with now! I was cutting matts out of her (BIG ones) several times a day during the coat change, now I don't have to brush every single day and rarely do I find a mat.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout's matting was out of control there for months. I almost lost our groomer. She couldn't believe I was really brushing and combing. Truffles coat is very silky and had very few mats. Just glad that phase is all behind us...


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

So far Rudy hasn't gone through it. I may have to keep him in a puppy cut when the time comes. His hair grows fast.


----------



## mekdean (Nov 27, 2015)

Not sure, but I think Maisy might be starting to blow coat as well. She is 8 months old this week and I have had her in the yard more than usual because the weather here is gorgeous (sunny and in the high 60s - low70s) AND my husband is in the hospital unexpectedly so I'm spending more time away from home. I'm not sure if the increase in matting is because of all the running around outside or if this is the beginning of blowing coat. Wish us luck!


----------



## GlenK (Feb 9, 2016)

We're new to Havanese and have only had Rocky for a month and he's 3 months old. Can someone post of picture of their puppy with a puppy cut? We just had him to his first trip to the groomer and were uncertain as to how we wanted him cut.


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Here's Molly as a puppy after a cut.


----------



## GlenK (Feb 9, 2016)

Thanks for the pic Molly120213. That's about how we had Rocky done the first time only a bit longer on the body. We'll have him done a bit shorter next time just in case! Molly is really cute!!!!


----------



## Eveningpiper (Sep 23, 2015)

Here is our Ruby at 5 months in her puppy cut.


----------



## Eveningpiper (Sep 23, 2015)

At 6 months we asked the groomer to cut Ruby's coat even shorter. This is what that looks like. We haven't decided if we like shaggy short or just short better.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Molly and Ruby are adorable. I just got Rudy in a puppy cut yesterday. The groomer didn't touch his ears or tail. We love it. I'll try to take his picture and upload it. The length on his body is about 1 inch. She used EE blade. Maybe when he gets his adult coat, we will grow it out. But for now we will stay with the puppy cut. This is the second time we got a puppy cut, and we noticed his hair grows really fast.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Here's Rudy.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Here's another picture.


----------



## GlenK (Feb 9, 2016)

Thank you all so much for your responses. We now have a better idea of what to tell our groomer!!!

THANKS!!!!


----------



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

I'll try and do a couple of Willow. I'm keeping her longer than I used to. I'm not very adept at posting pictures yet!


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

She's adorable. I hope to grow Rudy's out once he goes through the blowing coat stage. I do like them fluffy. I don't think I will be able to stay on top of keeping him mat free during the blowing coat stage.

Did Willow go though the blowing coat stage? Rudy will be 9 months on the 28th. I understand the first is the worst. I also heard once your Havanese goes through it, their coat is easier to maintain. 

Either way, we still love him to pieces. He makes us laugh all the time., and has so much personality.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Here's my Scout in a puppy cut at about one year old. Sorry I cannot rotate the pics.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

So adorable. Do you still keep him short? He has the cutest facial expression.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout is the sweetest boy ever. He hasn't had a puppy cut since the last time. My husband and groomer like to keep him full coated. It's a lot of work! Here he is now.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Oh he's beautiful. How long did it take to grow out? Did you wait until after the blowing coat stage? I noticed he can almost reach the top of the table. Did he ever try to steal food?


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout's coat has been growing since that first puppy cut about three years ago. I remember the blowing coat stage was not good! The groomer almost quit.  He still gets his face and paws trimmed once month now. Truffles went through that stage easily. I think it was because her coat is very silky. Scout's not a food stealer. :biggrin1: My friend left a doggie pepperroni on the table that he was trying to get. I have a cute video of him trying to pulling the tablecloth down to get it, but I can't figure out how to post videos.


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Heather Glen said:


> Here's my Scout in a puppy cut at about one year old. Sorry I cannot rotate the pics.
> View attachment 109993


What a doll!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Our Leo has a fluffy coat. We got through cost blowing with 2x weekly bathes ( clean hair doesn't tend to mat quite so bad) and several (5 or so) comb outs each day. Additionally no collars or harnesses during that time. I did take him for one hour long walk in his harness during coat blowing and it took 3 hours to painstakingly pick the mats apart. Not stupid only happened once!!! Leo coat change took about 8 -10 weeks. His coat has been significantly easier to maintain since. I still comb thoroughly once every day or two. Probably I could go 3-4 days between but I don't choose to. This Winter he has been getting bi-weekly bathes rather than weekly. Rexy is almost 6 months and has a very different coat texture so it'll be interesting to see what that means during his coat blowing.


----------



## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Loving everyone's photos. Cuteness overload.
Pucks104, I can't believe Rexy is 6 months old already. I feel like you just got him. Time really flies, doesn't it? How old was he when you brought him home.


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Rexy was 2 days shy of 11 weeks when he came to live with us on November 21st.


----------



## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Lola is at the beginning stages of blowing coat. I'm crazy busy with work, having my mother with me for the next couple months, and redoing flooring (ugh), plus she's in heat. I just signed her up to get bathed with the groomer every week for at least the next two months, until things slow down for me. I'm still bathing Watson weekly, but I just don't have time to do both dogs, and the groomer does a better job than I. I'm determined to try and keep her in a long coat, but her hind legs have already had to get a lot of hair trimmed due to her licking non-stop since going into heat. She's matting a lot every minute back there, even though I clean and comb her at least couple times a day, combing maybe five to ten times. I supposed my neutered boy humping her quite regularly the past two days isn't helping, but if he's not humping her, she trying to hump him, which turns into WWIII, and they both get time outs. :surprise:


----------



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Lisa T. said:


> Did Willow go though the blowing coat stage? Rudy will be 9 months on the 28th. I understand the first is the worst. I also heard once your Havanese goes through it, their coat is easier to maintain.


We got Willow when she was right around 9 months. I don't know if I missed the blowing of the coat stage, or if her blowing stage wasn't really bad. I do remember that her hair used to be thinner and not so silky. I also remember dealing with quite a few mats for awhile but I don't know if that was from not being used to grooming or perhaps she actually was blowing her coat. I suspect that is what it was, as her hair is now quite different than it was when I got her.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Does the hair stay soft and silky after the blowing coat stage? Rudy is soooooo soft now. I was just wondering if that will change.


----------



## GlenK (Feb 9, 2016)

Good question Lisa. We have the same question.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lisa T. said:


> Does the hair stay soft and silky after the blowing coat stage? Rudy is soooooo soft now. I was just wondering if that will change.


It changes somewhat, but a good Havanese coat remains very soft and silky.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

boomana said:


> Lola is at the beginning stages of blowing coat. I'm crazy busy with work, having my mother with me for the next couple months, and redoing flooring (ugh), plus she's in heat. I just signed her up to get bathed with the groomer every week for at least the next two months, until things slow down for me. I'm still bathing Watson weekly, but I just don't have time to do both dogs, and the groomer does a better job than I. I'm determined to try and keep her in a long coat, but her hind legs have already had to get a lot of hair trimmed due to her licking non-stop since going into heat. She's matting a lot every minute back there, even though I clean and comb her at least couple times a day, combing maybe five to ten times. I supposed my neutered boy humping her quite regularly the past two days isn't helping, but if he's not humping her, she trying to hump him, which turns into WWIII, and they both get time outs. :surprise:


How's Lola today? Is it getting any better? Rudy is 9 months old and hasn't gone through the blowing coat phase yet. He's in a puppy cut right now. My husband prefers the full coat. The problem is I'm the only one in the family that does the baths and combing and brushing. He was starting to get a lot more little mats daily and was taking longer to comb him. So I decided to get him into a puppy cut. I know the blowing coat phase is just around the corner. I wonder if it's worse for females.


----------



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Lisa T. said:


> Does the hair stay soft and silky after the blowing coat stage? Rudy is soooooo soft now. I was just wondering if that will change.


It seems to me that Willow's hair is softer than it was when she was younger. It's thicker too.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Lisa T. said:


> How's Lola today? Is it getting any better? Rudy is 9 months old and hasn't gone through the blowing coat phase yet. He's in a puppy cut right now. My husband prefers the full coat. The problem is I'm the only one in the family that does the baths and combing and brushing. He was starting to get a lot more little mats daily and was taking longer to comb him. So I decided to get him into a puppy cut. I know the blowing coat phase is just around the corner. I wonder if it's worse for females.


Oh goodness...that is so funny! My husband said I better not ever cut Scout's coat. I'm also the brusher and comber. :biggrin1:


----------



## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

LOL I am laughing at Lisa's post also.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Lisa T. said:


> How's Lola today? Is it getting any better? Rudy is 9 months old and hasn't gone through the blowing coat phase yet. He's in a puppy cut right now. My husband prefers the full coat. The problem is I'm the only one in the family that does the baths and combing and brushing. He was starting to get a lot more little mats daily and was taking longer to comb him. So I decided to get him into a puppy cut. I know the blowing coat phase is just around the corner. I wonder if it's worse for females.


ound: My husband claims he does brush them too!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

ound: I too am the one who does all the brushing and combing with a DH that loves the long coat!


----------



## GlenK (Feb 9, 2016)

Well Rocky is 8 1/2 months old and he started the blowing coat process. We were continually cutting them out and just could not keep up. He's at the groomer right now getting his puppy cut.


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Our groomer told us that if we can just get to 18 months, the brushing and combing will get easier. We are at 13 months now. So far we've been able to work out the mats. I love my detangler spray!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I truly have to say that the brushing and combing need here has never decreased, maybe increased! I know that some may disagree. My two have different coats too. Scout coat is soft with a undercoat. Truffles is very silky. They will still both mat if not brushed and combed once or twice daily. There was a time around 10 months where they developed little mats easily under their legs. I guess that was the blowing coat stage. As adults now they have full coats and more to comb.


----------



## Lisa T. (Feb 5, 2015)

Rudy has been more difficult to comb in the last couple of weeks. He's starting to rebel.😳 If I miss a day, little mats start to form close to his skin. I was combing him before bedtime, but recently started to comb him early morning instead. He's behaving little better. He basically started to growl when I was combing him and started to give me a look like "Oh no you don't". So now I'm going back to singing and talking to him and giving him little treats when he stays still and doesn't whine.


----------



## Chi-Chi's Mom (Dec 10, 2015)

GlenK said:


> Well Rocky is 8 1/2 months old and he started the blowing coat process. We were continually cutting them out and just could not keep up. He's at the groomer right now getting his puppy cut.


Hey, you tried! I'm sure he'll be just as cute with his new cut.


----------



## Hanna (Feb 25, 2016)

Hello I don't have any good advice but I found this helpful article hope it will helped.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hanna said:


> Hello I don't have any good advice but I found this helpful article hope it will helped.


Actually, this article is talking about shedding breeds with double coats, like Newfies, Keeshonds, German Shepherds and Corgis. Our breed does not blow coat like that. Their major "coat blowing" is when they change from their puppy coat to their adult coat, between 8 - 16 months (more or less). They may shed a BIT more seasonally, but VERY little... you'll NEVER find tumbleweeds of undercoat with this breed. That's the problem... As the undercount and baby coat are shed, it tends to get mixed into the long coat, and causes mats. If these aren't removed daily, (and with some individuals, multiple times a day!) they cause horrendous matting.


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Nino is 7 months old and I am terrified of what is to come. The good thing is that, at this stage, he can go multiple days between comb outs without anything more than a small tangle forming. I'm going to keep telling myself that will make blowing coat a bit easier. We don't have the option of taking the easy way out with a puppy cut, and our show schedule really picks up around 8 months...yikes!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

KarMar said:


> Nino is 7 months old and I am terrified of what is to come. The good thing is that, at this stage, he can go multiple days between comb outs without anything more than a small tangle forming. I'm going to keep telling myself that will make blowing coat a bit easier. We don't have the option of taking the easy way out with a puppy cut, and our show schedule really picks up around 8 months...yikes!


Panda turned 9 months old yesterday, and even though we spent 4 days on Cape Cod, getting wet with salt water and wearing a harness, I only had one small mat in her armpit to deal with. And that came out pretty easily once I soaked it in Ice on Ice to pick it apart. Of course, Kodi didn't start blowing coat badly until about 10 months, but... I'm hoping!!!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Rex is 10 months now and other than the mat that formed in his left front arm pit just before he turned 9 months there hadn't been any significant mats. I have found a few little knots in the coat but so far that's been it. I keep expecting a lot more but we'll see.

On the other hand Leo is blowing coat for some reason. So I guess it's good that Rexy's coat has been easy so far.


----------

