# Hav Hair Blow Dried Straight?



## curly_DC (Nov 27, 2011)

Does hav hair need to be blow dried straight, like people with naturally curly hair that get their hair straightened with a hair brush and blow drier? Sorry if that's a silly question. My hav has a puppy cut, and I don't think I feel or see any mats. I can run my hands through his coat. It feels silky. It is curly though, and I've had people ask me if he's a Bichon. I really don't want him to resemble a poodle. Do I have to blow dry his hair when I give him a shampoo or whenever he gets wet?

This should be posted in the grooming thread. Sorry.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

I think whether or not you blow-dry it straight is a matter of personal preference. We have some curlier havs here and I have to say they are pretty cute!

You should however get a couple of good grooming tools (a brush and a comb for the body, and a fine-toothed comb or flea comb for the face) if you haven't already, and start practicing combing him out. Keeping him a puppy cut will of course help with the matting but he can still matt and chances are you will not find the matts unless you spritz with a light conditioner spray and comb down to the skin.

It will also help to experiment with different shampoos and conditioners to see what works best on his hair...

Good luck!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Don't depend on those fingers to find all those mats/tangles. You will need a comb to take it to the skin level to find all the mats/tangles. 

As for blowing dry to straighten the hair....I can't get my boys to hold still long enough to do this wonderful thing!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Havanese have a bunch of different hair types. Anything from tightly curled like a poodle, to silky, almost straight, with a wave, and everything in between in combination. There has actually been genetic testing for hair types for several years now. The ones that look bushy in show pictures would be curly if not blow dried and brushed out.


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## ClaireVoyant (Jan 26, 2012)

Length also tends to straighten out their coats . . .though if curly now, will remain wavy as the weight of extra length straightens it out. Hair products you use on his coat will also be a factor.


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## curly_DC (Nov 27, 2011)

I spritzed his coat with part conditioner/ water snd combed and brushed. Still didn't see or find any matting.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Jack is in a puppy cut, too. He gets tiny, tiny, little knots in his armpit hair and around his penis. I snip them out. I used to try to comb them out gently or use cornstarch but it is in a very 'sensitive' area and Jack jerks about. Owie. Snipping is faster.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

curly_DC said:


> I spritzed his coat with part conditioner/ water snd combed and brushed. Still didn't see or find any matting.


So, you are doing something right!  He is an 'older' dog (i.e., not a puppy or even a 1-year old), if I remember from your previous posts, right? -so no blowing coat or anything else to worry about. If you are not finding any matts after spritzing and combing, then I would suggest just keeping on combing/checking for matts every so often but not to worry about it unless you start to notice a problem.

As was said before, the products you use on him can affect how his coat reacts. As long as he isn't matting, I personally wouldn't have an issue with the amount of curliness, but, if you don't like it so curly then I would recommend to experiment with different products. And I can't see anything wrong with blowdrying his hair straighter either if you truly feel like that is something you want to do, as long as he doesn't mind and you are willing to take the time to do it lol (I know that I wouldn't have the patience!). But if you are asking if curliness is something 'bad' or undesirable in a hav, well, it's a gene that should be avoided when breeding for various reasons but as far as individual havs who are already born go, I don't think you have anything to worry about - as I also said before, there are quite a few 'curlier' havs on this forum and they are loved just the same


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## Lsprick (Jul 8, 2010)

I groom my daughter's Hav. He has a curly coat, very soft but definitely curly. He doesn't mat much but I clip him in a short puppy cut because otherwise he looks like a nappy mess. A long coat just overwhelms the little guy. Even with his hair cut down to a half inch on his body, it curls. I don't know how I could blow it straight if it was long, not that I would want to. 

I just gave him "the works" yesterday. He was so happy afterwards that he ran around prancing. He's a real dear!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

curly_DC said:


> I spritzed his coat with part conditioner/ water snd combed and brushed. Still didn't see or find any matting.


Awesome! You should be good to go then.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

morriscsps said:


> Jack is in a puppy cut, too. He gets tiny, tiny, little knots in his armpit hair and around his penis. I snip them out. I used to try to comb them out gently or use cornstarch but it is in a very 'sensitive' area and Jack jerks about. Owie. Snipping is faster.


Kodi is in full coat, but I STILL snip these tiny under arm and "private area" knots. He's not a (breed) show dog, and, honestly, I don't think they'ed ever notice these tiny snips even if he were! I just don't see the point of putting him through the discomfort of trying to remove them any other way. Actually, when he was blowing coat, we used to clipper under his arm puts and the insides of his hind legs. It didn't show unless he rolled over, and it made things SO much easier on both of us!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

heatherk said:


> So, you are doing something right!  He is an 'older' dog (i.e., not a puppy or even a 1-year old), if I remember from your previous posts, right? -so no blowing coat or anything else to worry about. If you are not finding any matts after spritzing and combing, then I would suggest just keeping on combing/checking for matts every so often but not to worry about it unless you start to notice a problem.
> 
> As was said before, the products you use on him can affect how his coat reacts. As long as he isn't matting, I personally wouldn't have an issue with the amount of curliness, but, if you don't like it so curly then I would recommend to experiment with different products. And I can't see anything wrong with blowdrying his hair straighter either if you truly feel like that is something you want to do, as long as he doesn't mind and you are willing to take the time to do it lol (I know that I wouldn't have the patience!). But if you are asking if curliness is something 'bad' or undesirable in a hav, well, it's a gene that should be avoided when breeding for various reasons but as far as individual havs who are already born go, I don't think you have anything to worry about - as I also said before, there are quite a few 'curlier' havs on this forum and they are loved just the same


 I might be byous because Zoey may be a curly coated havanese. But who made the rule that a curly coated havanese should not breed. I mean it is a part of their genetic background. Just because a few people decide to put together a standard it doesn't make sence to me. I would love to find the pictures of the original Havanese Dorthy had and see if any were curly. Its like saying someone with curly hair shouldn't have children. Why is it a dog has to be so one way when it is in there gene pool to have curly hair. The Bichon is diffidently a curly coated dog. I have problems with that one. I also have problems with a few other requirements that determine a champion .


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi, every breed has a standard... otherwise they wouldn't be a breed. Short haired Havanese are in the gene pool also. Do you think that they should be purposely bred and shown also? (some people do, so it's OK if you think so, but you should think about it!)

Anyway, from the photos you've posted of Zoey, I don't think she's anywhere NEAR as curly as some Havs are... some have coats that really look like a poodle. I don't think, if Zoey is an otherwise excellent representative of the breed, that her coat would keep her out of the running in the show ring. It would only be an issue if she were showing against a dog who was just as good as she was in all other ways. Then, a curly coat might make the judge place the less curly coat higher. There are precious few dogs who approach perfection, even among show dogs. Judges are always weighing faults against each other to decide which dog wins.

Some breeders are choosing to breed away from curly coats now that the gene for curly has been identified and can be tested for. I personally prefer the non-curly dogs because they are much easier to maintain for the average person. But there are plenty of good breeders who still have the curly gene in their blood lines, and keep those dogs in their breeding pool because, for them, those individuals bring something else important to their breeding program. 

But if you keep changing a breed standard so that it encompasses every possible variation that shows up, you end up with a pretty meaningless standard.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

For little knots around sensitive sanitary/armpit areas you can also consider buying a trimmer or "mini-clipper". They are much cheaper than a full clipper, are smaller so are easy to maneuver in tight areas, and are much quieter so dogs that don't tollerate the clippers might not mind the trimmers as much. Also, I never, ever take scissors close to the sanitary or armpits, I'm just not comfortable doing that, especially because the skin is paper-thin in those areas.

Something like this is great for light duty work, and I used it a few times, borrowed it from someone when I was first starting out:

Amazon.com: Andis 23165 Ruby Cord/Cordless Clipper/Trimmer: Pet Supplies


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

atsilvers27 said:


> For little knots around sensitive sanitary/armpit areas you can also consider buying a trimmer or "mini-clipper". They are much cheaper than a full clipper, are smaller so are easy to maneuver in tight areas, and are much quieter so dogs that don't tollerate the clippers might not mind the trimmers as much. Also, I never, ever take scissors close to the sanitary or armpits, I'm just not comfortable doing that, especially because the skin is paper-thin in those areas.
> 
> Something like this is great for light duty work, and I used it a few times, borrowed it from someone when I was first starting out:
> 
> Amazon.com: Andis 23165 Ruby Cord/Cordless Clipper/Trimmer: Pet Supplies


Yeah, sometimes I use scissors, if the knot is not held close to the skin, and I can really see what I'm doing. Otherwise, I use a little battery powered whisker trimmer I have for my horse. They cost about $20 at a tack shop.


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## curly_DC (Nov 27, 2011)

Thanks. As for the breeding standards and show dogs, my dog won't be bred or shown. I wanted a Hav mostly for their temperaments and their sturdiness for being a toy breed. He looks like a dog! They do come from the Bichon family, if I'm not mistaken, so I'm not completely insulted that people ask me if he's a Bichon. I've seen Bichons, and he's bigger, sturdier, not as yappy, and looks "moppier." I'm going for the "moppy" look.


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