# Changing of the Coat?



## Harlie'sMom (Nov 13, 2013)

I find myself in need of some experience again with Sir Henry. I have recently noticed a change in Henrys coat and need some advise. He is almost 11 mos old and he is starting to get mats and his coat seems to be a bit more fluffy then usual. I comb and brush him weekly and he has a bath every few weeks since I brought him home in November. Is this normal and is there any type of conditioner I can use that will reduce the mats? Normally his coat is wavy but now its fluffy strands of wavy silk. Please help me help him...:help:


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## Den&Barb (Dec 6, 2013)

Brushing is a daily thing for Ginger. Only way to stay ahead of the matting IMO, but that does depend on how long she goes between grooming/clipping. We couldn't keep up with it even with daily brushing as her fur got longer, so we had her groomed. We still brush her every day, but it is much easier.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Sounds like he is starting to "blow coat", which is the normal change over from puppy coat to adult coat in a Havanese. It is REALLY important that you THOROUGHLY comb him out at least daily, down to the skin until he is through this period. If not, he will develop large mats, and will probably need to be shaved.

Once a week brushing just isn't enough for a long coated breed, unless you have him kept trimmed into a puppy cut. But the daily thorough grooming is even more important through this transitional period.

Kodi has a relatively easy coat as Havanese go, and as an adult, I COULD let him go a few days between thorough comb-outs, but I usually groom him daily, because I like him to look nice. He also gets bathed weekly, as the cleaner his coat is, the less it is likely to mat.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Just finished coat blowing with Leo. Keep your pup really clean. Bathe and heavily conditioner about every 4 days. Line comb morning and evening daily. Avoid collars and harnesses as much as possible. Will last 8-12 weeks or so then the coat will again be easier to manage. Good luck!


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## One Sassy One (Dec 10, 2013)

krandall said:


> Sounds like he is starting to "blow coat", which is the normal change over from puppy coat to adult coat in a Havanese. It is REALLY important that you THOROUGHLY comb him out at least daily, down to the skin until he is through this period. If not, he will develop large mats, and will probably need to be shaved.
> 
> Once a week brushing just isn't enough for a long coated breed, unless you have him kept trimmed into a puppy cut. But the daily thorough grooming is even more important through this transitional period.
> 
> Kodi has a relatively easy coat as Havanese go, and as an adult, I COULD let him go a few days between thorough comb-outs, but I usually groom him daily, because I like him to look nice. He also gets bathed weekly, as the cleaner his coat is, the less it is likely to mat.


Karen when combing do you need to wet the coat first or comb the hair dry?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

One Sassy One said:


> Karen when combing do you need to wet the coat first or comb the hair dry?


You should never comb a Havanese coat dry. But you don't have to wet them through, either! A light spritz is all you need. You can use a specially designed coat spray, or an easy, inexpensive alternative is to get a small spray bottle from our local pharmacy and fill it with 1 part your normal conditioner and 9 parts water. (more or less&#8230; it doesn't have to be exact. I just eye-ball it!)

Spritz one section of coat and comb that out, then move to the next section, spritzing lightly as you go.


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## One Sassy One (Dec 10, 2013)

krandall said:


> You should never comb a Havanese coat dry. But you don't have to wet them through, either! A light spritz is all you need. You can use a specially designed coat spray, or an easy, inexpensive alternative is to get a small spray bottle from our local pharmacy and fill it with 1 part your normal conditioner and 9 parts water. (more or less&#8230; it doesn't have to be exact. I just eye-ball it!)
> 
> Spritz one section of coat and comb that out, then move to the next section, spritzing lightly as you go.


Thank you Karen. I have been using water and Sophie like me to squirt her face, it makes it easy to get her to sit still. We are not having issues with tangles yet. Do you have a recommendation for a coat spray?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

One Sassy One said:


> Thank you Karen. I have been using water and Sophie like me to squirt her face, it makes it easy to get her to sit still. We are not having issues with tangles yet. Do you have a recommendation for a coat spray?


Personally, I usually use the combination of water and conditioner. If I use anything else, it's CC's Ice on Ice. I particularly like this on his feet and tail, because once dry, it tends to help shed dirt a little more easily.


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## Harlie'sMom (Nov 13, 2013)

I want to thank all who weighed in on our current 'bad hair day' issue. I have been able to keep the mats at bay with daily combing/brushing. I have been spritzing with the water/conditioner mix but I may look into getting Ice on Ice that Karen mentioned, I have read of it on another site and it has favorable reviews. I am lucky that Henry doesn't seem to mind all this daily brushing but I will be very happy when it is over. The silver lining is that at least his hair is not all over the furniture & floor like it is when my Cavalier King Charles sheds her coat. Thanks again everyone for your expertise...hope to be able to repay some day. :thumb:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Harlie'sMom said:


> I want to thank all who weighed in on our current 'bad hair day' issue. I have been able to keep the mats at bay with daily combing/brushing. I have been spritzing with the water/conditioner mix but I may look into getting Ice on Ice that Karen mentioned, I have read of it on another site and it has favorable reviews. I am lucky that Henry doesn't seem to mind all this daily brushing but I will be very happy when it is over. The silver lining is that at least his hair is not all over the furniture & floor like it is when my Cavalier King Charles sheds her coat. Thanks again everyone for your expertise...hope to be able to repay some day. :thumb:


Just remember, if you don't plan to keep him in a puppy coat, you will STILL need to plan on grooming him almost daily. The difference is that it won't be a DISASTER if you have to miss a day once in a while, and that daily grooming wo't take nearly as long. Just a few minutes will do it! But Havanese, like ALL coated breeds definitely require regular grooming if they aren't kept clipped pretty short.


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## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

I try to brush Manny daily. It's so much easier since I learned to spritz his coat prior to brushing.


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## One Sassy One (Dec 10, 2013)

krandall said:


> You should never comb a Havanese coat dry. But you don't have to wet them through, either! A light spritz is all you need. You can use a specially designed coat spray, or an easy, inexpensive alternative is to get a small spray bottle from our local pharmacy and fill it with 1 part your normal conditioner and 9 parts water. (more or less&#8230; it doesn't have to be exact. I just eye-ball it!)
> 
> Spritz one section of coat and comb that out, then move to the next section, spritzing lightly as you go.


Thank you so much for all of your help Karen it has been very nice to have so much support


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

I spray Cuba with Groom Professional Matt Magic de-mating and detangling spray before combing; and I love Warren London's hydrating butter - a bit of that rubbed into a matt makes it so much easier to get out gently with a comb. So far I've been very lucky with her coat - I'm combing a lot out every day (I groom her once a day at the moment, sometimes twice) so I think she is blowing coat, or at least beginning to, but it doesn't seem to matt too terribly badly; maybe the hydrating butter that I use at the end of grooming in the hopes that it'll deter the matts from forming actually is working. I'm not sure. I'm not prepared to leave it off just to see what happens if I don't do it! There are so many horror stories about blowing coat on this forum, I live in dread of a sudden matt nightmare!!


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## Harlie'sMom (Nov 13, 2013)

Lalla said:


> I spray Cuba with Groom Professional Matt Magic de-mating and detangling spray before combing; and I love Warren London's hydrating butter - a bit of that rubbed into a matt makes it so much easier to get out gently with a comb. So far I've been very lucky with her coat - I'm combing a lot out every day (I groom her once a day at the moment, sometimes twice) so I think she is blowing coat, or at least beginning to, but it doesn't seem to matt too terribly badly; maybe the hydrating butter that I use at the end of grooming in the hopes that it'll deter the matts from forming actually is working. I'm not sure. I'm not prepared to leave it off just to see what happens if I don't do it! There are so many horror stories about blowing coat on this forum, I live in dread of a sudden matt nightmare!!


I've had good luck with the water/conditioner mix so far keeping Sir Henrys' coat of mats in check. Based on some of the horror stories I've been reading, I don't think he has it as bad as others. That being said, after viewing the hydrating butter reviews, I just completed my order on line. Thanks for the helpful hint Lalla, I will post an update when it arrives and I have tried it on Sir Henry.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Harlie'sMom said:


> I've had good luck with the water/conditioner mix so far keeping Sir Henrys' coat of mats in check. Based on some of the horror stories I've been reading, I don't think he has it as bad as others. That being said, after viewing the hydrating butter reviews, I just completed my order on line. Thanks for the helpful hint Lalla, I will post an update when it arrives and I have tried it on Sir Henry.


Just looked at your message including my post quoted, noticed my typo "de-mating" and wished, given that Cuba has just come to the end of her first season, that I had indeed had some de-mating spray!!!! Hope the hydrating butter works for you - you need very little - a pea-sized amount goes a long way and it's lovely stuff, does my hands no end of good!!!


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

I often work a small amount of Warren London Hydrating Butter into Leo's coat as a final bath step before blowing him dry. Great stuff!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Pucks104 said:


> I often work a small amount of Warren London Hydrating Butter into Leo's coat as a final bath step before blowing him dry. Great stuff!


Glad you agree, Pucks104. It really does seem to be good stuff. My only caveat is that the pump action bottle stopped working quite a bit before it was finished, which was irritating; I stored it upended so that I could get the remaining 'butter' out by hand which is less convenient; I'm onto a new bottle now, so maybe it'll turn out to have been just a quirk of that particular bottle. Hope so.


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## HavMe1 (Jan 17, 2014)

@Lalla - do you find your babies' coats attract more dirt and get dingy quicker when the conditioning butter is used? Thanks for the info!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

HavMe1 said:


> @Lalla - do you find your babies' coats attract more dirt and get dingy quicker when the conditioning butter is used? Thanks for the info!


No, I really don't think so, but I am very sparing with it, and use it mostly in places where that wouldn't be an issue, like underarms, back of legs etc. I do leave a tiny bit in the coat generally, but a pea-sized amount for the whole lot.


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