# Coat blowing has begun!!!



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

So Rexy will be 9 months on June 8 and this morning during his daily comb out there is a big wicked mat in his left front arm pit! No sign of it yesterday and no harness or collar on him as I have been sick and not up for outings. I teased out the mat and have resigned myself to 2x weekly rather than weekly baths for the next several weeks. ?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pucks104 said:


> So Rexy will be 9 months on June 8 and this morning during his daily comb out there is a big wicked mat in his left front arm pit! No sign of it yesterday and no harness or collar on him as I have been sick and not up for outings. I teased out the mat and have resigned myself to 2x weekly rather than weekly baths for the next several weeks. ?


Yup! Panda just got one in the same place as well. Oh, what fun!!! And in the summer too! <sigh>


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

And, don't forget the 4+ times a day comb outs. :fear:


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Good luck. Hope it is not too bad for you and Rexy.


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## Hanna (Feb 25, 2016)

I don't know if you've already seen this, but I find this information really helpful when brushing/removing mat.


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## PaulineMi (Feb 5, 2016)

Hopefully this phase won't last long. Rexy sure is handsome.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hanna said:


> I don't know if you've already seen this, but I find this information really helpful when brushing/removing mat.


There is a lot of that article that is not appropriate for a Havanese coat. Mat rakes and blades are really not good tools, and you'll never get a mat apart with just your fingers. A good quality metal comb is your best tool for coat maintenance and mat removal. Either work a lot of corn starch into the mat (dry) and pick away at it from the outside edge, using the end of the comb, or saturate it in a good quality grooming spray and do the same.

...and any tool that you're told to keep away from the dog's skin is not a great choice for a Havanese... If you can't comb them to the skin, you ARE going to get mats.

Rexy's mam has gotten one Havanese through blowing coat already, and I know she knows the drill. (As does Sheri) regular baths (with Kodi every 4-5 days worked, with Pixel, it was twice a week) and thorough TO THE SKIN combing at least a couple of times a day is necessary for many of them. (I think that Wiki article was talking more about double coated shedding breeds, and the kind of mats they are likely to get)


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Sheri said:


> And, don't forget the 4+ times a day comb outs. :fear:


What!?! :smile2:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> What!?! :smile2:


Yeah, I was lucky with Kodi... i could get by with twice a day, as long as I made sure he didn't have the TINIEST mat before he went to bed for the night. But some people say that their dogs mat if anyone even touches them during blowing coat.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I think all I had to do in order for Tucker to get mats after I combed him out was to set him down off the grooming table. Voila! More mats.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

During coat blowing with Leo, I had to run the comb through several times each day, bath him twice each week, keep all collars and harnesses off (I learned the hard way), and teach DH not to touch Leo when I wasn't home! I made the mistake of putting his harness on and taking him for a nice long walk, about an hour. It took 3 hours of painstakingly slow tedious work to get all the mats out! 
So far the one mat in Rexy's armpit is the only big mat he has had though I don't expect it to be the last. What I am getting daily are the tiny little knots behind his ears and on his neck. We'll get through it hopefully by Summer's end.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

How long can the blowing coat thing last? Can they have it at 1 1/2 yrs. or would it be considered just regular matting at that age? We were mat free last time we went to the groomer so we didn't have to clip the coat, but this time Zoe is just about 1 big mat ball, mostly underneath, so I'm sure she's going to have to be clipped again.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Zoe093014 said:


> How long can the blowing coat thing last? Can they have it at 1 1/2 yrs. or would it be considered just regular matting at that age? We were mat free last time we went to the groomer so we didn't have to clip the coat, but this time Zoe is just about 1 big mat ball, mostly underneath, so I'm sure she's going to have to be clipped again.


I think the main coat blowing tends to happen btween 9-10 months to 15 months. Leo's lasted probably 2.5 months. Others have shared that coat blowing can happen again after illness. 
Routine grooming will help keep mats at bay if a comb is used to go over the whole dog down to the skin every day or two depending on your dogs coat. If you skim over the top of the coat with a brush or skip areas of the coat with the comb you'll get mats anytime. Coat blowing just makes matting more problematic because the puppy coat or older coat is coming out and being replaced by new coat. The loose hairs tend to get caught in the coat and felt or mat.


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

I thought Chi Chi was too young for coat blowing but found a mat twice this week. And a lot more hair loss during comb outs.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Blowing coat can happen more than once, also, and not just from illness. Tucker's first one was the worst, but then he also had a couple more times when I had to keep on top of the mats with multiple daily combings, but it wasn't as bad as the first one. I don't remember how old he was at those times because I guess I just blocked it from my mind! Lol!


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## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Blowing coat is something I'm massively worried about with Nino. He turns 8 months old right before I go back to school, and while I am able to drive home for full groomings (brush, bath, blow dry), I'm not sure I trust Momz with daily combing. He might end up spending a few weeks back at the breeders house hehe.

Mario was in a full coat until a year and 2 months, but I don't remember his coat blowing ever being bad. He managed to come out of it without being shaved down or completely thinned out, and that's a win in my book. Nino is related to Mario, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed his is just as easy.


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

I don't know if I'm just lucky, but I haven't noticed any difference. I've only had two bad mats, and one was due to a bug bite itch she kept biting. Her coat is definitely changing, so I don't know. I do a fast comb out or brush in the morning, and another most nights, but that's it. She's almost 14 months, so I'm guessing I missed it.


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## PaulineMi (Feb 5, 2016)

boomana said:


> I don't know if I'm just lucky, but I haven't noticed any difference. I've only had two bad mats, and one was due to a bug bite itch she kept biting. Her coat is definitely changing, so I don't know. I do a fast comb out or brush in the morning, and another most nights, but that's it. She's almost 14 months, so I'm guessing I missed it.


Lucky you! :thumb:


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

PaulineMi said:


> Lucky you! :thumb:


I agree! I should mention that she gets bathed at the groomer weekly, which I started at nine months when I saw her coat changing, fearing mats, so I'm pretty sure that's helped.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

boomana said:


> I agree! I should mention that she gets bathed at the groomer weekly, which I started at nine months when I saw her coat changing, fearing mats, so I'm pretty sure that's helped.


Hmmm...maybe I should start doing that. Zoe goes about every 6 wks.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pucks104 said:


> During coat blowing with Leo, I had to run the comb through several times each day, bath him twice each week, keep all collars and harnesses off (I learned the hard way), and teach DH not to touch Leo when I wasn't home! I made the mistake of putting his harness on and taking him for a nice long walk, about an hour. It took 3 hours of painstakingly slow tedious work to get all the mats out!
> So far the one mat in Rexy's armpit is the only big mat he has had though I don't expect it to be the last. What I am getting daily are the tiny little knots behind his ears and on his neck. We'll get through it hopefully by Summer's end.


Since the couple Panda had on her side (small ones) she has only had one more, also small, in that baby-fine hair on the inside of their hind legs. I actually cut that out... it just was in too painful a place to make her tolerate me combing it out, and it doesn't show anyway.

Kodi didn't have much undercoat as puppy, and Panda has even less, so I'm crossing my fingers that she won't be too bad through blowing coat. Her sire didn't develop much undercoat until he was close to two, and she's a lot like him. So I'm not concerned. I think it might even be an advantage at this point!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> How long can the blowing coat thing last? Can they have it at 1 1/2 yrs. or would it be considered just regular matting at that age? We were mat free last time we went to the groomer so we didn't have to clip the coat, but this time Zoe is just about 1 big mat ball, mostly underneath, so I'm sure she's going to have to be clipped again.


It varies tremendously from dog to dog, because their coats are so different. In Kodi's case, he blew pretty continually from 10 months 14 months, but the worst of it was in the middle of that period, and probably lasted about a month - 6 weeks. Then he blew lightly again at about 20 months and again when he was just over two.  I've heard that these multiple coat blows are pretty common, but each one was MUCH lighter than the one before. Since then, he has blown coat pretty badly once... after having a high fever in response to his last Rabies shot. (he has a waiver now)

My understanding is that t'very common for a high fever to interrupt coat growth in many species. Farmers will shear a sheep once it's healthy again after an illness rather than wait till normal shearing time. The reason is that the fever causes a weak spot in the hair. If that is on the end of each hair, it doesn't affect the quality of the wool. If it's in the middle, the yarn spun from the wool will be weak and prone to snapping.

Pixel's hair is very different than Kodi's her's is very, VERY soft and fine. The whole coat feels more like undercoat. She never had the drastic coat blow that Kodi had, but between the fact that her hair tends to mat easily because it's so fine AND her tendency to roll outdoors and come in COVERED with plant material, I just decided that a shorter coat was a better option for her... And I think it suits her looks and personality too!

But even with her puppy cut, I STILL have to comb her out several times a week or I'll find little mats. I don't think there are may Javanese that you can avoid regular grooming with unless they are basically shaved.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pucks104 said:


> I think the main coat blowing tends to happen btween 9-10 months to 15 months. Leo's lasted probably 2.5 months. Others have shared that coat blowing can happen again after illness.
> Routine grooming will help keep mats at bay if a comb is used to go over the whole dog down to the skin every day or two depending on your dogs coat. If you skim over the top of the coat with a brush or skip areas of the coat with the comb you'll get mats anytime. Coat blowing just makes matting more problematic because the puppy coat or older coat is coming out and being replaced by new coat. The loose hairs tend to get caught in the coat and felt or mat.


Ha! Should have read your post first before I answered! 

You are SO right about combing to the skin also. I comb Kodi out every 2-3 days or so now that his coat is fully mature, except that I always do it if we are going somewhere, because I like him to look his best. It takes me no more than 10 minutes to go through his whole coat, including putting his top knot up. It's NOT a lot of work if you know what you are doing. Last spring, I was away for about 8 days, and had someone come in in the middle of the day to play with the dogs, potty them and groom them. (Pixel was JUST cut down then, so she was a piece of cake) I THOUGHT I showed the gal how to do Kodi, but I don't think she got it. The photo below is what I pulled out of him the day I got home. I honestly think he would have been in better shape with no grooming. This is what you get when you go over the top and don't get down to the skin. He actually LOOKED OK... but the minute I touched him, I could feel that he was matted all over.

It's the worst matting he's had EVER... right down to the skin. A groomer, I'm sure would have shaved him naked. I just SOAKED him in Ice on Ice and SLOWLY took my time teasing every single mat out. It took me about 4 hours, and he obviously lost a lot of coat, but I wasn't willing to have him shaved.

BTW, that's a #5 Butter Comb there for scale, so it's NOT a small comb!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

boomana said:


> I don't know if I'm just lucky, but I haven't noticed any difference. I've only had two bad mats, and one was due to a bug bite itch she kept biting. Her coat is definitely changing, so I don't know. I do a fast comb out or brush in the morning, and another most nights, but that's it. She's almost 14 months, so I'm guessing I missed it.


There ARE some Javanese who have no (or minimal" adolescent coat blow. Pam King has told me that she has never noticed it on some of hers, and I have another friend whose dogs are all European lines, and none of hers have had noticeable matting as adolescents.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> Hmmm...maybe I should start doing that. Zoe goes about every 6 wks.


Absolutely!!! A clean coat mats MUCH less. I wash my dogs myself (it's really not hard... I bathe them right in the kitchen sink!) When Kodi was blowing coat, I bathed him every 4-5 days. Most of the time, I bathe him every 1-2 weeks. He never has gone more than 2 weeks between baths in his life. Pixel and Panda get baths weekly.


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

I can't believe how much hair that is for only eight days. Egad!



krandall said:


> There ARE some Javanese who have no (or minimal" adolescent coat blow. Pam King has told me that she has never noticed it on some of hers, and I have another friend whose dogs are all European lines, and none of hers have had noticeable matting as adolescents.


Lola's sire is from Hungary.

I used to bathe both mine, but since I don't have, and don't plan on getting the whole grooming get-up, especially the dryer, it takes forever to dry them, and what little free time I have with them, I decided I rather spend doing fun things. I decided Lola should be the one to go more often as she's the one who has had issues with people touching her.

On a funny side note, my neighbor/dog sitter is the one who takes them to the groomer every week. She told me that Lola is so comfortable with the routine, once in the door, they take off her leash, and she marches right to _her_ crate. A couple weeks ago, another dog was occupying it, and she threw a mini temper tantrum at the other dog. The groomer put the other dog in a different crate, and Lola went on in, snorting and hurrumphing her disapproval of the whole situation for a couple minutes afterward.


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

krandall said:


> There ARE some Javanese who have no (or minimal" adolescent coat blow.


Showing my ignorance again.......Javanese?? What in heck is that?


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

For those of you dealing with mats, don't forget the power of plain old cornstarch. I found it mentioned on this forum when I first got Willow and it really, really helps in working out mats. Just sprinkle it on the mat, work it in and voila! It helps the mats to loosen and slide apart.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Yes, keeping the coats clean makes a huge difference. In addition to the much more frequent combings, I also bathed weekly. A clean coat mats much less that a dirty one.

:bathbaby:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Showing my ignorance again.......Javanese?? What in heck is that?


That's a typo... :laugh: The j & h are side by side on the keyboard, and I often make typos when on my iPad. Sorry!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> For those of you dealing with mats, don't forget the power of plain old cornstarch. I found it mentioned on this forum when I first got Willow and it really, really helps in working out mats. Just sprinkle it on the mat, work it in and voila! It helps the mats to loosen and slide apart.


Yes, corn starch is extremely useful for one or two mats. But I've found that if mats ar extensive, CC Ice on Ice is my best friend.


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## Eveningpiper (Sep 23, 2015)

So it turns out that the advice to comb to the skin is actually essential even for short coats. We keep Ruby's coat short at about 1.5" and I brush her everyday and comb out her feet and legs because they get wet in the grass. She is ten months old and last week she got a mat in her armpit. That sounded like coat blowing had begun and my plan is to cut her hair extra short to survive this phase. My grooming appointment is next week. If I had to bring her to the groomer today I would have said that I had combed out the only mat that had been under her arm and that she was tangle free. But just to stay on top of things and since I had free time this morning I decided to follow the advice of combing to the skin. Well 4 hours later it turns out that she is full of tangles all over her body that I did not detect when brushing and handling her daily.:surprise: I was very surprised how hard the tangles are to detect unless you COMB TO THE SKIN. Lesson learned. The grooming appointment can't come soon enough.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I agree that it is not easy to comb completely to the skin. I'm still not great at completely combing through Scout's coat. I do try my best. It's easy to miss a mat on him. It has been helpful to watch the groomer. I have to say that Pure Paws H2O Hydrating Mist is helpful when breaking up mats. We have tried a lot of different products and so far this works best for him.


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

krandall said:


> That's a typo... :laugh: The j & h are side by side on the keyboard, and I often make typos when on my iPad. Sorry!


I kind of thought that was a typo but when I Googled Javanese Havanese I got some sites to come up! I guess you are not the only one that has made that typo!


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## PaulineMi (Feb 5, 2016)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> I kind of thought that was a typo but when I Googled Javanese Havanese I got some sites to come up! I guess you are not the only one that has made that typo!


So after reading your post I had to try it. I Googled just the word "Javanese". Come to find out there's a breed of cat called Javanese. Lol.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

PaulineMi said:


> So after reading your post I had to try it. I Googled just the word "Javanese". Come to find out there's a breed of cat called Javanese. Lol.


Yes, I knew about the cats, but that's not what I meant! :laugh:


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