# Short hair vs long hair



## ChestertheJester10912 (Jul 10, 2013)

Last May like maybe towards the end of it my mother brought our puppy into get a summer haircut but it was much different than a trim. Since we have such humid summers my mother made him get a total shave down. At first I thought it was cute and very weird because he went from the long hair black, brown, ( and silver in some areas) plump looking puppy to totally different skinny silver blue grey short haired havanese. The avatar I have now is of him after his haircut and its been about two months and a little has grown back but not much. I miss his long hair and I am worried that his hair wont be the same colour it used to be. He was handsome and very funny with his long hair and I swear its been two months since his haircut but nothing really grew back. I wish my mother never cut it in the first place because I have no idea when it will be long again and hopefully by October because where we live canada: ) we have a long cold winter with a lot of :smow:
Does anyone else prefer the long or short hair?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Well, obviously, I prefer long, as you can see from my sig photo. (the avatar is Kodi as a little puppy)  But a Hav is a Hav in any length coat, and it is totally your decision. 

That said, it is NOT true that Havs are more comfortable in short hair for the summer. Their hair actually is excellent insulation from the heat. You need to be very careful of the skin of a Hav that is shaved, because they can get badly sunburned, though if it has been two months since his shave, he probably has at least enough hair by now to protect him from the sun. 

His hair may or may not get darker again as it grows out... it depends how much of that darker color was in the outer coat. You are seeing a lot more of his undercoat now than you would see if he were in full coat. But if his hair was in the process of changing anyway, and they often do, the shave may have just hurried the inevitable.

Whether to keep a Hav in long coat or not is entirely personal preference. A long coat is certainly more work for the owner, and if not carefully groomed, a matted coat can be very uncomfortable and unhealthy for the dog. A lot of people prefer the "puppy look" of a Hav in shorter hair too. But there is no reason to cut them down for any other reason than owner convenience and preference.


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

welcome, Chester is a cutie either way. Where in Ont. are you?:canada:


----------



## ChestertheJester10912 (Jul 10, 2013)

we brush his hair everyday and a couple days ago I washed it. I never knew dogs could get sunburned. Okay actually I never knew king haired dogs could get it., I thought it was shorthaired ones. Your dog is very handsome btw, I love long haired dogs myself because to me they have such a personality with long hair and look crazy pretty or funny with it.

Plus their is people in my neighborhood with only short haired dogs and the few with the long haired dogs get a bunch of looks their way and next time I see them I see their dogs with short hair.
Also do you think long hair protects a havanese if they were attacked by a dogs? I sound like an idiot asking but he is my first dog so I just full of questions


----------



## ChestertheJester10912 (Jul 10, 2013)

We live in the York Region of Ontario right around Newmarket. The winters aren't the coldest but last winter the snow came over my knee and he was hilarious trying to move around the snow lol!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ChestertheJester10912 said:


> we brush his hair everyday and a couple days ago I washed it. I never knew dogs could get sunburned. Okay actually I never knew king haired dogs could get it., I thought it was shorthaired ones. Your dog is very handsome btw, I love long haired dogs myself because to me they have such a personality with long hair and look crazy pretty or funny with it.
> 
> Plus their is people in my neighborhood with only short haired dogs and the few with the long haired dogs get a bunch of looks their way and next time I see them I see their dogs with short hair.
> Also do you think long hair protects a havanese if they were attacked by a dogs? I sound like an idiot asking but he is my first dog so I just full of questions


Well, I can tell you that Kodi was once grabbed by a neighbor's dog, who came away with only hair in his mouth. That said, my trainer says that any bite from another dog that doesn't draw blood, wasn't meant to draw blood.<g> Still it has to be better than nothing.


----------



## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I prefer a nice even puppy cut. I like it when the pups legs are left full like a column, not shaved to the contour of leg/foot. I do my guys so they don't look perfect


----------



## Ruth4Havs (May 13, 2013)

Prefer medium/long coat - probably going to keep Chester in that. Think it looks so natural and beautiful.


----------



## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Honestly I love a cute, GOOD puppy cut, BUT I choose to do all of Tillie's grooming myself, sooooooo, she is long haired! ha ha, it is actually way easier for me to keep her long that to trim her down.  She is 3 yrs old now though, so her coat is finally mature and pretty easy to take care of. That said, I do love the velvet feel of a hav in a puppy cut!!


----------



## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I have one of each! Dexter will be kept in a med/short groom...he hates grooming. Jack is my long haired treasure. Jack tolerates the grooming better than Dexter. I have also found the older the Hav is the easier it is to manage a long haired Hav. Who knows, one day I may end up grooming Jack like Dexter. 

And, I really think all the hair these little guys have protect them from fights. A long haired Hav looks so big with all the hair. And, I think if a dog grabs them, they will end up with a lot of hair in their mouth.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

In my dreams my two have a luxuriously long coat that never mats and that they can groom themselves. 
In reality, they are groomed (by my marvelous groomer) once a month in a teddy clip.

I'll live vicariously through Kodi and the other long haired beauties on this forum!


----------



## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

I picked this breed because I love long haired dogs.


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

whimsy said:


> I picked this breed because I love long haired dogs.


Evelyn , I bet you were a long haired granola girl in the sixties ehh? :boink:


----------



## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

davetgabby said:


> Evelyn , I bet you were a long haired granola girl in the sixties ehh? :boink:


yep!! not sure about the granola tho.


----------



## Bidik (Aug 23, 2012)

Cora too is sporting a puppy cut for a month now. It took some time to adjust for both of us. he was lovely in long a coat but a heat wave in June (we too live in Ontario, you probably remember of the three day heat wave) made me give him an extra short hair cut. My experience so far:
1) more than once we had other dogs chasing him in the dog park and not very playfully. He looked more like rabbit than a fur ball. In each case, I got uncomfortable and left the park. well, once after giving the other dog's dad a piece of my mind.
2) maybe because his long hair is no longer weighting him down before, he got hyper with short hair. Hyper like a Jack Russel :jaw: 

3) he wants to jump in when anybody is taking a shower. short hair was a life saver as we can let him air dry.

4) shorter hair might help with the fleas (?) but not with the burrs and the bushes. Cora chases after rabbits, birds and sometimes insects like there is no tomorrow. He cut himself several times. Wonder if longer coat would protect him a little more.

All and all I am happy with my decision but also looking forward to his lustrous coat back in the fall.


----------



## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

I like long hair.  I used to have 3 persian cats. I have two standard poodles that are kept in poodle cuts but topknots ears and tails are long and fluffy. My Bugsy has always had long hair and get daily brushings. I bath him once a month with feet, face, butt as needed.


----------



## ChestertheJester10912 (Jul 10, 2013)

only thing that annoys me about their beautiful hair is not the matting but its when they go to the bathroom.
My zio noticed that while he was pooping that he was bobbing his butt to get it out of his fur. My mother shaves his butt every month and if we didn't the poo would cause a major matt. I also agree with you *Whimsy*. Except my mother picked the breed out and only because she love long haired dogs and because Havanese can barely shed. But we picked Chester not because of his hair but because of his personality and mellowness. He was a very calm , non-hyper puppy when we picked him out and he still is today.


----------



## Ewokpup (Nov 3, 2012)

I haven't figured out what length is best for Bear yet. I need to post pics of the recent grooming trip.


----------

