# Show Dog Grooming



## PebblesPages

I would like my Hav to have the show dog look, but I would like to cut/maintain myself. I can't a single book or YouTube video that shows how to cut/maintain the long haired Hav. Lots of info on the puppy cut, but this is not my cup of tea. Can you guys point me in the right direction for material?


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## TilliesMom

welcome and how old is your hav?? 
There is a ton of info here on the forum and we all love to talk grooming supplies! 

What products/combs are you using at this point?


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## sandypaws

Just ordered a copy of "From Nose to Tail" put out by the Havanese Club of Canada. I haven't received it as yet, but it is a grooming book re the Hav and may have grooming tips for the longer haired Hav. Perhaps someone who has read the book can shed some light on this better than I can. Anybody care to weigh in?


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## The Laughing Magpie

There are some show breeders on the forum so maybe they will chime in. Havanese need their coat maintained, but for show do not get clipped ever....you are allowed to make their paws neat and do a slight sanitary. Some show homes do not trim the paws and this may have to do with coat type. I notice with my guys Misty has an uneven pattern of growth with her paws, or it could be the hair breaks when running and playing, so I trim hers, my boy Yogi I never trim his paws his are neat and fluffy with out doing anything. 

As far as maintaining their coats...there are different coat types. I will use my guys as an example if I were showing Misty: She has a very silky coat almost straight, she seldom gets a mat but her coat can look flat after a couple of days, so she is a dog that would need to be bathed on the same day as the show. Yogi has big coat a bit wavey, with a cottoney undercoat...this makes the hair stand away from his skin (we call it big Texas hair) his coat type would do best bathed the day before and brushed out on show day, this gives time for the undercoat to settle giving a nice smooth look and good flow.

Eye care is important even if your dog is not white, depending on the structure of the eye sockets some Hav"s get tear staining, you need to keep the area cleaned and dry everyday, some people use angel eyes but that is a personal thing. 

You will need to get your pup use to brushing starting on the first day, you will need to brush often when your pup goes through coat blowing, you will need to brush several times a day to say ahead of matting and knotting at that time. When your pup is past the blowing stage and depending on lifestyle maintaining the coat becomes easier.

There are many threads of grooming products but there is always room for another. I personally 'never' use a slicker brush and don't own one, they can make the job easier but you do lose/break coat ...I don't use one because I use to show Shih Tzu's and my partner did not believe in them...so after all these years I don't have a need, also I find for me the Havanese coat easier to keep matt free.

Hope this helps. You can read the standred on the AKC site and you can see pictures of Havanese champions to help you get the look you want. Much can be accomplished with the Havanese by knowing how to blow dry and brush in a professional manner.


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## HalleBerry

Halle is my first (and only) havanese, and she's just now turned a year old - so by no means am I the voice of experience. However, she is shown and she is in full coat (or as much as she has grown so far). I trim the hair between her paws - and thin the hair that hits the ground from her feet; otherwise she's combed & brushed daily, and bathed on a regular basis. Since she goes outside to play, that is typically twice a week now, although it was only one a week when she was younger. When she shows, she is bathed every day. She still has a puppy coat - it isn't as full and long as it will be when she's older.


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## Suzi

Their is a great video that I have in my documents called grooming 101 . I wish I could direct you to where I found it. The woman who was teaching was written up in the Havanese magazine. Any way for me the hardest part about a full coat was coordinating my brush with a blower. You want the hair to dry from the end side out. I think the other challenge is just keeping up with it so you don't have a matted mess. A friend taught me how to trim the pads and around the feet . I have never done sanitary cuts and havn't needed too. I'll see if I can download the video to utube.


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## Tuss

sandypaws said:


> Just ordered a copy of "From Nose to Tail" put out by the Havanese Club of Canada. I haven't received it as yet, but it is a grooming book re the Hav and may have grooming tips for the longer haired Hav. Perhaps someone who has read the book can shed some light on this better than I can. Anybody care to weigh in?


I have this book; it's very complete


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## heatherk

Tuss said:


> I have this book; it's very complete


I'll have to check it out. Cey is in full coat, but I know what I know about grooming him only from this forum!


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## HalleBerry

From Nose to Tail is the most helpful book I've read about Havanese!


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## The Laughing Magpie

It is a very nice book...I have a copy and have given some as gifts. The book is geared toward the pet havanese, there is about a page maybe 2 on show grooming but they do say the book is geared to the pet owner who wants to groom their pet at home. They also have some great pictures of different pet havanese with different cuts and coat styles. The book is full of helpful tips, I bought the book when I first got Yogi...my dogs are in full coat...but full coat and show coat are often different.


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## krandall

The Laughing Magpie said:


> I bought the book when I first got Yogi...my dogs are in full coat...but full coat and show coat are often different.


I agree. I have the book too, and enjoyed it. I was fortunate that Kodi's coat has never been that difficult to deal with... Even during the worst of blowing coat, I didn't have the problems some people on the forum report. BUT... I also didn't sweat the small stuff. I wanted him in full coat, but I also wasn't going to show him in conformation. So if he got a knot or two in an arm pit, I had NO problem just cutting it out, and saving him the discomfort of having to have it tediously combed or brushed out. He gets his feet and nails and sanitary trimmed every 3 weeks. Otherwise, his coat has not ever been clipped.

I love the way he looks, and keep him looking tidy by bathing him weekly and combing him out daily (but it only takes me 10 minutes to do that, including putting his hair up). But I have no false illusions. I know that if someone were to show him in conformation, they would want to do a LOT more with his coat than I do.:biggrin1:


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## sandypaws

I think Kodi looks awesome, Karen. His coat is beautiful and you do a great job keeping it that way. I guess a silky coat has its rewards.


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## ClaireVoyant

Where are you finding this book? I can generally find most any book on Amazon, but not this one. I checked for electronic versions and can't find those either, but would love to have a copy. Isabella has the dreaded cotton coat and blowing coat was a nightmare for both of us and heaven forbid, she's showing signs of round two. Praying it's not as horrid as the first go round.

Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## HalleBerry

Here is the book: http://www.havanesefanciers.com/nosetotailbook/

I'm not the voice of authority, but the friends that I know with havs in full show coat don't do a lot more with the coats.... we shampoo & condition (and the CC After U Bathe is a wonderful 3rd addition). The whites have to stay clean, so some of them don't get to go outside. Halle does - and I dry her feet if they get damp so she doesn't lick them. Trim the hair at the corner of her eyes - check for ear hair - clean up her feet and she's ready to go in the ring. Havs with a really heavy undercoat are often flat ironed, to tone down the bushy-ness - and in the ring they go. The coat is easier to comb out when it's clean, hence the frequent bathing - lots of misting/conditioning to keep the hair from breaking.


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> Here is the book: http://www.havanesefanciers.com/nosetotailbook/
> 
> I'm not the voice of authority, but the friends that I know with havs in full show coat don't do a lot more with the coats.... we shampoo & condition (and the CC After U Bathe is a wonderful 3rd addition). The whites have to stay clean, so some of them don't get to go outside. Halle does - and I dry her feet if they get damp so she doesn't lick them. Trim the hair at the corner of her eyes - check for ear hair - clean up her feet and she's ready to go in the ring. Havs with a really heavy undercoat are often flat ironed, to tone down the bushy-ness - and in the ring they go. The coat is easier to comb out when it's clean, hence the frequent bathing - lots of misting/conditioning to keep the hair from breaking.


I think, from talking to my show friends, it's all the extra bathing that would get me!:biggrin1: Kodi definitely wouldn't need flatironing, but for him to look like the typical "show ring Hav" he'd have to be bathed and blow dried to fluff him up the day of the show. He would need "puffing up" rather than "flattening out".


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## HalleBerry

Ah yes, the extra bathing.... Halle is bathed (normally) twice a week - daily when she shows - and it's the shampoo, rinse, whitening shampoo, set ten minutes, rinse, after u bathe, set 3 minutes, rinse, condition, rinse routine that is the killer. The drying (thanks to my wonderful CC dryer) only takes about 20 minutes tops - but washing much longer.


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> Ah yes, the extra bathing.... Halle is bathed (normally) twice a week - daily when she shows - and it's the shampoo, rinse, whitening shampoo, set ten minutes, rinse, after u bathe, set 3 minutes, rinse, condition, rinse routine that is the killer. The drying (thanks to my wonderful CC dryer) only takes about 20 minutes tops - but washing much longer.


Yeah, THAT'S the part I would find very tedious!:biggrin1:


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## HalleBerry

Tedious is an understatement! Once Halle finishes her Grand, she'll "retire" to just being a puppy - so I'm hopeful that I can limit the bathing to twice a week at the most. And that's just because she gets filthy playing in the yard and she's harder to comb out when she's dirty.


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> Tedious is an understatement! Once Halle finishes her Grand, she'll "retire" to just being a puppy - so I'm hopeful that I can limit the bathing to twice a week at the most. And that's just because she gets filthy playing in the yard and she's harder to comb out when she's dirty.


Kodi is outside quite a bit, and I can get by with bathing him just once a week, unless he gets REALLY gross on a walk in the woods in between. Most of the time, I can get by with occasional belly/leg rinses if he gets grimy in between. If he goes longer than 10 days, he starts to get more tangles. But I think he's older than Halle too. It has really been within the last year that his coat has become really easy to manage. (he's 3 1/2 now)

Are you planning on breeding Halle? Or did you just want to show her for the fun of it? I know I don't want to get into breeding, but I AM thinking it might be fun to have the experience of showing my next dog in the breed ring. (like I don't have enough to do in the performance ring... WHAT am I THINKING of!!!:brick:ound


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## HalleBerry

So there's hope???? Halle just turned one last week, so she's a long way from that - but I really do like the full coat and I'm hopeful that I can keep it up. Time will tell....


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> So there's hope???? Halle just turned one last week, so she's a long way from that - but I really do like the full coat and I'm hopeful that I can keep it up. Time will tell....


Kodi's coat was DEFINITELY the hardest from 10-18 months. During the worst of that period, I was bathing him every 4-5 days, for the same reason you mentioned... the cleaner he was, the less mats he got. Now he NEVER gets mats... I occasionally find little knots, usually in arm pits or where his car harness goes, that are easily combed out, literally in seconds, during regular grooming. I have been away twice for 5 days at a time in the last 6-8 months, where Kodi has had NO grooming, and has spent his days playing with his BFF GSD friend. When I've gotten home, he has definitely needed a bath because he was smelly in that big-dog way, but no knots at all!

Unless they are the curly coated type (and it doesn't look like Halle is) I think they all DO get much easier when their coat is fully mature. It just takes a long time to get to that point! ...and how MUCH easier still depends on coat type. I'm sure the cottony coated ones, and ones with a dense undercoat are still going to need more grooming than a silky coated one with a lighter undercoat. (Kodi clearly has an undercoat, but it is nowhere NEAR as dense as some of my friend's Havs)


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## krandall

BTW, I think we need some more Halle pix!


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## HalleBerry

That's my hope - Halle doesn't have a really heavy coat (one of her BFF's looks like a bushel basket when he isn't flat ironed - I had my friend bring him over like that one time - it scared the crap out of my husband LOLOLOL). Halle's uncle (who is the reason I have a havanese, he is the MOST wonderful dog ever) has the silkier coat as does her mother, so I'm hopeful that Halle will take after that side of the family.


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## HalleBerry

She's hard to take a picture of - she is glued to me once I get home from work.... I want pictures of her running agility, but she usually has the entire crowd in hysterics as we try to recapture her. She LOVES it - but she's really not under control, and will run backwards and forwards through the obstacles - ESPECIALLY the tunnels. On leash, she's great. Off leash - she's teaching the rest of her class to RLH! :whoo:

She has "formal" pictures here http://sardigreatdanes.com/havanese/halle


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> She's hard to take a picture of - she is glued to me once I get home from work.... I want pictures of her running agility, but she usually has the entire crowd in hysterics as we try to recapture her. She LOVES it - but she's really not under control, and will run backwards and forwards through the obstacles - ESPECIALLY the tunnels. On leash, she's great. Off leash - she's teaching the rest of her class to RLH! :whoo:
> 
> She has "formal" pictures here http://sardigreatdanes.com/havanese/halle


Oh, she's beautiful!!! Her coat looks very much like Kodi's did at that age. I bet she'll be a lot easier in a couple of years!

And as far as the agility is concerned... we went through a period of Kodi "running amok" on a regular basis too. I had to slow everything WAY down, with LOTS of cookies for attention and staying with me, and FORGET about speed. The speed is in there, it's following directions that they need to learn!ound:


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## HalleBerry

Thank you so much! I do so love the little terror.... tonight she actually made it over the dog walk, through the tunnel AND made the teensy jump (they lay the bars on the ground for her so she doesn't lift yet) afterwards - and didn't run the entire room in circles! Yippee!!!! One day at a time.... once she finishes the Grand she'll go back to obedience and I'll see if I can't encourage a little control. But she's just so darn cute running with all that hair floating in the breeze!


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## whimsy

I looked at all your pictures and she sure is a little doll!


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## HalleBerry

Thank you so much! 

I've worked very hard to keep her coat up - I love the look of a havanese in full show coat, so my hope is that I can keep it up over the years. The "show" people we have met ringside have been very very nice, and have given my handler & myself suggestions that have helped us a lot in keeping up her coat.


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## krandall

HalleBerry said:


> But she's just so darn cute running with all that hair floating in the breeze!


My family says Kodi should be in shampoo commercials!ound:


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## HalleBerry

I think your family is right!!!!


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## Piper's Mom

Suzi said:


> Their is a great video that I have in my documents called grooming 101 . I wish I could direct you to where I found it.


Looks like I'm a little late to this but I'm pretty sure I know the video you're talking about here. If not then this is still a great video that shows bathing and brushing/drying. It can be found at www.talemakerhavanese.com and there is a link to download the video on the right hand side of the homepage, the third widget from the top called "Grooming 101". I actually just got my first hav about three weeks ago, and one of Nathan and Darlah's (Darlah is who made the video) boys is my pup's sire!


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## PebblesPages

TilliesMom said:


> welcome and how old is your hav??
> There is a ton of info here on the forum and we all love to talk grooming supplies!
> 
> What products/combs are you using at this point?


She was born Sept 2, 2012.


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## PebblesPages

HalleBerry said:


> Halle is my first (and only) havanese, and she's just now turned a year old - so by no means am I the voice of experience. However, she is shown and she is in full coat (or as much as she has grown so far). I trim the hair between her paws - and thin the hair that hits the ground from her feet; otherwise she's combed & brushed daily, and bathed on a regular basis. Since she goes outside to play, that is typically twice a week now, although it was only one a week when she was younger. When she shows, she is bathed every day. She still has a puppy coat - it isn't as full and long as it will be when she's older.


Let me know if you are successful at posting the video to YouTube.


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## PebblesPages

HalleBerry said:


> Ah yes, the extra bathing.... Halle is bathed (normally) twice a week - daily when she shows - and it's the shampoo, rinse, whitening shampoo, set ten minutes, rinse, after u bathe, set 3 minutes, rinse, condition, rinse routine that is the killer. The drying (thanks to my wonderful CC dryer) only takes about 20 minutes tops - but washing much longer.


What is the name of your whitening shampoo?

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## HalleBerry

I have two.... Chris Christensen White on White for her feet/legs/front, and Panagenics now makes one called Whiten that I use on her face.


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## PebblesPages

Why two different poos?


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## HalleBerry

I love the CC White on White - I'm just playing with the Panagenics to see if it's any different. I'm always worried about anything I get too close to her eyes.


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## PebblesPages

I was looking at ratings on Amazon.Com and they are all over the place on whitening shampoo. SynergyLabs Veterinary Formula Solutions Snow White Shampoo, Bio-Groom Super White Pet Shampoo, and Rosie B. Good Brighter Than White Cloud Shampoo seem to stand out. Any testimonials?


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## krandall

PebblesPages said:


> I was looking at ratings on Amazon.Com and they are all over the place on whitening shampoo. SynergyLabs Veterinary Formula Solutions Snow White Shampoo, Bio-Groom Super White Pet Shampoo, and Rosie B. Good Brighter Than White Cloud Shampoo seem to stand out. Any testimonials?


My favorite whitening shampoos are Biogroom Super White and CC White on White.


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## Suzi

My first whitening shampoo was bought just at pet co and was Paul Mitchell. Now I have a bio groom super white. I haven't noticed a difference between the two. When I was showing Zoey I was much more concerned about her face, paws and back end. Someone at a show told me Lazer Lites and that worked the best. I tried it again last bath but it didn't pull the yellow of like when I used it weekly. 
I'm like Halle mom It worries me using things around the eyes, Mine lick their mouths when I try to shampoo their face that also bothers me . Shampoo in the mouth that cant be good? Halle is very pretty


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## HalleBerry

Oh, thank you so much! I do so love the little hairy beast


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