# Oliver is 6 months old



## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

He is such a love! I’ve never had such a cuddly, sweet dog (though my kids are always yelling, “Oliver WANTS you, Mommy!” to the point I feel like I have another baby). He’s growing out of biting (people, but their clothing is a work in progress). And potty training is going great. We haven’t had an accident in a long time. 

A couple of things. We are doing his first groom on Tuesday and I’d like to keep him in a puppy cut, though I’ve met two Havanese owners so far that had their dog’s hair cut VERY short and I don’t want the groomer to do that. We got a referral for a mobile groomer from our neighbor that comes highly rated but they have big dogs. I’m attracted to the whole mobile part, lol. His hair is getting long but it’s not super curly. It’s much thicker than I realized though. 

Which brings me to my second question. I bathed him the other day and was actually worried he’s too thin. He’s 8 lbs but honestly without the hair he looks so fragile. My husband had said he felt really thin but I didn’t notice till the bath. I increased his food, but he’s kind of meh about eating in general. I know 8 lbs isn’t small, but for his body I think it might be. He’s already 9.5 inches tall. The vet wasn’t worried at last check, though. I just want him to be healthy. 
I’m attaching a bath pic so you can see what I mean. 

Third question! Haha sorry. I know there are a lot of conversations about Hav weight, but I’m interested in what age your dog was when they reached their full height? 

The other two pics are my son holding him at 11 weeks and today at 25 weeks. And him about 30 min after bath, blow dried 🙂


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Cute photos!

Our groomer recommended that if we ever decided to give Shama a puppy cut we have the groomer cut her to three inches with scissors and leave the ears and tail long. We haven't ever cut her hair.

Here's a thread about the coat of the Havanese:

https://www.havaneseforum.com/6-general-discussion/134534-long-coats-really-insulating.html

Eight pounds for a six month old seems good to me since Shama only weighs 8.5 pounds now, at age four. Our vet said she should not gain any more weight as she has a small frame. She said you should be able to feel a dog's ribs when you touch her sides. DH and I think Oliver looks fine in your bath photo.

I don't recall when Shama reached her full height. Her fluffy coat definitely makes her look heavier than she is. Attached are three photos from her first grooming session when she was three months old as well as a photo taken two summers ago. We only have that one photo of her in the bath . . .

Enjoy your little one! He'll grow fast!


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## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

I remember being shocked at how tiny they looked in the bath. Huge difference when all that fluff is wet. He doesn’t seem too thin to me either. Just keep an eye on it if you are concerned. He is a beautiful little boy.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

They look sort of like drowned rats when wet. LOL! All of mine were a bit skinny as adolescents and all filled out after a year.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Oliver is a beautiful boy and looks perfect to me!


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

Oliver is so cute. He doesn't seem too thin to me. I went back and looked at Loki's weight over time. He weighted about 8 lbs at 6 mos. and slowly gained through about 2 yrs. when he leveled out at about 14.5 lbs.


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

A couple of things. We are doing his first groom on Tuesday and I’d like to keep him in a puppy cut, though I’ve met two Havanese owners so far that had their dog’s hair cut VERY short and I don’t want the groomer to do that. We got a referral for a mobile groomer from our neighbor that comes highly rated but they have big dogs. I’m attracted to the whole mobile part, lol. His hair is getting long but it’s not super curly. It’s much thicker than I realized though. 

At first the groomer scissor cut Loki to about 3”. When he went through blowing coat, I went shorter because he matted everyday. He is a cotton ball - hopefully, Oliver will be silkier. Because he still mats, I keep him about 1 1/2”. The groomer has never cut his ears or tail and we keep his beard longer. I like that he looks like a grown-up Havi and I can keep up with ears, tail and beard.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Oh thank you guys for the reassurance! I
Swear this is like worrying about an infant lol!


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

ShamaMama said:


> Cute photos!
> 
> Our groomer recommended that if we ever decided to give Shama a puppy cut we have the groomer cut her to three inches with scissors and leave the ears and tail long. We haven't ever cut her hair.
> 
> ...


I love those pics! Shama is adorable!


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Barbara Levy said:


> A couple of things. We are doing his first groom on Tuesday and I'd like to keep him in a puppy cut, though I've met two Havanese owners so far that had their dog's hair cut VERY short and I don't want the groomer to do that. We got a referral for a mobile groomer from our neighbor that comes highly rated but they have big dogs. I'm attracted to the whole mobile part, lol. His hair is getting long but it's not super curly. It's much thicker than I realized though.
> 
> At first the groomer scissor cut Loki to about 3". When he went through blowing coat, I went shorter because he matted everyday. He is a cotton ball - hopefully, Oliver will be silkier. Because he still mats, I keep him about 1 1/2". The groomer has never cut his ears or tail and we keep his beard longer. I like that he looks like a grown-up Havi and I can keep up with ears, tail and beard.


Aww Loki is so cute!!! I love all the hair types on Havanese, and the lengths. I feel like I'm spending more time picking out a hairstyle for this dog than I do for myself lol. What age do they start getting a lot of mats? Is that in the blowing coat stage? Oliver doesn't have very curly hair, and I don't usually have much trouble combing through it. I get a few mats at the feet, which definitely need trimming. I'm waiting for this to get worse!


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

This is him right after the blow dry. It’s crazy how much bigger he looks.


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

Melissa Woods said:


> Aww Loki is so cute!!! I love all the hair types on Havanese, and the lengths. I feel like I'm spending more time picking out a hairstyle for this dog than I do for myself lol. What age do they start getting a lot of mats? Is that in the blowing coat stage? Oliver doesn't have very curly hair, and I don't usually have much trouble combing through it. I get a few mats at the feet, which definitely need trimming. I'm waiting for this to get worse!


It was such a nightmare, I try to forget. I think the worst was around his 1st birthday. I think you have a few months before it gets worse. The most important thing is to make sure he understands he has to be groomed. Loki is a curly boy. I don't think silkier coats are quite as bad.

I am still getting a second puppy so it is survivable.


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## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

This isn't the chart I was looking for, but it does give a good outline to check your dogs weight.

https://www.dummies.com/pets/dogs/how-to-evaluate-your-dogs-weight/

In short you should be able to feel the ribs with a layer of flesh/fat over them. Feeling along the rib cage you should be able to feel a waist tuck behind the ribs. Feeling underneath you should be able to feel a tuck up behind the rib cage as you move on to the tummy.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Blowing coat varies a LOT from one dog to the next. WITH SOME Havanese, the owner barely notices it. With other, it comes on so hard and fast that before the owner is aware, especially if they are a first time Havanese owner, the dog can be matted to the skin.

Kodi was kind of in the middle, and I was DETERMINED to make it work. I also had only one coat to deal with. He started about 10 months and it waxed and waned, sometimes better, sometimes worse, until about 18 months. After two his coat became quite easy. 

Pixel has a very fine, profuse coat, with a fine, profuse undercoat. The kind of coat you can't keep your hands off. And it matted like CRAZY when she blew coat. I gave up and put her in a puppy cut for both of our sakes when she was about a year old. Every time I started to let it grow out again, she started getting these tiny, difficult to remove mats again, and she's so cute in a puppy coat, I decided to keep her that way.

Panda's coat was so easy through blowing coat that the only time she really got mats was when she was in heat and also blowing coat and I made the mistake of thinking she needed to wear panties. What a mess!!! bloody mats!!! As it turns out, she can handle herself being in heat with almost NO mess. (I have to watch carefully, or you'd miss the early signs of her coming in heat). She only wears panties for long enough to go to classes (where they are required) and the rest of the time, she keeps herself **** and span. As a result, no mats. But she also has less undercoat the either of the other two.


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## Henry&Kate (Mar 29, 2017)

He is adorable! I too think it's the contrast between all the fluff and the wet dog that makes you think he's too skinny.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

krandall said:


> Blowing coat varies a LOT from one dog to the next. WITH SOME Havanese, the owner barely notices it. With other, it comes on so hard and fast that before the owner is aware, especially if they are a first time Havanese owner, the dog can be matted to the skin.
> 
> Kodi was kind of in the middle, and I was DETERMINED to make it work. I also had only one coat to deal with. He started about 10 months and it waxed and waned, sometimes better, sometimes worse, until about 18 months. After two his coat became quite easy.
> 
> ...


I can't really figure out if Oliver has an undercoat or how much! Is the undercoat a different texture? How can you tell? I guess it's because the two Havs I've met locally are cut really short, and because of that are very curly. Oliver has more wave at his roots and then it almost seems straight. He's fluffy and very soft, easy to brush/ comb. Do they develop the undercoat later (I'm aware I sound so stupid!)? His dad had long, barely wavy chocolate hair and his mom did have to be shaved down after birthing him and his litter unfortunately. I'm sure the blowing coat is hit or miss.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I believe mine has a very profuse, fine undercoat. Groomers have mentioned it but I have yet to take him to a groomer who has worked on another Havanese. He was easy to comb as a puppy though. It was a pain when he was blowing coat but it was more that it was just hard to keep up with it every day. I tried to be creative to fit it in. i think he’s always had an undercoat and it wasn’t as noticeable, but I’m not sure. I do know it definitely got thicker and thicker with time. I kept thinking, how is he loosing so much hair when I groom yet he’s still so intensely thick? I think with such a dense coat there just comes a point where you just know it’s more high maintenance compared to some Havanese. Unless the comparison is unrealistic, like the insane AKC site that says they only need to be combed once a week. 

I have a pretty good routine down so it’s manageable with exception of his mane area. It takes twice as long to groom there compared to the whole rest of his body combined. No matter how long his mane gets, it’s so thick it doesn’t hang down. It makes for an ultra soft, poofy dog, though. It does feel silky and not cottony, which was a mystery to me for a long time, and I might still be wrong about that. One of clue for me that he does have an undercoat was that it still takes SO LONG to comb him. The mats aren’t completely huge, the bigger issue is how much the coat traps. I’ve been using a dryer more when I comb and brush and it definitely helps, I think both the air pressure and the warmth encourage the loose hairs to slide out, but the hairs fly about the room and float in the air and I haven’t figured out how to manage that yet. Even with small sections I can see the little wrapped hairs and comb it 3-4 times and the finest comb slides right around them. I have a brush that traps better but he doesn’t like it as much. 

It worked out for me because DD is 12 and rarely needs help with her hair anymore, so time wise I just went from blow drying her to combing a puppy. I’d say there’s less whining from the puppy  

I love him and it’s completely worth it. I’m so glad I didn’t know the potential maintenance because I might have looked at other breeds and I can’t imagine life without Havanese anymore. I understand there are breeders out there who have been breeding away from such a dense coat. I don’t know much about it, I think I came across it mentioned in a thread here. It is a hope I have for my second puppy.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

I think his undercoat is fine, too. The place we found mats (thank God the groomer got it out!) was right under his collar. The hair really does look fine and cottony there, vs how silky and easy the rest of him is. I wonder how his adult coat will be. We didn't cut any length today, aside from his face. Otherwise just a tidy and his paws desperately needed trimming at the pads. 

Groomer says a leather collar won't do this? In general I use a harness for walking, and he does have a microchip. Still, I'm so scared to have him without a collar and my phone number/ AKC registration stuff on it....I would prefer to have a collar on him, God forbid he should get out. Advice?


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Melissa Woods said:


> I think his undercoat is fine, too. The place we found mats (thank God the groomer got it out!) was right under his collar. The hair really does look fine and cottony there, vs how silky and easy the rest of him is. I wonder how his adult coat will be. We didn't cut any length today, aside from his face. Otherwise just a tidy and his paws desperately needed trimming at the pads.
> 
> Groomer says a leather collar won't do this? In general I use a harness for walking, and he does have a microchip. Still, I'm so scared to have him without a collar and my phone number/ AKC registration stuff on it....I would prefer to have a collar on him, God forbid he should get out. Advice?


It's a tough question, and there are other threads on it because it's not always an easy decision to make. I think you have to evaluate how likely he is to get out, how risky it is if he were to get out, what the circumstances are likely to be, and some of those things will help you decide. I have several collars but mine doesn't wear them. I keep his tags clipped to his harness/lead.

I read the same thing about leather collars/harnesses causing less mats. I know a few people on the forum use them for quick potty trips. I would like to switch to that, but even though we have worked on leash pulling, we still have occasional "dashing" and it's almost always sudden. In those instances he pulls so hard he makes strangling sounds and it terrifies me to have him on a harness that doesn't fit securely beneath his throat where it can't constrict. I try to brush around where his harness is after a walk. I don't know if it helps because I'm afraid to stop doing it, but I think it might. I don't get out the comb and thoroughly groom, I just use the little wooden pin brush quickly around the harness area since I usually comb him in the evenings.


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## Ltartof (Sep 17, 2018)

Probably would help the groomer to bring examples of what you like. I think I am the only Hava owner in the world who loves short ears... I think they are adorable when they bob as he walks! But groomers are like hairdressers, they need some guides, with visuals being much more helpful. We do a very short puppy cut with our year old guy, since his hair grows SO fast! Amazing, he gets a full coat back in about 6 weeks.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Ltartof said:


> Probably would help the groomer to bring examples of what you like. I think I am the only Hava owner in the world who loves short ears... I think they are adorable when they bob as he walks! But groomers are like hairdressers, they need some guides, with visuals being much more helpful. We do a very short puppy cut with our year old guy, since his hair grows SO fast! Amazing, he gets a full coat back in about 6 weeks.


I love short ears, too. Not super short, but I don't like it as much when the ears are so much longer than the head. It's less puppy-ish to me.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Ltartof said:


> Probably would help the groomer to bring examples of what you like. I think I am the only Hava owner in the world who loves short ears... I think they are adorable when they bob as he walks! But groomers are like hairdressers, they need some guides, with visuals being much more helpful. We do a very short puppy cut with our year old guy, since his hair grows SO fast! Amazing, he gets a full coat back in about 6 weeks.


I did give him a couple of pics and was amazed at how close he got. And 6 weeks! Wow!


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