# Eyes



## elisabeth (10 mo ago)

14 week old Maggie refuses to let me wash her eye area. Her hair is going into her eyes and she constantly has a wet face from tears. I am able to "de- eye booger" her with an angel eyes wipe in the fur around her eyes if I catch her when she is sleeping. I can't take her to a groomer until she has had her rabies vax, May 31
Tips? Hints? Hacks? Ideas? Methods?

Thanks in advance for any replies


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## Cassandra (Dec 29, 2015)

Well the only advice I can give is that with a Havanese, it is important to teach them early to accept a daily eye wipe! Cassie would rather not do it, but she understands that she has to do it. I just hold her in my lap and wipe. I tell her, "eye wash" each time so she knows it is coming and it is not subject to debate. She now even gets up on the couch to accept it when I say "eye wash". We have a routine where she hears me brush my own teeth with an electric toothbrush and she knows that I will be coming after her for daily eye wash after that.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Cassandra said:


> Well the only advice I can give is that with a Havanese, it is important to teach them early to accept a daily eye wipe! Cassie would rather not do it, but she understands that she has to do it. I just hold her in my lap and wipe. I tell her, "eye wash" each time so she knows it is coming and it is not subject to debate. She now even gets up on the couch to accept it when I say "eye wash". We have a routine where she hears me brush my own teeth with an electric toothbrush and she knows that I will be coming after her for daily eye wash after that.


This is great advice. It applies to many other grooming tasks as well such as claw trimming! I would definitely get them used to claw trimming early and not be dependent on groomers. The nails can grow very fast and most people do not go to the groomer often enough to keep them short.


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## elisabeth (10 mo ago)

mudpuppymama said:


> This is great advice. It applies to many other grooming tasks as well such as claw trimming! I would definitely get them used to claw trimming early and not be dependent on groomers. The nails can grow very fast and most people do not go to the groomer often enough to keep them short.


I "play" with her paws all the time, and her ears, and her mouth. I open her mouth and feel around in there, look at and feel her gums. Same with her ears, flipping them up, putting my fingers in and feel around, massage them. It's just her face that she doesn't like one bit! I will keep at it, try and make a routine where I do it twice a day, and hopefully she will allow it to happen lol


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

elisabeth said:


> I "play" with her paws all the time, and her ears, and her mouth. I open her mouth and feel around in there, look at and feel her gums. Same with her ears, flipping them up, putting my fingers in and feel around, massage them. It's just her face that she doesn't like one bit! I will keep at it, try and make a routine where I do it twice a day, and hopefully she will allow it to happen lol


Those are all good things to do. I would definitely keep that up.

Mia used to hate ALL grooming aspects. She has come tolerate them all very well, however the face is her least favorite. I just tell her…sorry you were born a Havanese and this needs to be done!


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## LWalks (Feb 7, 2021)

Lol I say the same to mine! Charlie particularly hates grooming of any type (it’s like all of his previous anxieties have now just morphed to grooming) so we keep him pretty short so it doesn’t need as much. So I also add “aren’t you glad you were too big so your breeder didn’t keep you as a show puppy?”


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## Cassandra (Dec 29, 2015)

LWalks said:


> So I also add “aren’t you glad you were too big so your breeder didn’t keep you as a show puppy?”


I say the same thing to Cassie…sometimes I add that “you could have been a show dog, traveling all over the country in a crate, but instead you get to live with us, sleep on beds, play with children and live a great life. So hold still while we finish…”


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

You have to have more patience and persistence than they have fight. This goes for any number of things at this age. They need you to be a teacher as well as caretaker.


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

Willow doesn't like it and she'll twist her head away a few times. But I'm persistence and gentle and she'll let me clean her eyes after a few head swings.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Cassandra said:


> I say the same thing to Cassie…sometimes I add that “you could have been a show dog, traveling all over the country in a crate, but instead you get to live with us, sleep on beds, play with children and live a great life. So hold still while we finish…”


Although, I know Havanese show dogs who do both! 









Seriously, however, I think this is one of the places where as long as it is done with patience and kindness, a little "learned helplessness" works in your favor. While being kind and gentle, you just need to be more persistent than the puppy. You just don't let them go until the job is done. You relax your hold when they relax, grasp them a bit more firmly (just firmly enough that they can't wriggle free) when they struggle. Talk gently to them, but in a no-nonsense tone of voice. Get the job done, and then STILL holding them, have a TON of yummy cookies to give them once you are finished. 

Leaving this stuff can lead to staining at least, scalding and infections at worst. This is part and parcel with owning a Havanese and BEING a Havanese. It's something that BOTH of you need to learn, and the earlier the better. In a way it's more important than nails, because for SOME Havanese (thankfully, not mine!) It IS something that needs to be done daily for life!!! For others, once they get through teething, it settles down, and a quick comb with a flea comb removes any small build-up in the corner of the eyes, with no wetness or staining.


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## elisabeth (10 mo ago)

krandall said:


> Although, I know Havanese show dogs who do both!
> View attachment 177842
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

When I use eye wipes with a solution I run them under warm water, which probably defeats the purpose of the saline, but it warms them up. Then I wipe dry the area, because I noticed that’s what made the biggest difference for Sundance.

A lot of puppies need their eyes wiped a lot until they’re done teething, Sundance 2x a day, so even a weekly grooming appointment won’t help if her eyes are on the goopy side, other than getting her used to grooming. But she’s still so young, if you keeping working on it now, even if she doesn’t love it, you can still shape it a lot. I would keep handling her head every day and include her face, even if she doesn’t like it or is curious or wiggly. Around mealtime worked for me. I was too tentative in holding Sundance’s face as a puppy. I wish I figured that out earlier. I still hesitate sometimes because he’s cooperative with grooming in general, but less helpful with his teeth and paws. You don’t need to grip it or hold it for a long time, sort of pleasantly firm, lol. I think quick and frequent is more important than long and thorough in the beginning. I used a lot of treats with grooming, and a wood pin brush because Sundance enjoys it. It doesn’t really detangle but it cleans them up and I think it’s really good for working on grooming with puppies. I brushed his head first because he likes it, and then his face since he tolerates it, and then his belly and under his chin last because he loves it. I did this every day even if i wasn’t grooming his whole body. I also used inexpensive eye combs from Amazon but mostly when he was really little. Sundance was really wiggly, and I remember watching grooming videos where the dogs were still and thinking that would never happen! Eventually it just did.

I really think if you come up with your own routine that works for you and just do it often, she’ll have it down pretty fast. She might not run towards you and maybe give you a little side eye but I think she’ll accept it quickly.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

elisabeth said:


> I "play" with her paws all the time, and her ears, and her mouth. I open her mouth and feel around in there, look at and feel her gums. Same with her ears, flipping them up, putting my fingers in and feel around, massage them. It's just her face that she doesn't like one bit! I will keep at it, try and make a routine where I do it twice a day, and hopefully she will allow it to happen lol


This is so good! You will never regret this! You are definitely doing the right things, just don’t second guess yourself about her face and be persistent.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I really think if you come up with your own routine that works for you and just do it often, she’ll have it down pretty fast. She might not run towards you and maybe give you a little side eye but I think she’ll accept it quickly.


Oh!!! This is another REALLY, REALLY important thing!!! Never, EVER call your puppy to you for grooming!!! GO GET THEM!!! If you EVER want a reliable recall, never call them to you for something they don't like!!! Even with my adult dogs, I'll call Ducky or Panda to the table for daily grooming because they enjoy it. Not Kodi or Pixel. I go get them. And I have to hunt them ALL down the minute I start setting the kitchen up for bath time! LOL!


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> Oh!!! This is another REALLY, REALLY important thing!!! Never, EVER call your puppy to you for grooming!!! GO GET THEM!!! If you EVER want a reliable recall, never call them to you for something they don't like!!! Even with my adult dogs, I'll call Ducky or Panda to the table for daily grooming because they enjoy it. Not Kodi or Pixel. I go get them. And I have to hunt them ALL down the minute I start setting the kitchen up for bath time! LOL!


My dogs get groomed every day before dinner time when they are hungry and I give them one fourth of their dinner as grooming treats. There is no need to call them to the table. They call ME!!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mudpuppymama said:


> My dogs get groomed every day before dinner time when they are hungry and I give them one fourth of their dinner as grooming treats. There is no need to call them to the table. They call ME!!!


LOL! That's a smart way to do it! With Kodi, Pixel and Panda when they were blowing coat, I needed to groom them daily. (Kodi needed it twice a day for a while!) But Ducky has never needed that. Because I always seem to be taking them to training or a lesson or something a few days a week, I seem to always have a reason to groom them before we go somewhere or see someone. So they all get groomed several times a week. But they really have very easy coats as adults, and Ducky has had the easiest coat of any Havanese I've ever seen. Even at the HEIGHT of blowing coat, he only had and occasional "knot" here and there. the only "mats" he got were right behind his ears, and even they were pretty easy to get out.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> LOL! That's a smart way to do it! With Kodi, Pixel and Panda when they were blowing coat, I needed to groom them daily. (Kodi needed it twice a day for a while!) But Ducky has never needed that. Because I always seem to be taking them to training or a lesson or something a few days a week, I seem to always have a reason to groom them before we go somewhere or see someone. So they all get groomed several times a week. But they really have very easy coats as adults, and Ducky has had the easiest coat of any Havanese I've ever seen. Even at the HEIGHT of blowing coat, he only had and occasional "knot" here and there. the only "mats" he got were right behind his ears, and even they were pretty easy to get out.


I need to groom mine daily because we live in a heavily tick infested area. That is the main reason. They really do not need daily grooming otherwise. Mia has a super easy to maintain coat. I keep the yorkie very short because he tends to get more ticks than Mia and he is black. It is easier to find ticks on a short haired dog.

If I skip a day the chances of a crawler becoming an attached or puffed up tick go way up. Right now it is the peak of peak season and we are in the thick of it.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mudpuppymama said:


> I need to groom mine daily because we live in a heavily tick infested area. That is the main reason. They really do not need daily grooming otherwise. Mia has a super easy to maintain coat. I keep the yorkie very short because he tends to get more ticks than Mia and he is black. It is easier to find ticks on a short haired dog.
> 
> If I skip a day the chances of a crawler becoming an attached or puffed up tick go way up. Right now it is the peak of peak season and we are in the thick of it.


Oh, I go over them COMPLETELY for ticks daily, but I do that with my fingers. I can find seed ticks that would be missed by a comb with my fingers.


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> Oh, I go over them COMPLETELY for ticks daily, but I do that with my fingers. I can find seed ticks that would be missed by a comb with my fingers.


I do both. By combing them with a flea comb, I have gotten ticks smaller than a pin head that are still crawling. We have some super tiny ones right now you can barely see. But I do find most ticks by feel.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mudpuppymama said:


> I do both. By combing them with a flea comb, I have gotten ticks smaller than a pin head that are still crawling. We have some super tiny ones right now you can barely see. But I do find most ticks by feel.


I found a TINY deer tick on Kodi the other night while he was sitting on my lap out in the deck, where I couldn‘t deal with it. I took him inside and THEN I couldnt find the darned thing! I KNEW it was on the outside of his right foreleg, below his elbow, but it was really tiny, and between the bone and the tendon. Finally, I had to move the skin, little by little, over onto the bone until I found it again. I have no idea how I felt it the first time! There is no way a comb would have gotten into that little groove. I HATE TICKS!!!


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> I found a TINY deer tick on Kodi the other night while he was sitting on my lap out in the deck, where I couldn‘t deal with it. I took him inside and THEN I couldnt find the darned thing! I KNEW it was on the outside of his right foreleg, below his elbow, but it was really tiny, and between the bone and the tendon. Finally, I had to move the skin, little by little, over onto the bone until I found it again. I have no idea how I felt it the first time! There is no way a comb would have gotten into that little groove. I HATE TICKS!!!


i have had that happen numerous times. In fact, most of the time I have found ticks on my dogs, I was not even looking for them!!! For example, I will just go and pick them up and yikes there is one under my finger. Then I try to get it off of them later and cannot find the darn thing. I know the fairly specific area but just cannot find them. They are absolutely horrid creatures. I have had several tick bites this year myself.


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