# Little squirmer!



## Lucindagh (Sep 20, 2018)

Molly hates for me to comb or brush her. She will not stay still. I have tried giving her something to chew on, and I even put a teeny tiny bit of peanut butter on the end of her nylabone. She was distracted for about 2 seconds. Any advice would be much appreciated!


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Sometimes if you wait until she is a bit sleepy she may let you brush her while she is in your lap. You can also try brushing her while she is elevated up on a counter or your washing machine (lay a towel down so she doesn't slip). There is also another tip I got from this forum when my Molly was a puppy. Freeze a jar of baby food. Put it on the floor and let your puppy lick it like a popsicle. She will be so busy licking that she should stand there and not mind you brushing her so much. I did this when mine was a puppy and it did work. Good luck!


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## Lucindagh (Sep 20, 2018)

I have tried the washing machine idea, but certainly not the frozen baby food one. That is a great idea! I will have to give it a try. Thanks! Is it typical for Havanese puppies to hate grooming????


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lucindagh said:


> I have tried the washing machine idea, but certainly not the frozen baby food one. That is a great idea! I will have to give it a try. Thanks! Is it typical for Havanese puppies to hate grooming????


It's typical for all puppies to be "busy" and not want to stay still for very long! No puppy really enjoys being groomed, and I don't think most adults do either. They just learn that they have to tolerate it. The price of being a coated dog! And the price WE pay for WANTING a coated breed is that it's our responsibility to slowly, gently, but firmly, teach them that grooming is a way of life. Others have given you some good ideas that can help. Also make sure you are using good tools that neither pull hair nor scratch the skin. Then just keep at it. The good thing is that at this age, they really won't get matted. So it's the veryy best time to teach them to accept grooming. Then, by the time they start blowing coat, they will tolerate all the grooming they need.


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## Lucindagh (Sep 20, 2018)

Thanks for the reassurance. At about what age do they blow their coat?


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I think our puppy thought grooming was playtime and in his mind he was just playing along! 

For me grooming was more of a slow, steady progress than other puppy stuff that he learned so quickly, and I really think it’s just because he’s a baby. For a long time it was easier to do 2 short sessions a day. Part of that was figuring out how to comb “deeply” enough to catch impending mats, and then getting faster at it without pulling. It still takes me about 20-30 minutes to brush him well if I do it all at once, but he’s also blowing coat right now. He will lay on my lap most of the time, but sometimes he hides his head in the pillows. The last 5 minutes he is DONE! 

Even 5-10 minutes a day is a really long time to groom a wiggling puppy. If you increase it a little at a time it’ll probably be easier on you, too.


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## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

Do you talk sweetly to your dog while you groom? This didn't occur to me but when a friend talked to Kosmo while she brushed him he seemed to like it. Now my boy will sometimes come to me when he sees the brush; since her good example I always compliment and coo while I brush. Zoey just smiles her tiny, black lipped charming smile and then growls her "leave me be, human" growl when the brush hits her coat. She does well only when drowsy.


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## abi38 (Mar 23, 2017)

I just do it. I brush dogs on my lap, when they were puppies I use one hand holding the brush/comb and the other holding the dog down (gentle but firm-ish, not pinning them but not really letting they do whatever they want). Praise when they are still and put them back when they squirm and move away. I do keep sessions very short but frequent when they were young. As short as few strokes if needed.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lucindagh said:


> Thanks for the reassurance. At about what age do they blow their coat?


It usually starts around 10 months, but it can be earlier or quite a bit later than that. And how BAD it gets is pretty individual. Some you barely notice, especially if the dog is in a puppy cut. In a few, it's SO bad that even seasoned breeders/show people decide to cut the puppy down and wait for the adult coat to grow in.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

krandall said:


> It usually starts around 10 months, but it can be earlier or quite a bit later than that. And how BAD it gets is pretty individual. Some you barely notice, especially if the dog is in a puppy cut. In a few, it's SO bad that even seasoned breeders/show people decide to cut the puppy down and wait for the adult coat to grow in.


I've actually been wondering about this, because our puppy's been gradually losing more hair since summer and then suddenly over the past couple of weeks it's almost like he has clumps of hair falling out. If it can vary from dog to dog, how do you know if something unusual is going on? I asked a groomer at daycare in passing but she works with so few Havanese, and never one blowing coat, so she didn't know, either. And she can't fit him in for weeks to see first hand. It's been so bad there have been moments where I've wondered if I'm breaking it off.

At least he tolerated me brushing him! Mostly, anyway.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

If you are concerned about abnormal hair loss, that’ssomething I’d talk to avet about. Blowing coat doesn’t usually cause it to fall out in clumps, thogh matting is most common in areas that have any rubbing, such as under the legs, on the belly, in the flanks...


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## lolo1 (Jul 24, 2018)

Our 13 week old hated to be brushed when we first brought him home about a month ago. I would use treats he really liked at first to keep him occupied and I brushed him gently and for just a short time while he squiggled. I too was concerned too that this would never improve, but i just kept doing it everyday and now he seems to tolerate it without the continuous treats. I am using a #41 Chris Christiansen brush with wood bristles that was recommended by the forum. I am going to try the soft talking as well though; I think that is an excellent idea!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I just wanted to mention, because I see so many posts about "brushing" puppies... Unless your intention is to keep your dog in a very short puppy cut, it is VITALLY important to get the puppy used to being COMBED from a very early age. You can use a face comb on the babies, and there won't be any knots in a baby coat, so it will be easy. 

It is absolutely impossible to completely keep a puppy who is blowing coat mat free without TO THE SKIN combing. A brush just won't do it. You'll end up with a shaved down dog because the groomer won't be able to salvage the coat.


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