# A quick tail question



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I have a grooming question. I notice in many of the photos that a lot of havs have tails that curl up, but the hair doesn't seem all that long. As you can see in Milo's photos, his tail hair is as long as his coat. Is that normal? Don't get me wrong, I love the way it looks, especially with the mixture of colors, but his serious mashed in poopy butt the other day made me think of it -- as I tried over and over again to get it all unstuck (Yuck!).


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Geri, I have wondered about Cicero's tail for a while. His usually sticks up and I think a while back someone else was concerned about that on here. He really does have a flag tail to me, but sometimes he can hold it over his back. I don't know about the hair length, but I do think Milo's is the longest I have seen...and beautiful. Afterall, he has to have a beautiful tail to go with the rest of him.  I'm sure a messy butt is a pain to deal with because of the longer hair. Cicero has only had 1 butt bath and it was when I changed his food on day...thank goodness. Maybe others can post pictures of longer tail hair, but I do think you might win. Also, it looks like Milo's tail lays on his back and if he held it up more the hair probably wouldn't look as long.
Here are pics of Cicero's (don't have time to crop), sorry. It's rare for it to look like first picture.















This is the flag tail I am taking about. Most of the time it is UP and barely curved. He is almost 7 months so maybe as the hair grows longer it will stay over his back more. You can see the hair is no where as long as Milo's. But I would love this boy without a tail.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Geri, yes, Lincoln's tail is as long as his coat. When I gave him a trim recently, I also cut a few inches off his tail since it looked strange for his tail to be hanging below the bottom of this coat. :biggrin1:


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

Yup Daisy's tail drags on the floor! (I cut her in a puppy cut for the summer, so her coat isn't on the floor anymore!)
I believe Daisy and Milo are from the same breeder, so she must produce those long beautiful coats!!!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Hi Geri, it looks like you trim Milo's face...if you are not keeping him in show coat you could do a similar trim to his tail and butt without it looking strange. We keep our boys in puppy cuts but their tails are a little longer than the rest of them... but when it starts to get in the way of you know what. I trim the underside (which becomes the top when they hold their tails up) a little bit. I also like it because it makes the tail fluffier. I just follow the line of the tail. and I trim up the butt too. 

Here is a picture of Cash to give you an idea--of course you would have to modify it somewhat for the long gorgeous coat Milo has.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Geri, Kodi used to have a tail that was a perfect plume with long flowing hair. It was so beautiful. Then we got Shelby. Give it a while and I'm sure that Bailey with groom it.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

ound:ound:ound:

I was just outside, combing Milo's tail. It got very matted in this last poop battle. I have no idea what caused him to get poopy butt, but it obviously isn't quite over yet. Ugh! I really do love the long, full coated look and will maintain it as long as possible.

As for Milo's face, the only trimming ever done on it has been the litte bit of hair between the eyes. Don't forget my little darling was balding for awhile there and as it grew back it got kinda funky. He's still a work in progress. My problem is I don't want to take him back to the groomer I was using because I *hate* what she did to his coat with thinning it out. She got rid of his shiny top coat and it's been harder to maintain since. I'm either going to have to get a lot better at this or I'll have to find another really good hav groomer soon.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

MopTop Havanese said:


> Yup Daisy's tail drags on the floor! (I cut her in a puppy cut for the summer, so her coat isn't on the floor anymore!)
> I believe Daisy and Milo are from the same breeder, so she must produce those long beautiful coats!!!


Katie, who were Daisy's parents? I'd also love to see another shot of her puppy cut since their coats are so similar.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Geri, Kubrick's tail is pretty long too! You just can't see it because it's the same color as his body... it goes down past his leg curled over... which it pretty much always is!


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Lina said:


> Geri, Kubrick's tail is pretty long too! You just can't see it because it's the same color as his body... it goes down past his leg curled over... which it pretty much always is!


Well at least my buddy is not unusual.  Milo's tail is almost always curled up over him with the hair descending like Rapunzel's in the tower.

BTW Lina, I just love Kubrick in that avatar photo. It's wonderful.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Katie, Daisy looks gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen her in full coat! Beautiful!!


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

I think Milo's tail is gorgeous. I was just looking at Dusty's. It hasn't ever been as long as Milo's but I think it's shorter since we got Indie! They do chase each other around the yard and grab tails and hang on while running at full speed. That can't be good for the tail hair.
This photo is pre-Indie. Her tail is/was a little longer than what shows there.
In the summer (or here year-round actually) I take the hose to cling-ons. Fortunately we don't have much of a problem with them. 

LuvCicero, Dusty's tail was a lot like that at 7 months when we first got her. It is more havanese-ish now, but she still doesn't carry it curled over her back as much as other havs, I think.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

DAJsMom said:


> I think Milo's tail is gorgeous. I was just looking at Dusty's. It hasn't ever been as long as Milo's but I think it's shorter since we got Indie! They do chase each other around the yard and grab tails and hang on while running at full speed. That can't be good for the tail hair.
> This photo is pre-Indie. Her tail is/was a little longer than what shows there.
> In the summer (or here year-round actually) *I take the hose to cling-ons.* Fortunately we don't have much of a problem with them.
> 
> LuvCicero, Dusty's tail was a lot like that at 7 months when we first got her. It is more havanese-ish now, but she still doesn't carry it curled over her back as much as other havs, I think.


I hope nobody is reading this while having dinner ound: but Milo's was much more like a loosy goosy movement and then sit on it to make it go away. I probably didn't see it (or, miraculously smell it) for hours so when I did it was clicked to everything and stinking. I do love the idea of hosing him down. I'll give that a try next time.


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## moxie (Feb 6, 2008)

Moxie had his first poopie butt last night. It was definitely a two man job to get him clean. Not looking forward to that again...jeez. He is 7 months old. I think I gave him too much salmon scraps.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

I love his tail hair Geri!! Mine will never have fur that long. They play chase and grab each other by the tail. They think it's funny and don't understand why I don't.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Jan,

I love it too, except when it's infused with soft, smelly poop. uke::brushteeth:


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

JASHavanese said:


> I love his tail hair Geri!! Mine will never have fur that long. They play chase and grab each other by the tail. They think it's funny and don't understand why I don't.


Jan, that's exactly what mine do, or what Shelby does to Kodi. Shelby has a very tightly curled tail and Kodi can't get it. So she has very long hair on her tail. But poor Kodi looks like someone went nuts with a scissor. It looks just like Dusty's.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

pjewel said:


> I hope nobody is reading this while having dinner ound: but Milo's was much more like a loosy goosy movement and then sit on it to make it go away. I probably didn't see it (or, miraculously smell it) for hours so when I did it was clicked to everything and stinking. I do love the idea of hosing him down. I'll give that a try next time.


LMBO!!! ound: ound: ound:


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Oh I agree with Christy, that visual is hilarious!


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

Geri, we have very seldom had any poopy butts around here. My two eat Canine Caviar and Solid Gold kibble with very few treats. They don't get any human food either. We get into trouble when they have a bully stick and eat too much of it at once....then we might get a klingon...


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

It's funny, I've been spoiled too. It's only happened once before with Milo, many months ago and although he stunk, I didn't see the clicked poop till he was in bed with me at night. At that time I just cut off all the hair where it was stuck. Now, months and months down the road the hair is still way shorter than the rest so I went the route of a bath this time in which the tub had to be drained and refilled a few times till I felt he and the water was finally clean.

I'm not sure what he ate that did it but I did find a few crab apples that fell from the tree and one made it into my house. Of course it could be totally coincidental. Not sure. I *really* don't look forward to that again. uke:


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

I think he looks great~! Sadly Lily has lost half of her tail to mats, which I am sure is a direct result of her little brother. I had to cut a few inches up the tail from the butt, so she looks a little strange, but it is what it is.
Logan's tail is very long when his flips over, as a matter of fact I was thinking about cutting it a little. I think Milo looked fine!!


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