The Havanese dogs are a tiny, yet gorgeous group of dogs renowned for their long silky coatings similar to those of other dog breeds like the Yorkshire Terriers and Maltese dogs. Measuring at just 8.5 to 11.5 inches tall at the shoulder and weighing a mere 7 to 13 pounds, the Havanese dog is one of the smallest dogs out there. The Havanese dog’s coating comes in many different colors including black and tan, red, and silver just to name a few.
Havanese dogs have their origins in Cuba where they were bred to be at the pleasure of wealthy families who were part of the Cuban aristocracy during the 19th century. The Havanese dog is named for the Cuban capital city of Havana. For help with grooming a Havanese dog, continue reading on down below.
The Process For Grooming A Havanese Dog
1. Brush Your Havanese Dog’s Hair
The coating that your Havanese dog has is prone to rapid matting. So, you will need to brush your Havanese dog’s coating daily in order to keep the matting at bay. If matting isn’t addressed promptly, it can lead to skin pain for your Havanese dog.
Havanese dogs aren’t known to shed their hair. So, there is no need for you to worry about dead hair falling down on your floor or furniture. Your main focus here is to win the battle against matting so that your Havanese dog doesn’t need to endure pain coming from his/her skin.
As for which brush you should use to brush your Havanese dog’s coating, the Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush is a popular brush that is effective at combatting matting while not scratching your Havanese dog’s skin in the process.
The brush also comes with a self-cleaning feature that will make it much easier for you to get rid of all that mats from the brush so that you can focus your time and energy on winning the battle again matting by brushing your Havanese dog’s coating.
Before you start brushing though, I want to point out that your Havanese dog has fine hair which means the hair can easily break off if you brush your Havanese dog’s coating while it is dry. So, you will want to dampen your Havanese dog’s coating before you brush it.
In order to do that, you just need to fill a spray bottle with water and then use it to spray water onto your Havanese dog’s coating. Once your Havanese dog’s coating has been dampened, you are ready to start brushing it.
In order to have the best results, you will want to brush your Havanese dog’s coating in the direction of hair growth.
2. Brush Your Havanese Dog’s Teeth
Your Havanese dog, like all dogs, needs to have his/her teeth brushed in order to prevent tartar buildup in the teeth because if tartar is building up among the teeth, that can lead to tooth decay which isn’t good for your Havanese dog.
Veterinarians often recommend that dog owners get the Virbac toothpaste for their dogs’ teeth. So, you will want to get that for your dog’s teeth as well. You can use a toothbrush to brush your Havanese dog’s teeth.
Brushing your Havanese dog’s teeth regularly is important. So, ideally, you will do it daily, but if that isn’t possible for scheduling reasons, you should do it three times per week at a minimum.
3. Bathe Your Havanese Dog
Many dog breeds don’t need to be bathed all that frequently, but the Havanese dog is an exception here because of the kind of coating that this dog breed has. Your Havanese dog needs to be bathed once every two weeks in order to keep his/her silky coating in good condition.
You also want to be using a shampoo that is well formulated to nourish your Havanese dog’s coating and skin. The shampoo also need to be free of any harsh chemicals like soap and alcohol in order to ensure a smooth bathing experience for your Havanese dog.
With these things in mind, I recommend that you get the Buddy Wash Dog Shampoo and Conditioner as that is one of the best shampoos that I can find. Once you have the shampoo, take your Havanese dog to the bathtub.
Once there, fill a cup with warm water and use it to pour water onto your Havanese dog to get him/her all wet. Now, apply the shampoo onto your Havanese dog with a thorough lather, taking care not to allow the shampoo into his/her eyes.
With the shampooing completed, rinse your Havanese dog’s coating fully until all the remaining shampoo has been rinsed out. After the bathing is over, dry out your Havanese dog’s coating with a bathing towel.
But, make sure that your Havanese dog’s coating is still damp because you will be brushing it again after the bath. With your Havanese dog’s coating dry but damp, proceed to re-brush the coating.
4. Trim Your Havanese Dog’s Hair
Even though Havanese dogs are at their most gorgeous with their long silky coatings, some owners prefer the Havanese dog’s coating to be shorter in order to reduce the amount of mats that accumulate on it.
If you are planning on trimming your Havanese dog’s coating, you will want to make sure that you have one of the most powerful clippers that you can get. You also want the clipper to remain cool for an extended period of time as you don’t want to be trimming your Havanese dog’s coating with a hot clipper.
The clipper also should be quiet as the noise of a clipper will scare off some dogs. The Andis UltraEdge Super Detachable Blade Clipper AGC2 meets all of these three criteria.
Also, there are different levels of blades that you can use depending on how short you would like your Havanese dog’s hair to be. Generally speaking, the higher the blade number is, the shorter that your Havanese dog’s hair will be after the trimming.
The clipper that I just mentioned comes with blade number 10. So, if you would like to use a different blade number, you can head here to purchase it. Regardless of how short you want your Havanese dog’s hair to be, you want to make it be a equal length across the bottom of the coating.
One place where you will want to trim is the hair on your Havanese dog’s paws. That will help your Havanese dog to gain better traction when walking around. Also, your Havanese dog may have hair inside of his/her ears.
If that is the case, you will want to trim these in order to allow for better air flow into the ears. Be careful around your Havanese dog’s genitals as these are incredibly sensitive. So, trim gently and slowly around the genitals.
5. Clean Your Havanese Dog’s Ears
Cleaning your Havanese dog’s ears is an important of the grooming routine. If your Havanese dog’s ears isn’t cleaned out at all, that will pave the way for wax buildup inside the ears which can lead to ear infection.
You will want to use the Virbac ear cleaner as that is what veterinarians often recommend for cleaning a dog’s ears. You can apply the ear cleaner to cotton balls and then use them to clean your Havanese dog’s ears.
6. Clip Your Havanese Dog’s Nails
Your Havanese dog also needs to have his/her nails clipped because overly long nails can be painful for your dog. So, it’s important that your Havanese dog’s nails be kept short.
You can use a nail clipper like Millers Forge Dog Nail Clip to clip your Havanese dog’s nails. Be careful not to cut the quick part of your Havanese dog’s nails as they can bleed easily.
Grooming A Havanese Dog – Conclusion
So, there you have it for grooming a Havanese dog. If your Havanese dog isn’t cooperating with you while you are grooming him/her, this post will help you to gain his/her cooperation for the grooming.
What are your thoughts? Have you groomed a Havanese dog before? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
Oh my word what a cutie pie of a dog, but my it sounds like you need to have a lot of spare time to devote to this sort of pet, especially brushing through that main each day. The Hertzko brush though looks ideal to take care of this job for you.
Do these dogs get hot easily with all that hair. If you live in a warmer climate would it not be better to cut the hair shorter in summer so that the dog is more comfortable?
Yes, that is so true. The Havanese dog requires a lot of brushing in order to combat rapid matting. The Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush is popular with dog owners for brushing their dogs’ hair.
No, the Havanese dog doesn’t become hot easily with all that hair. As I mentioned early on in this post, Havanese dogs have their origins in Cuba which is a tropical location. So, I am sure your Havanese dog will do just fine if you happen to live in a warm climate. You can certainly give your Havanese dog a hair trim if you so wish.
I keep a German shepard and a labrado but they are not as demanding as the havanese. Although I like the full Hairy nature of the havanese but regular care of brushing the hairs, teeth and constant bathing of the dog is not always a challenge. While my labrado works essentially as a security dog, the German shepard doubles as a security dog and an in-house pet. But I am sure my wife will appreciate an havanese as a gift
For sure, you make a good comparison between the German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, and Havanese dog breeds. I am sure that your wife would be happy if you can get her a Havanese dog for a gift. If you are looking to fulfill your wife’s wish for a new Havanese dog, you can do that here.
And then after that if your wife needs help with grooming her new Havanese dog, this post has her covered.
Thank you for sharing this great article. I believe the most challenging way to groom dogs is to bathe them. It’s hard to keep them stay still. I got nine dogs, and taking care of them is tiring. But, after helping them bathe and making sure every single one of them is clean, I feel happy and satisfied. Thanks again for an elaborative step-by-step to groom dogs.
You are welcome. Thank you for sharing your experience with grooming your nine dogs. I am glad to hear that you have been able to overcome your dogs’ resistance to bathing and other grooming activities. That certainly is inspiring!