ADVANCED GROOMING TUTORIALS
Havanese
RICO
Welcome from Allison
In this section you will find the video instructions on how to groom the Havanese to breed or show standard with Allison Foley of Leading Edge Dog Show Academy.
The videos contain step-by-step demonstrations of advanced methods for grooming the Havanese. The instructions and the rationale behind the methods are summarized in the e-book which you can download and print. We reccomend you print and use the ebook to follow along with the video tutorials.
You can also download Allison’s list of equipment used here.
SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS
When grooming any dog of any breed, it’s important to set yourself and your dog up for success. It will make grooming much easier on you and your dog, and actually improve your end result. I recommend that you groom your Havanese on a grooming table with a non-slip surface. While drying, I like to always have my dogs on two clean, dry towels. I generally will also have some sort of mat (e.g. a yoga mat or a comfort mat made specifically for grooming tables) so it is more comfortable for my dogs to stand on. While trimming, I like to have just the table on my dogs or just the mat, especially when working on the feet.
I like to use a grooming arm and grooming loop to remind my dogs to that they need to stay on the table for grooming. I don’t have the loop right up around their necks and holding their heads up. I more so use the loop as a safely measure, loosely holding them to the grooming arm. When laying my Havanese down for any drying, I don't have them attached to a grooming loop but I make sure that I am always with them, keeping them secure on the table.
I also don’t let my dogs lean so far into the grooming loop that they are contorting their body. A very important aspect of grooming any breed is that they stand in a show stack (or “four square”) while being groomed, particularly for trimming. They don’t need to be stacked absolutely perfectly, but they need to have the outline they will have in the ring. Training your dog to stand on the table from a young age will really help out with your grooming. Training your dog to lay on their side, like our model dog Rico, is another really helpful training to do when your dog is young.
ABOUT DRYERS AND DRYING
FORCE DRYING DIAGRAMS
7 PARTS TO THE HOT DRY
HOT DRYING DIAGRAMS
DRYING EXTRAS
INTRODUCTION TO TRIMMING
When it comes to Havanese, and a lot of breeds that are supposed to be shown more naturally or with minimal trimming, we have to think about the difference between a dog being over-trimmed vs well-groomed and presented.
When trimming the Havanese, it’s important to remember what they are meant to look like and how our dog’s natural structure compares to the standard. Havanese are meant to be slightly longer than tall, and they’re meant to have a rise over the loin - these are things we certainly wouldn’t want to detract from by either overtrimming or under-trimming, e.g. leaving excess coat on our dog that makes them look like their natural structure is not as good as it is.
The standard does allow for sanitary trimming of the Havanese, which includes the bottom of the feet, the sanitary area around the anus, the belly and in front of the penis. I clip about a clipper blade long in front of the penis and the whole belly to keep this area very clean and tidy.
We will also trim the lip line, around the eyes, tidying up around the feet, the underline, and the tail.
While trimming, I like to keep that “hard part” down the middle of the back. Of course, this won’t be left for the ring, but I like to have the part so that I know that I don’t have too much coat from one side on the opposite side, and to keep the balance of the dog.
TRIMMING THE FACE AND TAIL
LIP LINE DIAGRAMS
TRIMMING THE FEET
UNDERSTANDING THE FRONT FEET
TIDYING AND DEBULKING
MAINTENANCE GROOMING
SHOW GROOMING
At the show, your Havanese should be clean, dry, and mat-free. Follow the steps above for drying and line-brushing and combing at the show - you won’t need to do a full bath at the show, but you can either wet down any dirty or curly areas with self-rinse shampoo, or also using the “bucket bath”. For the bucket bath, use a self-rinse shampoo, or shampoo mixed with water in a spray bottle, to wet the coat anywhere it is dirty or has a curl - this is often where they might urinate on themselves, the hocks, the chest, the tail, the pants, and the face. You then use a bucket of hot water and a sponge to rinse out the shampoo, holding the shampooed coat over the bucket and sponging out the shampoo (rather than putting the whole dog in the bucket). Towel dry your dog and dry according to the instructions above.
The line-brushing and combing is absolutely essential at the dog show. Use your brushing spray, especially for static. Once you have done any touch-up trimming and finishing touches, don’t forget to brush out the hard part from your Havanese so they have no part for the show ring!
With your Havanese clean, dry, and perfectly brushed and combed, there are a few show grooming steps - putting in the collar, spraying the head back, finishing touches like shine spray and, if you choose, ironing your Havanese.
PARTING THE COLLAR
FINISHING TOUCHES fOR THE SHOW RING
FINALLY, A Breed-Specific Handling Overview
Conclusion from Allison
CONCLUSION
We really hope you enjoyed our course and ebook on how to groom the Havanese. We took great care in this course to show you how to present a well-groomed, naturally-presented Havanese as per the breed standard.
If you have any further questions, please email me at allison@leadingedgedogshow.com.
Happy Havanese grooming!
ON THE HOP! @ THE DOG SHOW WITH NICKY + PLUSH PUPPY
Nicky demonstrates how she prepares and styles the head on this beautiful Havanese for the show ring using plush Puppy Hold
You can learn more about Plush Puppy Hold here
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