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
Those are all good things to do. I would definitely keep that up.
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!
Thank you for your thoughtful replyAlthough, 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.
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.
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!!!
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.
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.
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!!!
