Grooming and Showing the Havanese

Grooming

Non-shedding does NOT mean no-maintenance.  Your Havanese dog will benefit from frequent grooming sessions several times a week. Routine grooming helps to keep your dog's skin, coat, teeth, gums and nails in peak condition.  As well as general improving your pet's overall appearance, grooming also provides you with an excellent opportunity to examine the skin and coat for early signs of problems such as parasites, foreign bodies, skin disorders, mats, growths and wounds. 

Good grooming behaviors should start at an early age, as soon as you acquire your Havanese puppy.  Begin by getting it used to being placed on a steady table for grooming.  Use a rubber backed mat, small carpet or towel to prevent slipping.  Teach your puppy to lie down and/or stand quietly and to relax and enjoy your attention.  Scratching the ears or chest may help to sooth an anxious pet, while a hand under a young puppy's stomach provides support and promotes confidence as you gently brush through the coat.  This early training taught by repetition, correction and praise is important to ensure that your Havanese dog learns to accept grooming and thinks of it as a pleasant experience.

 Showing the Havanese

Since the first standard was approved, Havanese dog breeders and exhibitors have preserved the "natural" appearance of the breed.  Havanese dogs are exhibited in a completely natural state, clean and freshly brushed out.  The only trimming that is permitted is the tidying up of the feet.  This trimming is limited to the feet only, and should never extend up the leg of the dog.  While there should not be any groomed-in parting of the coat on the neck or back of the dog, a natural parting of the coat while the dog is moving is permissible.  The exhibitor would usually brush the "parting" out when setting the dog up during judging.

The individual examination of the Havanese dog is done on the table.  While being judged in the classes, the dogs may either be set up by the handler or free stacked.  The dog's ring attitude should reflect the breed's happy character.  When gaiting, the Havanese dog should be on a loose lead and moved at a moderate rate of speed.  Their typical "springy" gait may be observed by an occasional "bounce" as they move.