Start by getting your pup comfortable and relaxed in the bath tub! Make sure the water is a safe temperature and neither too hot nor too cold. Once your dog is settled and you’re confident of the water temperature, begin rinsing out their hair until they’re sufficiently soaked!

Add shampoo to your Havanese’s coat and work it in, beginning at their face before shampooing down their body. Be careful not to get any shampoo in their eyes! Rinse the shampoo from their hair once they are sufficiently lathered, being mindful still not to get any in their eyes. Use your hands to rub the shampoo out of their hair, just as you would your own.

Once the shampoo is completely washed from their hair, apply conditioner and work it through just as thoroughly as you did the shampoo! Rinse the conditioner out, again avoiding getting in any the eyes, and then use your hands to squeeze excess water out of your Havanese’s hair. Gently pull on their ears, tail, work your hands firmly down their torso, etc. When they’re no longer dripping wet, use a towel to remove what remaining moisture you can, but don’t worry too much about completely drying them with the towel! That’s what blow drying is for!

After your pup is all bathed, set them up somewhere on a towel (the floor, a table, wherever is easiest for you and safest for them). Settle them in and then begin blow drying their coat on a low setting, first using your hand to flip over the hair and help the warm air reach the root, and then using a brush to work out any knots as you go. Keep up the brushing as you finish blow drying them, stopping only to cut out any knots you find.

Once your pup is dry and brushed, you’re done!